After evacuating from the Palisades fire, LenaLatiff recently returned to her beloved CasaGateway affordable housing community overlooking Sunset Boulevard.
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“I keep thanking God I'm home,” said Latiff, 70. “I didn't think it was going to happen for more thana year. But then they came in and did the work for us, which is a big blessing.”
Latiff was referring to crews who cleaned up dozens of units that sustained smoke and ashdamage. The project was made possible by several nonprofit organizations supported by grantsfrom the California Community Foundation (CCF).
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joined CCF President and CEO Miguel Santana and other leadersMonday to celebrate the reopening of Casa Gateway, a residential complex of 100 low- and fixed-income housing units for seniors and families in Pacific Palisades.
The cleanup project shows what's possible when government, philanthropy, and community solveproblems together, Bass said.
“Today is about celebrating seniors and families returning home and restoring stability, peace ofmind, and hope for a community that has been through an unimaginable year,” Bass said.
Santana said the project addresses a common issue facing thousands of fire survivors: While CasaGateway residents didn't lose their homes, they couldn't safely return until their units werecleaned.
“What we are here for is to fill in a gap,” Santana said. “The investment that we were able to makemade the difference between an apartment being empty and being cleaned up so people can moveback into their units. And that is what's going to be needed. It's going to require all of us to cometogether, to support one another.”
The nonprofit groupThe Change Reactionprovided initial funding to clean the building's attic spaceand insulation from harmful smoke damage. Work crews hired by CORE (Community OrganizedRelief Effort) were then able to enter the units to clean walls, ceilings and floors to eliminate soot,ash, and potential residues of lead or other hazardous materials. Both nonprofit organizationsreceived grants from CCF's Wildfire Recovery Fund.
In August, after learning of a remaining need, the Department of Angelsstepped in with $100,000 inlast-mile funding so the final barriers to return could be cleared – from repairing walls andirrigation systems to clearing 6 inches of mud left by a post-fire mudslide.
CCF co-founded the Department of Angels with Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel earlier this year tomake sure that fire survivors' voices and needs remained central to the recovery efforts.
In the end, the project resulted in the remediation of 38 senior units and 12 family units, removal ofmud and debris surrounding the senior building, attic insulation replacement, hallway repaintingand flooring replacement of the senior building. To complete the project, CORE relied on workcrews from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
Because of this work, the remaining displaced seniors and families can move back home.
Down the hall from Latiff, Casa Gateway resident Julia Winter, 77, returned to her condo in thePalisades this summer after work crews cleaned it of ash and smoke. Winter said the remediationeffort saved her thousands of dollars.
“I did not pay a cent. I was just totally stunned and grateful,” Winter said.
Across the burn zone, many survivors are still waiting to return home. The Department of Angels' most recent survey data shows that in nearby Pacific Palisades, only 11% of residents are back home; and in Altadena, just 22%.
In light of those sobering numbers, Santana said that CCF is here “for the long term.”
“CCF has been around for 110 years, and we plan to be around as long as it takes until every singleAngeleno is back at home,” he said.
Bass praised Santana for his leadership on fire recovery, for co-founding the Department of Angelsand for supporting nonprofits that collaborated to complete the Casa Gateway cleanup project.
She thanked him for “always immediately coming to the fore to say: 'What do we need and how do Iuse my helm at the California Community Foundation to help?'” Bass said.
Media Contact; Gilien Silsby, Director of Media Relations, California Community Foundation gsilsby@calfund.org
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SOURCE California Community Foundation
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