Wildfire Relief and Support

Matador Relief Fund
President Beck has directed the reinstatement of the Matador Relief Fund.  This fund exists to support employees who have experienced extreme hardship.

If you have been impacted by the fires, please complete the Matador Relief Fund Form to request funding support. We recommend you complete the form by Friday, January 17, 2025.  Please reach out to HR Employee Relations at 818-677-6566 if you need any assistance in completing the form.

Catastrophic Leave
For CSUN state-side employees, CSU policy and MOUs have been updated to allow for catastrophic leave for natural disasters/state emergencies.

Employees are eligible for catastrophic leave when the following conditions exist: (a) their principal residence is located in a county where a state of emergency has been declared by the Governor; (b) they are unable to work due to the effect of the natural disaster/state of emergency on the recipient employee’s principal residence; (c) they need time away from work but face financial hardship due to having exhausted all accrued personal holiday (PH) credits and compensating time off (CTO) and having a balance of forty (40) hours or less in each accrued vacation credits and sick leave credits.  Governor Newsom has declared a state emergency covering the current fire events.

Please contact HR Employee Relations at er@csun.edu to request Catastrophic leave. Auxiliary employees should check with their respective Human Resources administrator on leave options.

Housing Resources

• The University Corporation (TUC) at CSUN is committed to assisting the campus community with housing resources.  TUC’s Housing Resource Officer, Linda Turner, is available to provide referral guidance.  Please reach out to linda.turner@csun.edu, or call or text 818-470-8392.

• AirBnB and 211 – To support residents who have been displaced from their homes or forced to evacuate by the wildfires, AirBnB is partnering with 211 LA to offer free temporary housing.  The program is currently focused on those in the Altadena, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Sylmar areas. Impacted residents can request assistance by filling out this intake form.  Please note, spaces are limited, and completing the form does not guarantee a stay. Eligibility criteria apply.

Employee Assistance Program / CALM

• LifeMatters Employee Assistance program has services beyond counseling and can assist with obtaining legal resources as well as assistance with finding housing, disaster planning and mental health resources.

• Calm for CSUN Employees – A resource designed to assist with stress, relaxation, and overall wellness. Employees with Kaiser Permanente as their health plan provider already have access to Calm and may sign-up directly through Kaiser.  All other state-side employees, should visit the Calm webpage and follow the instructions to gain full access to the many resources available.

Other Resources

• California Casualty – Customers of California Casualty can view CalCas.comor call 1-800-800-9410, option 4 for assistance with claims.

• Emergency – COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES.  LA County Emergency webpage provides numerous resources including and not limited to the following:

• • Lyft: Riders in need can use the code CAFIRERELIEF25, valid for 2 rides up to $25 each ($50 total) for 500 riders from now until 1/15 at 11:59 p.m.
  • Uber: Use promo code WILFIRE25 in the wallet section of your Uber app to redeem a free Uber ride up to $40.
  • Metro: Fare collection for rides on Metro has been suspended systemwide.

Ways to help
Many employees have asked how they can help.  For employees who are not impacted and would like to support those who are, here are a few options.

• For CSUN stateside employees, donating leave time is a great way to support fellow matadors. There is no maximum number of hours that an employee can donate as long as the employee has a balance of forty (40) hours of vacation leave credits and forty (40) hours of sick leave credits after the donation is deducted from their leave balances.  Donations may only be made in full hour increments. If you are interested in donating vacation and/or sick hours please contact HR Employee Relations at er@csun.edu.

• You can also make a gift and support one of two funds within the CSUN Foundation designed to support CSUN students, faculty and staff in need. The MataCare Emergency Grant fund is available to support students with unforeseen expenses and the Matador Relief Fund helps CSUN employees directly impacted by the fires and other unforeseen emergencies.

We will continue to update resources as available.  Please refer to the CSUN Advisory, located on the CSUN homepage.

For any further questions and/or support please contact HR Employee Relations at er@csun.edu or 818-677-6566 or Faculty Affairs at faculty.affairs@csun.edu or 818-677-2962.