Los Angeles Burns. Grieve, then Act.

Los Angeles burns so we grieve, then act. I lived in Los Angeles only briefly, and in a particularly terrible time in my life when I fled abuse while pregnant to stay with a friend from high school. My oldest son was born at UCLA Harbor which at that point was a (rightly) notoriously bad public hospital. I came this close to being an Angelino, and I bowed out because I didn’t have confidence I could make the money I needed to make to survive there as a single mother. I left the city behind, but not my love of it.

My birth partner and his wife still live there in LA county. My high school sweetheart went to college there. Several friends live or came from the area. This post takes a moment from my work going through and posting mutual aid links and mental health and human rights information to acknowledge a truly game-changing loss. Altadena is devastated, and it was never a wealthy community. Tens of thousands of homes in a county where homes are already in short supply are gone. Right before this happened, home insurance companies in the area canceled millions of fire insurance policies. Of course, this happened just before the Santa Ana winds started to blow. And we need to help where we can.

How you can help as Los Angeles burns, and afterward:

Los Angeles will survive, at least for awhile. But she has been abandoned by civilizations before and it could happen again. Some things lost can never be regained. And much of what will be lost is that feeling of fundamental safety that is needed for a community to survive. The people of LA are banding together to help one another as Los Angeles burns. Mutual aid companies are coming together to help. In the name of adding to the assistance, I’m providing links here. Many of these needs will continue for months or years, so don’t feel like its too late to help:

• People’s City Council Google Doc of IN PERSON volunteer opportunities.
• MALAN Fire and Wind Resources Google Doc.
• Them Magazine lists Los Angeles fire mutual aid efforts here.
• Donate to Los Angeles Regional Food Bank here.
• Read about and assist the California Fire Foundation here.
• Contribute to California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund here.
• Support LA Community Fridges’ goal of providing free food for all, all year every year, here.
• Edgar Fabián Frias has put together a longer list here.
• Donate to the GoFundMes of Black families affected by the fires in Altadena through this spreadsheet.
• Get assistance through FEMA at these designated locations in LA area libraries.
• Read LA county’s full list of emergency services here.

All of these resources were sourced from various people putting out the word on Bluesky. I’m over there as odanu. Please give me a follow for more regular mutual aid information, mental health, human rights, and random chaos.

Thank you.

P.S. I am still looking for local mutual aid sources from all over the US and its territories. Please contact me if you have any information to offer.

P.S. I de-prioritized my piece on SURJ to get this up. I’ll have it up tomorrow or Monday. Please follow me to get more mutual aid, mental health, human rights, and random chaos.

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