One that just came in from a reader: My dear friends Florence and Anna and their two-year old daughter Rigby just lost their Altadena home, which they had just bought in December. We helped them move in; they hadn't even unpacked. The dark joke of the week is that my retired parents, who also lost their home, needed to downsize anyway, but Flo and Anna are at the beginning of building their life together, and the house was the biggest financial investment they'd ever made. Please consider donating to help them rebuild:
The CA-based Anti-Recidivism Coalition is raising money to feed, supply, and provide post-release scholarships for incarcerated firefighters, about 800 of whom are involved in the current efforts: https://antirecidivism.org/firefighterfund/
Thank you, Kris, for this introduction to ARC and the chance to donate to support these amazing firefighters. As it said on the website: “These are the same men and women our society once threw away, and now they are risking their lives to save ours. Let’s honor the dignity and humanity in each of us because you never know who will need saving and who will be the hero.”
This is a very small thing, and a little bit of a different request, but if LA-local people are interested in another way to directly help someone, my friend's parents just lost their home in Altadena. They are not looking for any donations or housing at this time, but John would like to help his dad rebuild his huge collection of succulents and cacti with cuttings, pots, gravel, anything. More here on his "GrowFundMe": https://lambti.me/
As someone who also just lost their Altadena home in the Eaton Fire, one thing we are scrambling to find right now is housing.
If you know people who are displaced, offer to help them sift through Zillow listings and contact property managers to ask questions and confirm availability. Connect them with your uncle’s friend’s neighbor who has an ADU. Everything is moving so fast and price gouging is rampant so this is likely an area that can be a huge help.
Same! My husband i also lost our home. And the friends who are helping us (like my bestie, Culture Study reader Ragon Duffy) figure out housing right now are giving us space to focus on some of the other administrative work we need to do related to insurance claims and applying for other sources of aid. If you want to help someone right now, help them find a place to stay that makes sense for them, their kids, their pets, their commute, and their new budget. Lots of us who lost our homes went from very stable, affordable mortgages to rapidly skyrocketing rental costs and we are reeling from the shock of it.
Navigating insurance coverage is a nightmare and like many others, I expect that we are underinsured and won't be able to rebuild and return to our town. We just moved to Altadena a couple years ago and were falling in love with the amazing community and looking forward to building our lives and putting down roots there. We had recently adopted our 14-year-old rescue Yorkie, Paco - we had been waiting to adopt for years until we had a backyard. It's going to be a difficult several years full of impossible decisions.
I was hesitant to add a link to my Go Fund Me that a friend set up for me; asking for help is really hard, and we have been lucky to have support from our network. There are so many others who I know don't have the same social media networks/reach who need help. Please prioritize the GFMs above, those who have not yet met their goals, donations to the various amazing organizations, and/or help however you are able to and however that looks for you.
Hi all - I'm an LA resident and want to really urge folks to consider donating funds to Airgasmic, Clean Air LA, or Air Purifier Distro LA (all linked in one of my Substack posts this week: https://fionalowenstein.substack.com/p/clean-air-resources). The air quality is not good in LA right now, despite "good" AQI readings, and many of us with pre-existing health conditions are struggling to manage—even with masks and air purifiers, so I truly cannot imagine how people are doing without these resources. I've had numerous friends reach out in the past week desperate for air purifiers, and many report there are no mitigations being offered in their workplaces, even those who work near the fires.
This will also be an *ongoing* need—dust will continue to be kicked up by LA's winter winds even after the fires stop burning, and the cleanup process will further exacerbate pollution. I grew up in NYC during and after 9/11 and know plenty of folks who developed serious health conditions from breathing air they were told was safe, so I pray we can prevent this from happening again. Thanks in advance for everyone's help. Stay safe out there LA readers!
My friends of over 20 years opened a record store in Pasadena less than a year ago; their entire staff of working musicians has been either temporarily or permanently displaced. Small biz is already hard enough without any employees and being forced off your store's block for over a week.
They had the great idea of giving folks the option to buy gift cards, either for yourself/a friend to support the shop, or you can donate it back to the community and it will be matched to help someone who has lost their physical collection to start it anew.
If you want to donate a gift card, use the link below and set the email as Sibyllinerecords@gmail.com, and add "Sibylline Fire Fund" as recipient.
Thanks for sharing this! I have always wanted to visit this store!
When I am eventually ready to rebuild my record collection after losing it to the fires, I will stop by and support them, and will share the word in the meantime.
