January 23, 2025 • 60 mins
On this episode of Vitamin D Live, Dawn Dai speaks with Pasadena NAACP Chapter President, Brandon Lamar about the Dena Relief Drive and displaced resident Roland Wiley about the impact of the Eaton wildfire in California.
Dive in to hear their firsthand experiences, what this means for the residents of Altadena and the efforts that need to be made moving forward.
Keep up with Dawn and check out: linktr.ee/dawndaispeaks
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You are tuned in to the Vitamin D with Dawn
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My name is Dawn, and you get Vitamin D from
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And I do this with inspirational insights and conversations with
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Speaker 1 (00:33):
So join me on this journey of living.
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Speaker 3 (00:40):
Get your Vita mindy right with me and get excited
about your life.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Oh, welcome to Vitamin D Live. I'm your host.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Down like the break of day, and I am so
excited to have each and every one of you with me.
Get ready for a riveting conversation. I am in the
studio right now. I am broadcasting live on Facebook. We're
on LinkedIn and I'm also set up my IG live
Brandon waiting for me to accept the request. I'm waiting
on you to recept request. So I have a very
(01:13):
special guest. He is the Pasadena INAC president, and we're
gonna be talking about what's happening in Pasadena and Altadena area.
We know that the wildfires have been ravaging all the
way through, so I said, let's bring the.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
News and information to you. Let's talk to somebody that's.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
On the ground making it work, making the impact, so
we can see what kind of resources people need. Plus,
I've been teasing this guest. His name is Roland Wiley.
He is a I don't want to say past or
previous resident, but a resident of the Pasadena Alta Dina
area that has been displaced.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
He was supposed to join right at five, but be
due to the fact of traveling trying to get stuff together.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
He said, Dawn, I'm gonna call in.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Later so we can pull up on the conversation, and
I want to invite you as well. Make sure that
you take note of the number in the studio if
you would like to call for any comments. It's eight one,
eight four sixty one fifty four to thirty two. That's
eight one, eight four, six one fifty four to thirty two.
And if you are tuning in on Facebook or LinkedIn,
I have provided the link for you to join us live.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Okay, so get ready for this rivenon conversation.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
I'm talking about twenty seven people have been noted to
have been killed, fourteen thousand structures have been destroyed.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
That's over sixty square feet.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Miles and millions upon millions and even generations of lives
have been impacted. So family, without further ado, please help me.
Welcome Brandon Lamar. Hello there, Brandon, how you doing? Let
me see can.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
You hear me now?
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Oh kamen, yes I can hear you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So you have been on the ground, running, running and rolling.
You have really been putting forth the effort with the
Dina Relief Drive. And as we are here, I want
you to share with everyone about what's going on in
Pasadena Altadena area and what's information you want to share
with share with the folks.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah, So there's been a lot of stuff that we've
been doing with the Deaner Relief Drive.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
First, can you introduce yourself and how you've been impacted
about the fall wildfires.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, so my name is Brandon Lamar, born and raised
in the past and Alta area. My grandparents has had
a church in Altina for the past since nineteen seventy seven, honestly,
and so it's been a long history of being in
the Altadena around Altina and my grandparents lived in Altina,
(03:52):
my aunts living out my parents used to live in
out Tina, of course, and so it's a long history
of Outa. I went to school in elementary's. I went
to elementary school in Alzire and so it's a long
history of our connection with the city of altd And
so I am the passing the branch president of the NAACP.
