How the Latino Community Foundation helps families after the wildfires and ICE raids

A year has passed since the L.A. Wildfires erupted, destroying more than 16,000 structures and killing at least 31 people in Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Today, there are just blue skies without gusty winds and the slow reconstruction of the affected areas. 

While communities try to adapt to their new lives, many continue the work of providing resources and information needed for recovery. 

On Wednesday, the Latino Community Foundation (LCF) hosted a webinar with organizations that have been working on the ground with these affected communities, especially the Latino and immigrant communities.

Julián Castro, president of the Latino Community Foundation, said they understand that the immediate need after a catastrophic situation is to receive money for rent, food, and basic necessities while being able to connect with government agencies to receive assistance. At the same time, many people also face the situation of rebuilding and recovery, especially the most vulnerable. 

In the long term, advocates continue paying attention to the systems that need to be changed to be prepared in case something similar happens again. 

“What I heard last week in Altadena were stories of continued frustration with insurance companies, with government regulations, with other things and systems that often get in the way of making families whole,” he said during a webinar.

For this reason, LCF continues its partnership with several organizations to help families affected not only by the fires but also by the ICE raids. 

Vanesa Aramayo, director of the Alliance for Better Communities (ABC), said from the moment the fires started that they knew the most affected communities without access to traditional resources were the low-income and immigrant communities. 

Many people who worked in Altadena, Pasadena, Malibu and the Palisades lived as far as the Antelope Valley, San Fernando, Southeast L.A. and South L.A., among other areas. Because these areas were further from the epicenter, it was unlikely that there could be any concentrated effort for assistance. 

For this reason, they created La Fuerza Fund as part of a long-term strategy to address chronic underfunding and systemic neglect of Latino communities.

“So through this fund, and thanks to critical supporters like the Latino Community Foundation, we were able to provide very immediate assistance in response immediately after the fires, and we were also able to implement a recovery phase where we identified among the highest needs in a family," Aramayo said. 

She said this help included one-time payments of $500 or $1,000, and monthly assistance, regardless of their legal status. 

A few months later, the urgency intensified with the massive ICE raids, with families that were already terrified byanavigating displacement and loss, experiencing even more instability and fear in their homes. 

“So today, we're continuing to provide assistance,” she said. 

La Fuerza Fund partnered with dozens of organizations across L.A. County in different types of work for education, advocacy, health advocacy, economic opportunities, civic engagement, civic participation and voter outreach, among other resources. 

“We also know that families [who are] not eligible for non-traditional assistance can be eligible through multiple organizations,” she said. “And so working closely with these organizations and coordinating how we deliver that support has been just such a gift in order to be able to maximize the support.”

To learn more about the Latino Community Foundation and how to become a grantee, visit: https://latinocf.org/what-we-fund/