Edit: If anyone wants to spread the word - they have an Instagram page and a post that can be easily shared to stories: https://www.instagram.com/p/DE0RrEyyLf4
Thanks Emma! Definitely let them know you've had losses and I'm sure they'd love to add you to the donation pool or just help you when you're ready to shop 🩷 best of luck to you recovering
AHP, thanks so much for the reminder that there's no right/wrong way to give, and that we shouldn't be overwhelmed by the need but instead should just give what we can to some of the people
Direct Relief International is another highly effective charity to donate to. They focus on medical aid, N95's, personal care supplies etc. They are based near LA in Goleta, CA and know wildfire relief very well.
I also wanted to call attention to SUAY Sew Shop in Los Angeles.
You may have seen the photos of the overwhelming response to the call for clothing donations, and how some of the donations are in poor condition, and there is a lot of excess that folks can't yet use.
SUAY IT FORWARD is a fully circular textile recycling program that collects textile waste from the community, repurposing it into remade apparel and home goods by SUAY.
They are accepting sponsorship/monetary donations to support this work, pay their skilled workers a fair wage, and save the excess and unusable donations from the landfills.
They are also still accepting clothing donations and have a "Free Store" where folks in need can pick up what they need.
This is niche, but I just came across this at work for postsecondary students in computing fields. The Last Mile Fund does great work.
Last Mile Education Fund is offering rapid-response emergency funds for students affected by the LA Wildfires. Students within four semesters of graduation and Spring term sophomores who are pursuing a computing-related degree in Los Angeles County can apply for an immediate cash award of $595 to address emergency needs. https://www.lastmile-ed.org/2025-la-fund
I recently learned that Altadena is about 20% Black and has (had) one of the highest Black homeownership rates in the state of California. I hope this fundraiser and all the others can help rebuild what sounds like a vibrant and nourishing community. Here's a brief article about racial demographics in Altadena over time, for anyone interested: https://altadenaheritage.org/racial-change-over-time
I am going to send what I can spare to a few of these GoFundMe’s. I can’t imagine losing my home alongside so many other displaced people. (I can’t help but wonder if any of our US billionaires are helping in any way. None of my business of course but boy I bet their surplus $$$$$$ could go far.)
I have wondered the same. Aren't there many residents of L.A. (movie stars, etc) who could make big moves here, in the city they call home? I saw a decent commitment from Ballmer...but not much else that was beyond basic
The billionaires are spending their $$$$ & business resources sucking up to djt. Like him, no empathy, not even crocodile tears, only disdain for average Americans devastated by these wildfires, or other real life problems.
Here is a GoFundMe that I would love to be considered for the Culture Study round up. I don’t know June. The author of the GoFundMe, Gina Cooke, tutors my kiddos. She explained her connection to June in her newsletter:
My close friend Jaye lost her house. She's an amazing surfer and water woman. The day after she found out her house burned down, the first thing she wanted to do was get in the water and do something she loves. She needed a wetsuit and a board and borrowed from friends, then a friend hooked her up with a new wetsuit in her size. So now she started a list and a fundraiser to help local kids who lost everything get a new or gently used board. If you feel compelled to donate, it's a small thing that can make a big difference:
One that just came in from a reader: My dear friends Florence and Anna and their two-year old daughter Rigby just lost their Altadena home, which they had just bought in December. We helped them move in; they hadn't even unpacked. The dark joke of the week is that my retired parents, who also lost their home, needed to downsize anyway, but Flo and Anna are at the beginning of building their life together, and the house was the biggest financial investment they'd ever made. Please consider donating to help them rebuild:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-anna-florence-and-little-rigby-wildfire-recovery
The CA-based Anti-Recidivism Coalition is raising money to feed, supply, and provide post-release scholarships for incarcerated firefighters, about 800 of whom are involved in the current efforts: https://antirecidivism.org/firefighterfund/
Pasadena Humane is, in addition to sheltering and finding temporary fosters for displaced pets, treating area wildlife injured by the fires: https://give.pasadenahumane.org/give/654134/#!/donation/checkout
Thank you, Kris, for this introduction to ARC and the chance to donate to support these amazing firefighters. As it said on the website: “These are the same men and women our society once threw away, and now they are risking their lives to save ours. Let’s honor the dignity and humanity in each of us because you never know who will need saving and who will be the hero.”
