BEAUTY FROM ASHES
A Spokane Wildfire Relief & Recovery Collection
This one is personal.
After more than a week of being displaced, my family and I are finally back in our home on Five Mile.
Thank God.
Just days ago, we were staying with my parents near the Little Spokane River, watching the Level 3 evacuation line run through their property and wondering if we would have to leave again.
Now we're home. But coming home for many doesn't mean this is over.
There is ash and fire retardant to clean up. Water to check. Air filters to replace. Properties, animals, gardens and flowers that were abandoned while families waited to find out if they would have homes to return to.
Driving through Five Mile and Indian Trail, I've seen surviving homes covered in pink fire retardant, scorched properties and entire neighborhoods changed.
And we are the fortunate ones.
Friends and family members lost their homes. People we know through church, school, work and the local businesses we visit every day have all been affected in different ways.
One of our neighbors is a firefighter. He worked 140 hours during that first week, sometimes getting only a three-hour nap before heading back out.
Others are only beginning to understand what rebuilding will really take. Some are learning that their insurance may not cover the full cost of rebuilding their homes.
It's heartbreaking.
This collection started with a text from my mom and close family friends in Indian Trail.
Beauty From Ashes.
Inspired by Isaiah 61:3.
At Zome Design, we took that idea and began working on how to bring it to life. The design features a young Ponderosa pine and Spokane lilac growing together from the ashes.
The pine represents strength and new growth. The lilac represents Spokane.
But the roots are really the heart of the design.
They represent our faith, our families and the relationships that connect us to this place. Fire can take a house in minutes. It can take photographs, keepsakes and entire neighborhoods.
But it can't take our roots.
Every piece in this collection has been carefully designed to feel meaningful, comforting and worth keeping. We wanted to create something people would be proud to wear for years. Something that reminds those affected that their community hasn't forgotten them.
WHY INNOVIA?
Where this money goes matters to us. We know it matters to you, too.
During the Medical Lake fires, Zome hosted a live-printing fundraiser at Brick West Brewing. Together, our community raised $4,500, and we donated those funds to Innovia Foundation.
We've worked with the Innovia team directly. We trust them, and we know how seriously they take transparency, immediate relief and the years of recovery that follow a fire.
Funds raised through this collection will support Innovia Foundation's Spokane Complex Wildfire Response Fund. Innovia distributes 100% of gifts to the fund through vetted nonprofit partners serving impacted individuals and families.
A shirt or hat can't undo what happened.
But it can help. It can start a conversation. And it can remind families facing an uncertain future that they will not rebuild alone.
Wear this for the families who cannot go home.
Wear it for the first responders, volunteers, churches and neighbors who stepped forward.
Wear it as a reminder that even after the fire, our roots remain.
This is our home. Together, we will help it grow again.
Brayden Jessen
Five Mile Resident and Owner of Zome Design
