Rebuild, Restore, Remain: Philanthropy’s Role in Ensuring Equitable Recovery after L.A.’s Fires

Natural disasters such as the devastating fires that ignited in the Los Angeles area on January 7, 2025 do not intend to discriminate on the basis of race or class. Their impacts, however, are revealing about systemic inequities. In the months since the fires were contained, we know that recovery and the ability to rebuild looks very different for Black and Brown communities because of these systemic inequities.

The Palisades Fire burned over 23,000 acres and destroyed more than 6,800 structures. The predominant question being asked in the Palisades, Malibu, and Topanga Canyon communities, which are predominantly white and affluent, is not if people will rebuild, but how long it will take.

The Eaton Fire is a different story — with different questions. It burned over 14,000 acres in Pasadena and Altadena and destroyed over 7,000 structures. Before the fire, Altadena was one of the most unique communities in the Los Angeles area: It was one of the last socio-economic and ethnically diverse areas, with 58 percent of its residents identifying as a person of color. At its peak in 1980, nearly 40 percent of the population was Black and at the time of the fire, nearly 80 percent of Black residents in Altadena were homeowners — that’s double the national Black homeownership rate.

That’s not to say Altadena was a perfect place: A history of redlining impacted where many Black and Brown families could live and own property — and in recent years gentrification was pushing many of those Black and Brown families out. At the time of the fire, only 18 percent of Altadena residents were Black, but nearly 50 percent of the homes destroyed or severely damaged by the fire were owned by Black families.

That’s what we call disproportionate impact and the reality is it will take all of us — government, nonprofits, and individuals alike — to pitch in to ensure that the Black and Brown communities of Altadena can rebuild, restore, and remain.

Barriers to Recovery

In order to know how you can help, you first need to know what the specific barriers are to recovery.

Long-Term Temporary Housing and Rental Assistance

We know from previous natural disasters that the further away people are displaced the less likely they are to ever return home. Many of the Black and Brown-owned homes in Altadena had been passed down from generation to generation and had been paid off. Therefore, without a mortgage, many homeowners either didn’t have insurance or were underinsured. For those with insurance and loss of use, finding long-term temporary housing has been challenging not because there’s a lack of availability but because of a lack of affordability. Many of these folks are retired, on fixed incomes, and haven’t had to pay market rent in decades or more. In fact, 57 percent of Black homeowners in Altadena are over 65. Moreover, not having long-term temporary and stable housing makes it virtually impossible for people to even think about rebuilding.

Rebuilding Gaps

For those that have insurance, there’s a gap between what insurance will pay to rebuild their home and what it will actually cost to rebuild the home. Even with FEMA assistance and even creative resourcing like GoFund, the rebuilding gap is just too much for too many. Based on our organization’s data, the average rebuilding gap is $268,000. An SBA Loan might be an option for some, but as many of the Black and Brown homeowners were on fixed incomes, many of them cannot get approved for a loan. And for those that did have a mortgage and can get approved for an SBA loan, they have to wrestle with taking on another loan on top of paying a mortgage for a home that is no longer livable — or even there.

Disaster Capitalism

It’s for these reasons and more that many will have to cut their losses and sell their property to the highest bidder and move on. While understandable, this threatens to completely erase the history and fabric of the Altadena Black and Brown communities and it’s already happening. According to a recent study by Strategic Action for a Just Economy (SAJE) corporate ownership was present to some degree in Altadena before the fire.

However, an analysis of land sales post-fire reveals the frightening reality that is disaster capitalism.

The data suggests that Altadena is in a vulnerable position, where significant amounts of land are being accumulated by those with ready capital, and profit is being placed above people, eroding the social function of housing and deepening economic and social inequity.

What Can Philanthropy Do?

The good news is there are local nonprofit organizations that are acutely aware of the barriers to recovery and are actively working on solutions — the solutions do not need to be invented from scratch. The reality is those organizations need more funding to scale what they are already doing and what is already working.

There are organizations specifically addressing long-term temporary housing by signing corporate leases with landlords, using the organization’s financials to qualify people that otherwise wouldn’t financially qualify, and helping to subsidize the rent. This allows victims of the fire to have long-term and stable temporary housing so that they can focus on rebuilding and returning to their community.

There are organizations that want to be the bridge that closes the rebuilding gap by granting gap funds to ensure families can rebuild.

And there are organizations with long lists of people that want to sell their property to a trusted, local organization because they want to make sure that their property is kept out of the hands of corporate entities and speculative investors. These local organizations can “bank” the land and come up with a community-centered and informed approach to the eventual development.

The reality is the scale and magnitude of rebuilding in the Palisades and Altadena is overwhelming. But because of systemic inequity, we know the recovery for the Black and Brown communities of Altadena will look much different than it will for the Palisades.

Solutions and deep community knowledge to mitigate this inequity and support recovery for Altadena’s Black and Brown communities already exists — what those solutions and knowledge-holders need is long-term, sustained support and investment.

Jasmin Shupper is the founder and CEO of Greenline Housing Foundation.