One week after evacuating from the wildfires that devastated parts of this eastern Washington city, Mareesha Backman handed over her youngest son to a stranger and took her first deep breath of relief.

Spokane Public Schools was hosting what has become a growing part of disaster response: a day camp for children of survivors. Backman showed up that first day feeling “stunned,” she said: hot, poorly showered and underslept. Thanks to the camp’s volunteers, she was able to go to a doctor’s appointment, run errands and simply sit in the air-conditioned quiet of a friend’s home.

“ This is going to sound so corny,” she said, tearing up at the memory. “It kind of felt like the hug that I needed was there.  And I was going to be OK, and there were people there who wanted to support us, help us, and I didn’t have to figure it out on my own anymore.”

Read the full article about Project:Camp by Anya Kamenetz at The Hechinger Report.