(04:18):
They literally just solidified it two days ago, and so
it's amazing work that is happening within our communities and
what we're trying to do here locally. And then also
serve as the vice chair of the Rental Housing Board
for the City of Pasaden as well.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Oh wow, So you really have your hands and the
thick of everything about what's going on from a lot
of angles, from being an actual resident to having families
that have been impacted, as well as doing your community
work there.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Absolutely, so two weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Today is when it all started.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, literally about ten days,
it has all shifted for us, and it shifted in
a way where we were It's a normal day and
I'm on my way home from dropping off my dad
and literally we get notifications that we had to evacuate
(05:18):
because the fire just started eating canyon and that night
it was about eighty miles an hour wind that had hit,
and so it overnight. It took the fire literally a
couple hours to go ten thousand acres, and our lives
have changed since it.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So you you were awaken in the middle of the
night when all of this happened.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I was actually on my way home from work from
dropping off my dad and then work when the fire
actually started. But the out of residents I actually living
passing the outing and residents were awaken two and three
o'clock in the morning to evacuate out of their home
because the fire had spread it that quickly, and some
(06:07):
people didn't have any time to put on clothes. We
had a lady who came to our drive and she
literally showed up in her car with a T shirt
and underwear that she had on from running out of
her car because this I mean running out of her
house because the Sheriff's department actually had knocked on her
door because the fire literally was on her roof, and
(06:31):
so they would banging on her door to get out,
and she only had time to get her keys and
runt her car and drive away. And so when we
started to drive, she was one of our first people
that showed up to the drive with her t shirt
and underwear on.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
And I'm sure she's not the only one. There's so
many other people who just grab whatever they could grab
at the moment and knew that they had to get
it out.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Of the house.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Absolutely. Absolutely, There's so many stories that has been told
from family members to friends that lost everything right and
they just had to get up and go. Literally majority
of them had to leave between two and three o'clock
in the morning because that's how fast the fire had
spread it. So if you look at it in Palisades,
(07:18):
it took Palisades fire between three to four days to
get to ten thousand acres. It took the Eating Kenyon
fire less than six or seven hours to get to
ten thousand acres. And that's how that is fast it spreaded.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Now you may mention that you have aunts and relatives.
Was your childhood home burned down in Altadena?
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Yeah, it's gone. Where we used to living outside it
is gone. It's gone. The corner where my grandparents had
their church is gone. My elementary school, Edison Elementary School
is gone. My middle school for the middle schools burned
down at Elliott Middle School. That's gone. A lot of
(08:05):
my neighbors, homes of the community as a kid where
I grew up, it's gone. Liquor stores, grocery stores, neighborhood stores,
black businesses are gone. Banks are gone, churches are gone.
There's so many things that are not there anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I'm so sorry to hear that at this moment, at
this time. What made you starter? How did you start
the Dina Relief Drive? And I've seen your social media.
Everybody has been talking about the work that you have
been doing in a coalition to others. In fact, I
was just speaking with Derek Steele and said, Hey, you
need to talk to Brandon.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
You need to talk to him about what's going on.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Yeah, that's my boy. He's been helping since day one.
But literally how it took place is Wednesday night. I
actually drove up myself in the neighborhood across Altadena, and
things were still on fire, but some way I was
able to finesse and get around law enforcement and the
(09:12):
fire department and so many other people that blocking streets,
and I saw firsthand homes were still on fire, Schools
were still on fire, homes were completely destroyed and gone,
and fire was still coming out of home from the
gas pipes. And I witnessed that with my own eyes.
