Local Opportunities

The number of organizations that want to help those displaced by the Eaton Fire specifically and the Palisades Fire in general are truly heartwarming. 

From Angel Flight, which created a spot where folks could go and have coffee and snacks, fill out forms and find emotional support while their children were being cared for, to distribution centers that either “popped up” (see Ruth Sowby’s article on page 11) or pivoted and provided an assortment of fire relief items, the response by local organizations has been incredible.

Over the weekend Steve and I had the chance to head to Altadena so I could see firsthand the devastation of the Eaton Fire. It looked to me what I would imagine a war zone looked like: shells of cars parked in front of dirt piles where a house previously stood, empty lots that once held people’s homes and chimneys that indicated where a house once was. Particularly disturbing was seeing a house in apparent perfect condition standing next door to the shell of a house. Another jarring example of the devastation surrounding the Eaton Fire was seeing a Little Library box that looked perfectly fine standing in front of … nothing. The house was gone.

I’m sure questions abound regarding recovering from the fires and other matters that can be answered by our Sacramento representatives. Tonight, Thursday, Jan. 30, the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce is hosting Assemblymember Nick Schultz – District 44  who will be speaking on an assortment of issues. He will be available to answer questions from the audience, too. His free presentation will be held at 6 p.m. at Sadler Hall on the campus of St. Luke’s of the Mountains, 2563 Foothill Blvd. in La Crescenta.