Two weeks after the start of wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena area, Los Angeles is still dealing with the tragedy that has claimed at least 28 lives and destroyed thousands of homes across the city.
However, there was an overwhelming level of support from residents, who donated money and clothing, sheltered people who had lost their homes, and provided support to first responders.
Deadline has launched a two-part podcast series, The aftermath of the Los Angeles fires: The way forwardto try to help give people an idea of what else they can do.
Annette Bening, Naiad The star who chairs the Community Entertainment Fund; Her colleague Keith McNutt, Director of the Fund's Western Region; Ann Lee, who co-founded the nonprofit CORE with Sean Penn; Lindsey Horvath, a Los Angeles County supervisor for District 3, the district covering the Palisades fire, joined Deadline's Peter White to talk about next steps.
Listen to the podcast above.
The group stressed that recovery will take some time.
“When there is an emergency, as there is of course now in Los Angeles, we really focus on what we can do to help the people in our business get through that moment,” Benning said. “We have emergency financial assistance, specifically for rent, food, health insurance, bills, etc. We also offer a whole host of other services that people might need in terms of all the logistics that they have. I've continued to deal with the need for legal assistance, the need for health counseling. Mentality.
“There's also an urgent need that we might not think about,” McNutt added. “Many people said, 'The only thing I really need is a suitcase because all these wonderful people are donating clothes and shoes and diapers, but I don't have anywhere to put them.'” They also had no place to put furniture. This week may not be the easiest time for people to accept this generosity, but please keep this generosity in your hearts for three months, six months, or even a year.
CORE recently teamed up with the CAA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the talent agency, and the Los Angeles Unified School District Education Foundation to launch the SoCal Fire Fund.
He said to me: “It is [allows] “We have to invest fundamentally in immediate, medium and long-term support over the next few years for affected residents and not just families, homeowners and the like, but people who have lost their businesses as well as community infrastructure.”
Horvath is on the front lines as her district consists of 2 million people from the Ventura County line to Santa Monica and Hollywood.
“The entire Palisades Fire is in my district and my heart goes out to everyone who was affected, those who lost their homes, those who lost their community centers, those who lost their livelihoods,” she said. “We stand in solidarity with our community members to make sure you get the support you need in this time of crisis.”
Now, she and her team are helping make it safe to bring in utility companies, remove debris and begin general cleanup so the county can move to Phase 2, which will allow people to return to the area.
“I appreciate that the generosity that has been shown is so touching at a time when people feel so vulnerable to see the community wanting to lift them up is very encouraging,” she said. “We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other and make sure we provide support.”
But she admitted there is no real timetable for recovery.
“I know people who live in this state of anxiety are not helping,” she said. “But what I can say is that we're working around the clock with our utility partners to do some of those measures that I mentioned just to allow people to get back and see their property. We're hopeful that the search and rescue efforts will conclude this week in the Palisades area. That also helps us move faster in terms of By addressing some other needs on the ground.
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