(09:35):
Literally the smoke was so thick to where you couldn't
even see literally your hand in front of your face,
which is how thick the smoke was. It was like
a bomb blue in the city of Altadena. And so
that night I got home because I actually had took
my family to Ontario, my wife and my mother in
(09:57):
law and my sister and them. They stayed in hotel
and I actually stayed home with the humidifier here. And
so after helping family and friends evacuate and stuff like that,
and I got home late that night, about midnight, And
when I woke up the next morning, the first person
(10:17):
I called was Michelle White, who was the executive director
for Neighborhood Servants, and I told her, I said, hey,
I don't know purple.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
No okay, okay.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Yeah that's what that's Michelle from SEIU twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Okay, yes, okay, okay, my pologies, please go ahead.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
All good, All good. So Michelle White from Neighborhood Servants,
and I said, Michelle, we have to do something. It
to go like it's a green light. We got to
do something for our community. That was at nine o'clock
in the morning at so we was like, hey, there's needed,
we need a location nine thirty. I called Josh was
(10:57):
the executive director from Flintridge and he was like, yes, absolutely,
like y'all can do that today. So he said he's
going to be there at ten o'clock. I showed up
at ten o'clock. By eleven o'clock that same morning, we
had one hundred and fifty volunteers to help us. We
had pallettes and pallettes of items that were being donated
(11:18):
to us. Literally within an hour of us doing a
simple post online on Instagram, it turned into something that
was literally crazy. So since that Thursday, we have service
today over three thousand families. Now we have given out
over forty thousand dollars worth of gift cards. We have
(11:41):
hosted over one thousand volunteers to support families, and even
this past weekend, we had free haircuts for our young
people and our families. We had free massages for our
families that was affected. We had free chiropractor services for
families that were affected, and with sciu Won twenty one
(12:02):
that provided health screenings for families that was affected by
this fire as well. And then we saw another need
that yes, we were doing this at this location, but
the fire actually started in East Pasadena, and so we
decided to partner with Passing the Church pastor Kurlin Manny,
and we just started doing the same thing at Passing
(12:22):
the Church on the east side so that the people
in that community can actually get the same support that
we were doing in Northwest Pasadena.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Oh my goodness. And what about mental health services? Are
you guys providing resources or options for that as well?
Speaker 4 (12:37):
We are providing resources to mental health services on site.
We had about I think it was four license clinical
mental health professionals that was there on site to new
family check ins with family people, and then for those
that needed more support, we did do some referral outs
(12:57):
and so yeah, it's been a world wind of support,
but then also to be honest, don we're still at
the emergency stages of it right. People haven't even really
comprehended in the totality of what just took place, because
that's the type of emergency that we were We were
just in. So people are still getting their necessities that
(13:19):
they need, and they get in the essentials that they
need right now, and I don't think it really has
hit home the damage that has really been done to
our community. Literally ninety percent, I would say eighty five
to ninety percent of a city is actually gone at
this moment.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
I have another guest in here who's actually been affected.
I made mentioned to him earlier. His name is Roland Wiley,
who's a resident in the Pasadena Altadena area who has
been displaced. And I really want this to be a
free going conversation where you know, you guys piggyback or forth,
because what I really want to do is bring awareness
to this. I don't want this to be something like,
(13:59):
oh this happened. All the era is fine. People are fine.
We've donated with the long terms effects and really have
a grassroot feel. So without further ado, I would like
to welcome our one and only.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Roland Wiley to the program.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Hi Roland, Hi, y'all.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
Brandon, thank you for bringing up the very point that's
been on my mind throughout this entire time. It's that,
like he said, between eighty ninety percent of a city
is gone, it's displaced. I mean, we've got people friends
of mine that I mean, I'm a long, long standing
(14:39):
Altadena resident of forty plus years, and I have friends
that have been displaced as far as Riverside to Mecula,
Ontario and all points far east. And it's it's difficult
because being that far away from our home, I mean,
(15:01):
Altadena is forever my home.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
It's hard because it's adjusting to not being a homeowner anymore.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
Now you're being a renter and trying to figure out
places that will fit within your budget. And like Brandon said,
it's like, I'm so grateful for his relief services that
have been throughout thepacity the Altadena area because those have
helped me and my family as well.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Oh yeah, yes, absolutely, And just really quickly with both
of you on right now, from the perspective of someone
who has been affected and doing the work and versus
someone that has been to displaced, do you feel that
the media, the people, there's some misconceptions because done.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
We can't hear you on the live shoam.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Oh okay, can you hear me now?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (15:52):
Okay, yeah, now you're in.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
There, all right? Perfect.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
My question was I love the fact that we have
both of you on here somebody that has been.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
I mean, we've all been affected, honestly.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
But you're on one end where you're providing the support
and rolling you're on the other end where you're actually
needing the support. Are there any misconceptions or are there
any messages that you want people to know about what
has happened, what is happening, and maybe some fears of
what we need to prepare in the future.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
Gosh, I would say, well, what is happening is just
massive displacement of a city is first and foremost, and
the age range is so wide. I mean, when I
was at the Pasadena Convention Center Wednesday morning to see
people that were convalescent and in their wheelchairs or in
(16:43):
their night gowns and being escorted to the convention center,
I mean, my heart drops because I think about.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
These elderly people that are whether.
