Please support the students displaced by the fires at Olympia Place, Amherst.

Image Courtesy: Massachusetts Daily Collegian

On November 7, 2025, a fire broke out near 57 Olympia Drive that displaced over 230+ students living at Olympia Place: an off-campus student-apartment complex which was home to many students at the Five Colleges at Amherst, and home to myself in 2023/24. My heart goes out to each and every one of them, as they navigate the situation moving forward. For anyone reading this who would like to help, please direct your support to The Student Care & Emergency Response Fund at UMass Amherst. 

Please also be on the lookout for updates on the OLYMPIA DRIVE FIRE RESPONSE page by UMass Amherst. As mentioned by the page:

If you were not affected by the crisis, but would like to help, please consider donating to the Student Care and Emergency Response Fund (SCERF), which helps to fund our Microgrant Program. At this time, the campus is requesting that physical donations not be brought to campus; service agencies are providing support to those in need.

The Student Care and Emergency Response Fund collects and distributes financial support for students with emergency needs. The Dean of Students Office will coordinate future collection and distribution of supplies and add information to this page when available. 

The most effective way to support those affected is by giving to the Response Fund. Monetary gifts allow us to respond quickly to urgent needs and provide the right help at the right time. Please don’t bring physical donations to campus at this time. 

Various organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army are mobilizing to provide support as well. Please be on the lookout for updates in local newspapers such as the Massachusetts Daily Collegian as well. Various GoFundMe pages have been set up to help individual students and by organizations in this area, please take a look at them and provide support as well. The SCERF remains the most centralized source of support

My heart goes out to all the affected students, especially navigating such a terrible situation like this. Having lived there myself, this hits particularly close to home, and I'm finding it difficult to put into words what this loss means - both for those directly affected and for anyone who called Olympia Place home at some point in their lives. It is weird to imagine that in the blink of an eye, a place where countless people built many memories, felt safe, and called home now no longer exists. The fires engulfed over half the buildings, and the rest had to be demolished. To rebuild your life from scratch is a devastating process, and I genuinely wish everyone affected the best. 

Please continue to support those displaced however you can.