January 2026

Status - January 6, 2026

By Richard Myers
Posted: 01/06/2026

Eaton Fire Recovery Plan

(from a report provided to Pasadena Villagers via email, December 2026)

With generous community support and through strengthened partnerships, we have expanded our efforts to offer various levels of support to over 1,000 individuals who were heavily impacted by the Eaton Fire. Pasadena Village’s response is now shifting from relief to recovery. 
 
We have been granted funding for our recovery efforts:American Red Cross Long-Term Recovery Grant - $109,465 
Project HOPE’s LA Wildfires Response Program - $20,000
California Community Foundation’s Community Healing & Restoration - $94,000
Over the next two years, these initiatives would assist older adults in their recovery through peer-support, technology assistance, resource connections, mental health access, scam prevention, transportation, disaster preparedness, and direct assistance. 
 
Additional Direct Relief Funds
California Community Foundation has also granted us $50,000 for operating support and $450,000 as Direct Relief for wildfire survivors (a total of $500,000). They did not put out a request for proposals but chose us and 13 other organizations to receive this award. 
 
We are forming a new Recovery Team to distribute these funds to Villagers and other adults 55+ who we have been supporting through gift cards, computer purchases, resource connections, etc. The team will establish a process to assess their needs, verify their situation, and determine the distribution amounts. Board members are nominating volunteers to join this new team.
 
Staffing Updates 
Gina Baffo joined our team as an independent contractor from July through November. Her contract has concluded as scheduled as the grant funds from FireAid LA have been allocated. She did an incredible job launching the Centering Sounds Concert Series with 8 community concerts reaching hundreds of local residents. She launched and promoted the OnTheGo Expo which helped 450 individuals connect with transportation resources. She personally invited hundreds of people impacted by the fire to attend the Expo and other Village programs. She strengthened and forged new program partnerships including with Lineage Performing Arts Center and Foothill Catalog. And she has supported other programs, and worked closely with Hannah to increase our social media presence and procedures that will benefit the village going forward. She created promotional videos and collaborative posts on Instagram and Facebook that increased our visibility in the community and directly led to attendees at events.

You are invited to provide information to us about  issues you would like to see addressed in this blog, or to report events which would be of interest to other members of the Pasadena Village.  Please contact Gary Smith at hsmith1960@gmail.com

 

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	Individuals seeking assistance can let us know what they need here.  Those who are available to help can use this to find ways to contribute to Villagers in need.
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.