Speaker 6 (16:55):
They're ambulatory meaning that they can walk or nonambulatory, meaning
that they have to be in a wheelchair and someone.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
Has to escort them.
Speaker 6 (17:02):
That's a challenge because being in the convention center, the
things that they may need are really not readily available.
And luckily there has been a turn within the past gosh,
it feels like it's been so long, but in the
past week or so that accommodations have been made and
they've been provided and sent to other locations that could
(17:22):
really help them right now, because that's a really big part.
And places like the Pasenia Convention Center, places like PCC
along with the Passia City College Community Center which is
on the east side of Pasaden and towards like Sarah
Madre Villa has FEMA there.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
They have social Security there.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
If you lost your Social Security card, if you lost
your passport due to the fire, and I stressed due
to the fire, because there have been people. Even I
was there earlier today, people were like, well, I like
to get a new passport, and everyone is telling them
this is for people that lost their identification do the fires.
(18:03):
So that is the main thing I want to convey
these these resources are available for those that have been
affected by the fire. Primarily, what I would say myths
that are going on. Gosh, I would say misconceptions right now.
(18:24):
Of course, with tragedy comes people that prey upon those
that are in need. So they're I mean, my mom
has gotten calls from different spam numbers saying, oh, well,
we heard that your roof was damaged.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
And I'm like, well, it's not the roof.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Our higher block is decimated and it's gone, so we
already know that to scam. We actually verified and questioned
FEMA as we were over at past Meda City College
today about certain phone numbers that we received, and they
were able to confirm or verify or just let us know, hey,
(19:04):
that's not a legit number. So being really aware of that,
I really want to emphasize that people, if they are
able to get to these locations to seek help, get
it that way because this reminds me of working during
the pandemic, and the office I work for by day
(19:26):
deals with unlawful evictions, homelessness prevention and things like that,
So they're I mean, in that way, people were being
notified by email. However, Internet access is not readily available
for people and during the pandemic that was a thing
because I mean, I'm old school. If I don't have
(19:47):
internet at home, I'm going to the library. But you
couldn't get to the library or a coffee shop or
things like that where you could get free Wi Fi
or internet. So I encourage people to if you're in
the Pasadena area, definitely find those resources. The Pasadena Convention
Center is one Pasadena City Colleges. Both campuses are available.
(20:11):
Randon Lamar's Dina Relief is available. But go to these places,
go physically in person, and talk to someone because that
is how you will get the most help. Trying to
do it online is stressful and I can't speak for
anyone other than my mom and myself. We just shut
down because it was just too much online because you're
(20:35):
not sure. You want to ask questions about the things
that you're filling out, and the best way to do
that is to make the time to go to these locations,
to speak to.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Someone in person, and to be honest too, We don't
want people to do this by themselves. Agree the tragedy
has hit all of us, let me say that. And
so you have people who don't know how to maneuver
and don't know how to go through this process that
are still trying to figure out this process and understand
(21:09):
what in totality has happened. And so we really don't
want people to go through this process by themselves, to
get the support by themselves. I remember when FEMA first
came out. I've heard of a lot of people who
had already gotten denied from FEMA when they first applied,
and they had to go back in and apply and
(21:30):
get services. And so we really don't want that to
happen because also this is very emotional for a lot
of people. It's tragic what has happened. And within the
matter of moments, you had to leave your home, you
have to find somewhere else to stay, you have to
(21:53):
drop everything. Some people left their pets, you left memories,
you left pictures, you deft identification, like there's just so
many things that people didn't have the chance to just
grab a hold on and take with them. And so,
you know, this is not a process that we want
people to go through by themselves. There is support out there,
(22:13):
whether it be through the city, whether it be do
the dener Relief Drive, whether it be through I know
my church alone has helped over six hundred families with
this situation with case Management Services, and so Victory Bible
Church is here to help as well. But there's so
many partners within our community that want to be of support.
