January 2025

President's Status Update

By Richard Myers
Posted: 01/14/2025

This message from the President is being established to provide a convenient reference point to obtain the latest information we have available about the response of the Village to the recent conflagration. It is intended to be a one-stop reference point to make it easy for our constituents to get access to the latest news we have, what we are doing about it, what resources are available for those in need. 

Status

On Tuesday, January 7th, 2025 we received news of the outbreak of three major fires in the Los Angeles area, Pacific Palisades, Eaton Canyon, and Hurst Canyon. These were major conflagrations in the LA area. The Eaton Canyon blaze directly effected our Pasadena Village community. All of these fires had an impact on our Villagers, but the Eaton Canyon fire hits us at home. While all Villagers are impacted by this, residents of Altadena, which is just north of Pasadena, have been most directly effected by the fire. At last count, 15 of our Villagers have lost their homes. A large number of Villagers in Altadena and many of our other communities have been forced to evacuate their homes. As a community, we are working very hard to respond to the needs of our neighbors, friends and family. 

Responses

Our community has swung into action and at last report, has made contact with 213 of our 230 current members. We have been fortunate that we have reported no loss of life at this point and continue in our efforts to reach the last 17 members. This has been accomplished through the efforts of our outstanding staff , Hannah, Nathan, and Samantha, and a community volunteer, Tino, led by our Executive Director, Katie. Working from home and long hours, they have made calls to Villagers aided by a number of Villagers who have stepped forward to create a phone bank, Village volunteers have been distributing supplies to our entire community as well as to their fellow Villagers, This is how a community responds. 

In the days since the fire began, we have followed and reported to our Villagers and learned what has directly effected our community. We have organized meetings using zoom for Villagers to get together to talk about their experience, their needs, and what support they could provide. We have collected information about resources that are available to our community and have posted links on our homepage for further detail. We will continue and expand all of these efforts as information, support, and resources become available. We welcome suggestions for what more can be done. 

Needs

The needs of people effected by this tragedy range from very practical things like food, clothing, housing and information to emotional support and information in this section will attempt to identify those needs to make it easier for volunteers to see where they can help. 

Experiences

This tragedy is one that the entire world is watching. This is an event that will effect the lives of people around the world for years to come. We have a unique opportunity to document what this means to the people directly involved. That documentation is a sharing of the experience and also therapeutic for those who are living the experience. We hope that our Villagers can find the time to take advantage of this for their own personal benefit and for history. 

 

Additional Information

Status	All posts with "status" information will be shown using this tag.
Responses	Information about Pasadena Village's response to this catastrophe will be shown under this tag.
Needs	Description of needs felt by our Response Team will be referenced here. Individuals available to help can use this to find ways to contribute with what they are able provide.
LA Fires	Sharing experiences of the catastrophe can be important means in dealing with personal tragedy. This tag will collect reports provided by Villagers who contribute their own personal stories of what this event has meant to them.

 

#status #responses #needs #LA Fires