The first thing you see when you enter the Altadena Collaboratory is a wall of destruction. A complete map of all lots lost to the Eaton Fire in January – 9,413 structures. Each is marked with a red dot on a grid of streets that for 11 months looked like a charred lunar landscape.
The wall is a heartbreaking image of the loss caused by the Eton fire. But one turn to the right, and hope returns.
The flagship project of the Eaton Fire Collaborative, which opened in October, is home to dozens of nonprofit organizations providing assistance and resources for nearly any recovery challenge. It was built to be a universal first step toward overcoming the personal grief, immediate needs, and tedious bureaucracy that survivors of the Altadena Fire still face.
As government and philanthropic attention has shifted away from Altadena over the past year, it is one of the few new escape routes in the area for fire survivors still rebuilding their lives.
“None of us had experienced this before,” said Michelle White, an Altadena native and founder of the nonprofit community activist organization Neighborhood Survants, which spearheaded the Collaboratory. “People said, ‘I don’t know where the housing is. I don't know where to find my documentation. I need help with mental health care, recovery, insurance.” What we're trying to help is to say, “Come here.” Tell me where you are and how we can help you. We're going to take every chance we can.”
Giana Hagod VIEWS DONATIONS at the Collaboratory, an interagency relief center in Altadena.
The main problem that motivated the creation of the Collaboratory was the wide range of problems faced by fire survivors, each of which required an incredible amount of time, willpower and money to individually solve when survivors had little to spare. Many victims were elderly, spoke little English, or were forced to leave their homes and lost important documents.
Simply understanding what work is needed, what services are offered and what it takes to access them has become a full-time job for some of the city's most vulnerable residents. The discovery of scammers or price gouging contractors increased fear among those seeking help.
White's Neighborhood Survivors has been an important resource for the area during the pandemic, focusing on homeless outreach, food drives and other basic needs. However, the Eaton fire exacerbated all of these problems at once. Lack of transportation made it difficult to access assistance while moving to a remote community; a burned-out house made it difficult to find documents confirming your loss; grief, mental health issues or lack of childcare made it impossible to even start work.
“Take an old woman whose car is burned out and can't buy a new car somewhere, or someone who doesn't have renter's insurance or a copy of the lease. Or you're trying to figure it out, but you don't have anyone to talk to in your language. Someone here might say, 'I know these people who can help.' That's what this whole thing is for: trying to get everyone in one space.”
“It's kind of like the Hurricane Katrina story. … This is where you start to see people leaving,” said Michelle White of the Altadena activist group Neighborhood Survants, whose group helped open the Collaboratory, a new multi-agency relief center.
These groups are made up of more than 200 reputable local nonprofits (many with physical locations on site) that cover everything from permitting assistance, soil testing and soil remediation to licensed therapists, a construction equipment rental library, and a virtual reality studio where you can visually see remediation options on your property. There's a free store for household essentials and dedicated curators to help survivors navigate each level's resources and keep them organized.
On a rainy Thursday afternoon in November, the Collaboratory was buzzing with volunteers packing donated household goods. The walls were lined with samples of fire-resistant building materials, and experts were on hand to help the homeowners decide how best to rebuild the home for the chaotic climate of the future. The Collaboratory's new job center has just opened to provide opportunities for local workers – even if it's just to volunteer out of a sense of purpose in the face of total loss.
“We had people who had just been laid off from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and who had also lost their homes who signed up to volunteer and help here,” White said.
While the fire at Eaton happened instantly, the loss of such a deeply rooted community in Altadena happened much more slowly, as a result of thousands of private decisions. As many Altadena survivors face difficult choices: try to stay or start their lives elsewhere, White sees echoes of another generation's disaster.
“It's kind of like Hurricane Katrina, how they all ended up in Texas. Before the fire, we had a housing shortage, and now all these people are trying to find housing. That's where you start to see people leaving,” White said.
“If you say, ‘I can’t afford to live here. I don’t have a job, I have nowhere to place my children, I can’t stay.” If we say, “Don't let them go,” okay, where do you want me to put them? You lose one family, two families, six families, 20 families, and then your community just turns into something it wasn’t.”
Virginia DeLeon packs donations for the Collaboratory.
For those who face obstacles or feel abandoned while rebuilding their city, the Collaboratory is an open door. Where you will be met by local activists and experts who will tell you where to start.
“We just need to preserve this history,” White said of keeping services and nonprofits running in Altadena. “If you listen to other survivors of other disasters, this is the one-year mark where you lose everything.”
“But I think the stories will get better,” she continued, pointing to the daunting map of the work ahead. “People living in caravans have little parties and have coffee on Saturday mornings. It's started a new community of people who maybe didn't know their neighbors before and now they're friends. This map with all these red dots, I can't wait for them to turn green.”