(22:38):
But like I said before, don you know, I don't
think that the real reality of what has taken place
has really hit our community yet, because you still have
a lot of family members and people who still have
not seen out ta Dina. They news, but you still
have people out there that don't even know if they're
(23:00):
house is standing or is it going. You know, you
still have people out there that are still looking for
missing family members right right, So the totality of this
destruction has not really hit our community to me, and I'm.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Glad you highlighted that.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I know we've heard like many people who have already
been notated as died, but I don't know if I've
heard or maybe I've missed how many people were just injured,
not only physically, not only mentally. And I'm just wondering
not to put a blame game, but do you feel
as though the city has shown up in the way
that it should it could have, and do you feel
(23:40):
comfortable how things will operate in the future.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
If I can jump in there from the city side,
of it. To be honest, there's only so much that
the city can do because the majority of the damage
was in an unincorporated area. So Altadena is not a
part of Pasadena. Right. The fact that the emergency center
(24:05):
is at the Convention Center is a partnership between the
county and the city, right, And so the city is
really only required to support and help Pasadena in Pasadena people, right.
But Altadena as a whole is pretty much the city
(24:28):
that has actually gone. Altadena has a town council, but
it does not have a city council. It does not
have a health department, it does not have its own
police department. It's like it's all ran through the county.
So the services that is coming through to Altadena is
actually from county services, which we know county services are
(24:48):
stretched stretched pretty thin. And so that's what brings a
difference between what's happening and the need that is happening
in this this era right now, is resources are really stretched.
But I also want to say too that even when
it comes to like responses, because I've heard a lot
(25:09):
of people talk about you know, I've literally seen fires
that started and it expanded and not a fire truck
fireman was around, right. But let me also say that
even though we're hurt behind that the fire in La Counties,
(25:34):
there was four fires at the same time. There was
the palis Ase fire, there was Stilmar fire that was passing,
an Eden Canyon fire, and there was another one that
I can't remember off the top of my head. But
there was four fires that happened at the same time,
which resources are stretched across our county because the wind
was so strong those nights, right, and so literally not
(25:59):
only was resources for the fire department stretch, but also
we had hydrants that was running out of water, that
did not have any more water for fire departments to
actually fight these fires. So they're gone connected to the
hydrants and they push all.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
The water out.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
They have no more water for the rest of the box,
which is another issue that was happening. Right.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Does this sound crazy though insane?
Speaker 6 (26:26):
Well, the thing is is, like I put it like this,
It's like if we had a big old soda right
in front of us, and you.
Speaker 5 (26:35):
Brandon, me, my mom, and.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
Several other people all have straws trying to drink from
the same cup, there's not enough to go around. And
that's exactly what happened. You had a scenario that could
not have been compensated like this. It wasn't it wasn't
a possibility. And I actually feel for the fire chief
when he was saying that he failed us. I said, man,
(27:01):
there there's nothing you could have done to prevent or
prepare for this because it has never happened. It's the
same thing like the pandemic four five years ago that
was unprecedented at least in our lifetime. And then to
have all these fires happening at one time is I mean,
(27:23):
the odds of it happening again, Lord Willing are too great.
So that's where I mean I was talking with someone else.
It's that the resources were there, however, they were stretched
to an extent that has never been encountered before.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
So this is not the time to point fingers to
put a blame because it's not going to do anything.