Thank you so much for both of these links
Grateful to you, AHP 💛
This is a very small thing, and a little bit of a different request, but if LA-local people are interested in another way to directly help someone, my friend's parents just lost their home in Altadena. They are not looking for any donations or housing at this time, but John would like to help his dad rebuild his huge collection of succulents and cacti with cuttings, pots, gravel, anything. More here on his "GrowFundMe": https://lambti.me/
I work at The Huntington Library and shared it with some of my botanical friends here, hoping we can help out.
Thank you! John was actually one of the designers of the gardens there, I'm sure he would especially appreciate anything from the staff.
Thank you so much for sharing this link.
As someone who also just lost their Altadena home in the Eaton Fire, one thing we are scrambling to find right now is housing.
If you know people who are displaced, offer to help them sift through Zillow listings and contact property managers to ask questions and confirm availability. Connect them with your uncle’s friend’s neighbor who has an ADU. Everything is moving so fast and price gouging is rampant so this is likely an area that can be a huge help.
Same! My husband i also lost our home. And the friends who are helping us (like my bestie, Culture Study reader Ragon Duffy) figure out housing right now are giving us space to focus on some of the other administrative work we need to do related to insurance claims and applying for other sources of aid. If you want to help someone right now, help them find a place to stay that makes sense for them, their kids, their pets, their commute, and their new budget. Lots of us who lost our homes went from very stable, affordable mortgages to rapidly skyrocketing rental costs and we are reeling from the shock of it.
Also sending you love, Emma. We will get though this. <3
Thanks, Kelly - sending love back to you, too. <3
Navigating insurance coverage is a nightmare and like many others, I expect that we are underinsured and won't be able to rebuild and return to our town. We just moved to Altadena a couple years ago and were falling in love with the amazing community and looking forward to building our lives and putting down roots there. We had recently adopted our 14-year-old rescue Yorkie, Paco - we had been waiting to adopt for years until we had a backyard. It's going to be a difficult several years full of impossible decisions.
I was hesitant to add a link to my Go Fund Me that a friend set up for me; asking for help is really hard, and we have been lucky to have support from our network. There are so many others who I know don't have the same social media networks/reach who need help. Please prioritize the GFMs above, those who have not yet met their goals, donations to the various amazing organizations, and/or help however you are able to and however that looks for you.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-emma-and-roshans-recovery-after-eaton-fire
Hi all - I'm an LA resident and want to really urge folks to consider donating funds to Airgasmic, Clean Air LA, or Air Purifier Distro LA (all linked in one of my Substack posts this week: https://fionalowenstein.substack.com/p/clean-air-resources). The air quality is not good in LA right now, despite "good" AQI readings, and many of us with pre-existing health conditions are struggling to manage—even with masks and air purifiers, so I truly cannot imagine how people are doing without these resources. I've had numerous friends reach out in the past week desperate for air purifiers, and many report there are no mitigations being offered in their workplaces, even those who work near the fires.
This will also be an *ongoing* need—dust will continue to be kicked up by LA's winter winds even after the fires stop burning, and the cleanup process will further exacerbate pollution. I grew up in NYC during and after 9/11 and know plenty of folks who developed serious health conditions from breathing air they were told was safe, so I pray we can prevent this from happening again. Thanks in advance for everyone's help. Stay safe out there LA readers!
My friends of over 20 years opened a record store in Pasadena less than a year ago; their entire staff of working musicians has been either temporarily or permanently displaced. Small biz is already hard enough without any employees and being forced off your store's block for over a week.
They had the great idea of giving folks the option to buy gift cards, either for yourself/a friend to support the shop, or you can donate it back to the community and it will be matched to help someone who has lost their physical collection to start it anew.
If you want to donate a gift card, use the link below and set the email as Sibyllinerecords@gmail.com, and add "Sibylline Fire Fund" as recipient.
https://app.squareup.com/gift/MLWCDZVD2H0HA/order?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaarbodNt3IQbYG1t0May8BbGz8QyFRHacs5mbAuMZRpTB6FdMs_iFIkor8_aem_prF2oGXNtEaWPPprOU7IDw
thanks to everyone near and far supporting us Angelenos right now, we feel it!
Thanks for sharing this! I have always wanted to visit this store!
When I am eventually ready to rebuild my record collection after losing it to the fires, I will stop by and support them, and will share the word in the meantime.
