Wildfire Aftermath
Several regular projects that I work on have been on pause so far in 2025.
In January of 2025, my family and so many others lost our home in the LA Wildfires. Decades of things worked for were gone overnight. We evacuated as the neighborhood was beginning to catch fire in an almost unimaginable scene of blazing fire, flying embers and 80mph winds.
9500 structures were lost in my community of Altadena where we have lived the past 15 years.
The vastness of the destruction is hard to describe and has been a challenge to move past. But many have put up signs reading “Altadena Strong” and that is certainly true. Altadena is a beautiful part of Los Angeles that sits right above Pasadena at the base of the foothills. We are still living in the Altadena area in a part of town just outside the fire affected area - which there isn’t much of Altadena like that.
What does it mean to rebuild a life, a home, an entire city?
The economics of those questions are enormous and has shown me that we are not meant to do that on our own. Life is a challenge to build over time, impossible to do in a day. For me, I was struck with two forms of emptiness. The first being the empty lot that featured our old home, our memories and the things that made our life. The second emptiness was moving into a new place with no possessions.
Where do you begin? How do you get all the little things that you counted on and just had around? Mixing bowls. Towels. Soap. Shoes. A place to sit and a plate to eat on. Everything.
What has been true is that it has required every social pillar we count on to begin again. That is true for us and for each of our neighbors. Government, non-profits, community organizations, school, churches, friends, family, corporations. Everything!
That has been beautiful. That has enabled a return. That will continue to be critical for our social and economic recovery and survival.
With that, a return to the work of The Future Poor, coverage of the economic things that matter most and working to change the outlook of so many continues.
Thank you to everyone that has been part of helping my family recover and thanks to so many that have have been involved in healing the community of Altadena and the Palisades in the aftermath of these horrific fires.
Jonathan