In fact, we're just wasting energy, wasting time to possibly
outsource resources and just go on in circles.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
But I guess one of.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Outcome, it's not going to change. It's not going to
change the outcome. The outcome come, it's not going to
bring those homes back. It's not going to bring. It's
like it's not the time for it. The time right
now is to work together and figure out how to
get people in a better emotional place, a living space
in all those things. Those are the things that are
(28:18):
important right now. The fault issue is so far down
the list. Right now, we just need to focus on
the people right now.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
And looking at Brandon, your news clip that you have
on your Instagram page, I saw you may mention that
you had people from all over the country that were
either flying in or coming in with donating different products
and resources. And you know, it's unfortunate that it is
a circumstance like this to happen. But if we were
to see the silver lining or the gin to the gang,
(28:52):
what screens out to me is community. And just as
time and technology has advanced, we've gotten so far we've
separated from one another, like we're close to rin but
get so far apart. And the main thing, Roland, I
think we had discussed this on a conversation that, like
you said, I don't have time to be going on
the website, calling a number, speaking to an operator. I
(29:13):
need to feel I need to see you, I need
to experience you, and I think If anything, the beautiful
thing about is that now we're getting back together, right.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Yeah, I mean for us, we really saw the response
from the community in totality. Now, let me be at
this and say, and I've set this to everybody's out
on my sand it here. A lot of the attention
was on palisades for a very long time, which y'all do,
(29:43):
y'all stuff. I ain't got nothing against that, But at
the same time, Pasadena Al Sadina needs help. And for
a long time we didn't get the news, press, we
didn't get media, we didn't get any of that stuff
because it was all on palisades for a very long time.
It wasn't until we actually started getting celebrities show up
(30:04):
to our drives to say what's happening here and they
started going on live and that from those moments is
when seeing in ABC all these people start showing up
to talk to families, When celebrities start showing up saying, hey,
there's an issue in out Tadna and you know, we
have to push the word out for ours. The first
(30:26):
two celebrities that came to ours that pushed the word
out was Afion Crocket and Trade the truth. They have
literally been on the ground running with us. I talked
to Trade every day, I talked to Afion every day.
They're asking us what we need? Can we put out
something else that you guys need all this stuff, But
those two people were the first two celebrities that really
(30:49):
put out to Dina on the map when it came
to relief and support. And then after that then people
start to share their stories and news media starts to
come and really see what the devastation was in out
to Dino. But even within that space of it, like
I said before, we've gotten support from all across the
(31:10):
United States. Not only just people saying how can we help,
or people just flying in to volunteer and then they
fly right back out, but we also had palllets of
trucks that came in from Dallas, Texas, from Atlanta, Georgia,
literally driving here to support these efforts. And so I
(31:30):
think it's been a really it's been a community support thing.
But here's also my caution to that when we see
stuff like that that happens, and this is my caution
for our community, not for people outside of the community,
but for our community. When we see stuff that happens
like that, the truth of the matter is it only
(31:51):
happens for so long, and it only lasts for so long.
Emergency relief lasts for so long. Volunteers last for so
long before they have to go back to their regular
lives and their jobs and take care of their families
and things of that nature. And so as we have
these volunteers that are helping, what we're really working on
(32:12):
right now is long term solutions and long term goals
for the community so that we can really maximize this opportunity,
which we are trying to do in this moment with
services and so many other things that has taking place,
and so you know, we're even building on the community.
(32:34):
But also I like to mention is that at every
last one of the drives that we've had, there has
been people that homes have burnt down that still comes
and serves their community. We literally have people every single
day that we're at our Dina Drive the families that
homes have burned down can't even get into their homes.
(32:55):
They have been at our drives serving back into their
community because they don't want to be sitting up in
the hotel room looking at the walls all day or
trying to be on the phone with getting the wrap
arounds and all that kind of stuff. They've literally been
on our site serving their community. And that's the type
of community that we have in the outsene the Passing area.
Speaker 5 (33:17):
Yeah, to your point, Brandon, I remember because I was.
Speaker 6 (33:20):
I was getting frustrated with that on the news broadcast too,
because they were leading with the Palisades.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
I'm like, what about Dina? What about Dina?
