Blog archive
February 2025
Status - Feb 20, 2025
02/20/2025
Bluebird by Charles Bukowski
02/17/2025
Dreams by Langston Hughes
02/17/2025
Haiku - Four by Fritzie
02/17/2025
Haikus - Nine by Virginia
02/17/2025
Wind and Fire
02/17/2025
Partnerships Amplify Relief Efforts
02/07/2025
Another Community Giving Back
02/05/2025
Diary of Disaster Response
02/05/2025
Eaton Fire: A Community United in Loss and Recovery
02/05/2025
Healing Powers of Creative Energy
02/05/2025
Living the Mission
02/05/2025
Message from the President: Honoring Black History Month
02/05/2025
Surviving and Thriving: Elder Health Considerations After the Fires
02/05/2025
Treasure Hunting in The Ashes
02/05/2025
Villager's Stories
02/05/2025
A Beginning of Healing
02/03/2025
Hectic Evacuation From Eaton Canyon Fire
02/02/2025
Hurricanes and Fires are Different Monsters
02/02/2025
January 2025
At Dawn by Ed Mervine
01/31/2025
Thank you for Relief Efforts
01/31/2025
Needs as of January 25, 2025
01/24/2025
Eaton Fire Information
01/23/2025
Fires in LA Occupy Our Attention
01/22/2025
Escape to San Diego
01/19/2025
Finding Courage Amid Tragedy
01/19/2025
Responses of Pasadena Village February 22, 2025
01/18/2025
A Tale of Three Fires
01/14/2025
Another Community Giving Back
By Suzi HogePosted: 02/05/2025
Losing your house is horrific. Then comes the paperwork as you need to deal with insurance, FEMA, EPA, temporary housing, etc. etc.
At the Village’s fire relief meeting, committees were formed to organize and investigate various resources and support for members who had lost their homes or were going to be part of major clean up efforts. I shared that I would like to organize some kind of binder or file system for all that paperwork. Board member Michelle Chiu and Villagers Sharon Jarrett and Patrick Mathews volunteered to join that effort.
Then, I found Out of the Ashes, a non-profit group of community members in San Diego who created an organizational system after they suffered a wildfire in their community. They were set up at the Kaiser Fire Relief Center in Pasadena, but the place was swamped with folks needing help. I decided to try to contact them virtually.
Lo and behold, once I sent a message on Facebook, I was contacted about 3 minutes later by Ross, a volunteer. We began to chat. Yes, they would be delighted to give us these organizer systems. It turns out they had several at another relief spot in Venice - if we could get someone to pick them up. I called Dan Guerrero, head of our Village Transportation Team. Dan agreed to pick them up the next morning and deliver them to my house, as the Village Office was full of air purifiers that were being distributed.
Pasadena Village is now working to distribute these organizational systems to our members who have lost their homes. We will hold a live one-hour meeting at the Village Office at 9:30am Tuesday, February 11 for any folks who would like to an introduction to the Home Loss File System. Any extras will go to other older adults in the area.
Here is the website for Out of the Ashes: https://uphelp.org/claim-guidance-publications/out-of-the-ashes-home-loss-file-system/
Here is the link to access and use their resources digitally: https://homelossfilesystem.com/what-is-a-the-digital-home-loss-file-system/
Here is a PDF with directions: https://uphelp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/digital_assembly_instructions.docx_-_google_docs_1_0.pdf
*To See More Experiences With The Fire, Click on #LAFires