Edit: If anyone wants to spread the word - they have an Instagram page and a post that can be easily shared to stories: https://www.instagram.com/p/DE0RrEyyLf4
Thanks Emma! Definitely let them know you've had losses and I'm sure they'd love to add you to the donation pool or just help you when you're ready to shop 🩷 best of luck to you recovering
AHP, thanks so much for the reminder that there's no right/wrong way to give, and that we shouldn't be overwhelmed by the need but instead should just give what we can to some of the people
Direct Relief International is another highly effective charity to donate to. They focus on medical aid, N95's, personal care supplies etc. They are based near LA in Goleta, CA and know wildfire relief very well.
Donations directly to wildfire relief can be made here: https://www.directrelief.org/emergency/california-wildfires/ They describe their efforts in depth there as well. 100% of donations go to providing aid.
I also wanted to call attention to SUAY Sew Shop in Los Angeles.
You may have seen the photos of the overwhelming response to the call for clothing donations, and how some of the donations are in poor condition, and there is a lot of excess that folks can't yet use.
SUAY IT FORWARD is a fully circular textile recycling program that collects textile waste from the community, repurposing it into remade apparel and home goods by SUAY.
They are accepting sponsorship/monetary donations to support this work, pay their skilled workers a fair wage, and save the excess and unusable donations from the landfills.
They are also still accepting clothing donations and have a "Free Store" where folks in need can pick up what they need.
https://suayla.com/pages/suay-fire-relief-free-store
https://suayla.com/products/sponsor-a-suay-it-forward-textile-recycling-bag
Didn't know about this place, thanks - great resource!
This is niche, but I just came across this at work for postsecondary students in computing fields. The Last Mile Fund does great work.
Last Mile Education Fund is offering rapid-response emergency funds for students affected by the LA Wildfires. Students within four semesters of graduation and Spring term sophomores who are pursuing a computing-related degree in Los Angeles County can apply for an immediate cash award of $595 to address emergency needs. https://www.lastmile-ed.org/2025-la-fund
Just want to share this joint fundraiser for the Black families of Altadena/Pasadena, hosted by California’s two largest Black-owned law firms and others: https://www.gofundme.com/f/la-fires-the-impacted-black-community-urgently-needs-help
I recently learned that Altadena is about 20% Black and has (had) one of the highest Black homeownership rates in the state of California. I hope this fundraiser and all the others can help rebuild what sounds like a vibrant and nourishing community. Here's a brief article about racial demographics in Altadena over time, for anyone interested: https://altadenaheritage.org/racial-change-over-time
Thank you for compiling!
Thank you for doing this AHP from all of us in the LA area!
I'll add a couple more:
National Domestic Workers Alliance emergency relief fund:
https://act.domesticworkers.org/a/la-wildfires?ms=ndwaweb-home
LAPL (LA Public Library) Staff Emergency Support Fund
https://lfla.org/laplstafffund/?goal=0_d10631b6d5-ac2a779ff7-108710118&mc_cid=ac2a779ff7&mc_eid=136f37ab60
Thank you for this excellent list, AHP. The link to Tamir's GoFundMe is broken – just so you know!
FIXING NOW!
Thank you!!!
I am going to send what I can spare to a few of these GoFundMe’s. I can’t imagine losing my home alongside so many other displaced people. (I can’t help but wonder if any of our US billionaires are helping in any way. None of my business of course but boy I bet their surplus $$$$$$ could go far.)
I have wondered the same. Aren't there many residents of L.A. (movie stars, etc) who could make big moves here, in the city they call home? I saw a decent commitment from Ballmer...but not much else that was beyond basic
The billionaires are spending their $$$$ & business resources sucking up to djt. Like him, no empathy, not even crocodile tears, only disdain for average Americans devastated by these wildfires, or other real life problems.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/junes-life-was-saved-help-her-rebuild-it?attribution_id=sl:fb70478b-3423-4b0f-b912-4067b53624b3&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link
Here is a GoFundMe that I would love to be considered for the Culture Study round up. I don’t know June. The author of the GoFundMe, Gina Cooke, tutors my kiddos. She explained her connection to June in her newsletter:
https://shamelessspelling.com/stress-and-devastation/?ref=shameless-spelling-newsletter
My close friend Jaye lost her house. She's an amazing surfer and water woman. The day after she found out her house burned down, the first thing she wanted to do was get in the water and do something she loves. She needed a wetsuit and a board and borrowed from friends, then a friend hooked her up with a new wetsuit in her size. So now she started a list and a fundraiser to help local kids who lost everything get a new or gently used board. If you feel compelled to donate, it's a small thing that can make a big difference:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/replacing-lost-boards-for-young-surfers