This week, teenagers lined up with their parents at a Boyle Heights warehouse for a little familiarity: stuffed squishmallows, lipstick, T-shirts, eye shadow, cute hair accessories.
A 15-year-old girl who evacuated with only one change of clothes before the Eaton fire destroyed her home picked up toiletries, socks, underwear, pants and a shirt. A 16-year-old girl whose family only had time to catch a cat before they evacuated and lost their home looked for something she thought would allow her to be herself.
Across Los Angeles, residents acted quickly to collect and distribute blankets, clothing, first aid kits, and other supplies in response to the Eaton and Palisades fires. Avery Colbert, a 14-year-old Pasadena resident, wanted to do something special for the many teenage girls whose lives were upended by the fire, like her classmates at Elliott Arts Magnet Academy in Altadena. was.
Avery Colbert, 14, started Altadena Girls to raise money for teenage girls who lost their homes in the Eaton fire.
(Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times)
The eighth-grader posted on Instagram on Friday that she created the handle and logo with the help of her stepfather, Matt Chait, 44, who has a background in design.
Together they started Altadena Girls, collecting donations of beauty and hair products (fragrance, makeup, acne patches, corrective tools, diffusers), new clothing, and more. They also asked stylists for help.
“We started this effort to help the girls who lost their homes in the Eaton Canyon fire feel safe and feel confident again,” Avery said. “They’ve lost everything. We want them to feel a sense of normalcy when nothing in their lives is normal.”
The initiative quickly gained traction, with the number of followers growing to nearly 32,000 within a few days. The project also attracted the attention of celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Mindy Kaling, who shared the project on social media. Avery was excited to hear responses from big-name brands like Huda Beauty and artists like Charli XCX who wanted to participate as well.
Naomi Lewis, 13, who goes to school with Avery, lost everything in the fire, including her favorite clothes, her baby and promotional photos. At the donation center on Monday, she picked out sweaters, T-shirts and perfume, which were neatly organized into sections.
“I want to rebuild a new wardrobe,” she said.
“It was heartbreaking and sickening to hear that we lost our home, but we are trying to stay positive through this situation,” she said.
Naomi said that she felt a little joy when she went for a drive with her friends.
At a warehouse in Boyle Heights, Altadena Girls was distributing cosmetics, hair products and other items to teenage victims of the Eaton fire.
(Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times)
Elizabeth Gonzalez, a longtime Altadena resident, and her 15-year-old daughter, Ananda Shiffman, arrived at the distribution site Sunday afternoon. They also lost their homes in the Eaton Fire and only a few were evacuated.
“Santa Ana winds blow every year. We’ve had fires before,” Gonzalez said. But on Tuesday evening, “my son called me.” [around] At 6 p.m., he says, “Mom, the mountains are on fire.” I ran outside and couldn’t believe it. It felt like being at home. ”
They stuffed important documents, clothes, pillows and blankets into trash bags and fled to their mother’s nearby home. Later, when the fire moved there, they fled again.
“We’re just getting our bearings right now,” Gonzalez said. “I brought my daughter here. [today] Because I’m so happy to have a space for girls. ”
Ananda’s cousin was also forced to evacuate, but while he did not lose his home, he grabbed a nail kit as he fled. The girls are spending time doing their nails.
“I know it seems frivolous and silly, but they’re having fun and finding a sense of normalcy,” Gonzalez said.
Aurora Patran, 16, a student at Blair High School in Pasadena, lost her home just west of Lake Avenue. She went to a distribution center for clothing and sanitary products.
“A lot of people lost everything in the fire. I didn’t think it would reach my house that night, so I didn’t take anything with me. I just brought my cats,” she said. .
School administrators and students’ parents have also been supportive, she said.
“We are in this together,” added Aurora’s mother, Gabriela Flores. For now, they’re staying in an Airbnb and she’s looking for a permanent place to rent.
“I’m just overwhelmed,” Flores said. “We need to find peace.”
Amor Dionisio, a 15-year-old student at John Muir High School in Pasadena, saw Avery’s post on Instagram and asked his mother to take him to the distribution event. Her block was destroyed and she and her family are currently staying with a family friend.
“I completely lost everything,” she said. “It was really difficult.”
Jada Turbin Abu-Bekr, a Pasadena resident, works with programs serving youth in Pasadena and Altadena. The social worker said many of her students were affected by the Eaton fire. She volunteered for some of the community outreach efforts for Altadena Girls, where she was able to speak with students and ensure their needs were met.
“I’m like a connector, a bridge,” she said, looking at familiar faces and exchanging hugs.
The effort is valuable for several reasons, she said. It “restores dignity and humanity directly to people, which is very important.”
Altadena Girls distribution site in Boyle Heights.
(Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times)
It also helps highlight the needs of Altadena’s diverse and close-knit community.
“When people look at Pasadena, they see ‘rich Pasadena,’ but they don’t see Altadena,” Abubekr said. [Freeway]. And once you get past 210, it’s a whole different world.
“These are the people who are in your business. They’re the people who work with kids in school districts. … And I think there’s a lot of important things in this. [drive]”
Altadena has long been home to a unique community of Black and Latinx creatives, artists, and working-class families. More than half of the students at Avery’s Altadena School of the Arts are Latino, according to the Pasadena Education Network.
For Gonzalez, who lost his home, Altadena is a special place in the foothills with a rich history, but now he is wondering how he will survive.
“Many of us don’t know how to get through this,” she says. “But we are taking it one day at a time.
“I knew our community was special, but now I see it all coming together. It’s unbelievable.”
Sara Quiñones Wolfson is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles.
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