Speaker 6 (33:28):
And it was strange because I remember seeing Afion Gosh,
he was doing a live feed off of Mountain in Pasadena,
and I was glad to see that because I was like, Okay, cool,
someone is recognizing something other than the Palisades and it's
not the throw shade. But I'm like, it's not the
(33:49):
only thing going on right now.
Speaker 4 (33:55):
Oh yeah, I mean important thing is about that too,
man is I don't want to compare fires, I'm not
doing that at all, But the Eating Canyon fire actually
burned more structures than the Palisades fire. Palisades fires was
more land. Eating Canyon fire was actually more structures and
(34:16):
homes that was impacted by the Eating Canyon fire. You have.
I think they said ten churches has burned down, five
schools have burned down, and multiple, multiple small businesses that
are gone. I even talked to a gentleman today where
his business burned down and he actually stayed on top
(34:39):
on the next floor above his business, and so his
business and his home is gone. And so I think
the what we what we have to see here is
so many people have been displaced from this, even within
our elder community, our elder individuals who don't have family
(34:59):
members to help them push, you know, keeping them and
having them come back into our community. You know, they
need support as well. I spoke to somebody I was
at a press conference and the eighty seven year old
woman said that she's been in the civic center for
seven days. And it told me to pieces, I'm like,
all the churches that we have in our community, and
(35:21):
you mean to tell me that this eighty seven year
old lady was sitting up in the civic center all
this time. And so I called Master and was like,
we got to do something about this. Literally within five minutes,
we got her a place to stay. And so, you know,
it's the community plays a big part in this. But
going back to my original point, I don't really think
(35:41):
that the community has really in totalitly felt or really
realized how big of a devastation this has become.
Speaker 6 (35:51):
Well see, and that brings up another point that I
wanted to share as you were talking, because I think
about especially like you were saying, the elderly, because they're
I mean, there's that eighty seven year old woman, there's
another ninety eight year old woman with her son who's
in his seventies.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
And and you with your mom.
Speaker 6 (36:08):
Yeah, And I think about that because I wonder how
is that going to play out for the city of Altadena.
Are these elderly people going to return back to Altadena?
And that's and that's yeah, And that's the question I've
that's been kicking around.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
In my head.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
And when you mentioned that, Brandon, I was like, yeah,
there are people that have I mean, they've lived like
my mom has lived her entire life in Dina, And
I mean I know that jointly we're going to return,
but I can't imagine what that's like for someone that
doesn't have the support because I mean, when they I mean,
(36:46):
if it comes down to it, it, I mean, are
they going to wait years for a home to be
rebuilt or are they going to downsize and find assisted
living or convalescent.
Speaker 5 (36:58):
Things like that. I mean, those are the immediate things
I think of.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
And even when you talk about people were turning back, well,
what does that look like? Because from my understanding, if
you were paying a mortgage, you still are responsible for that.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
So how are you supposed to.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Pay for that existing mortgage, let alone if you have
to rent a place and it's been going around. I
know there has been measures out to prevent this from happening,
but we hear it about what the rent gouging looks like.
So is this even put in place for people to
come back or is this kind of like a period
end of a sentence.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
I mean, from what I'm seeing, it looks like the following.
It's that, for example, we're still paying a mortgage, but
we had to reach out to let them know, hey,
there is nothing to pay a mortgage on.
Speaker 5 (37:45):
There ain't nothing there.
Speaker 6 (37:46):
So we are in the process of going through that
so that we're not being not only incurring the past
due balance for the month, but also telling them to
provide a forbearance to us. Because I'm like, there's no
way right now that that even makes sense. And that's
another part of the hoops that you're talking about branding
(38:06):
where it's like another hoop to jump through and another
hoop to jump through, and that's its.
Speaker 5 (38:12):
Own pay in the behind right now.
Speaker 6 (38:14):
And then yeah, rent, I mean there was offers of
people renting places, but my I mean I have a
nine to five job, and that monthly, those two monthly
checks along with whatever my mom gets on her fixed income,
still couldn't cover it. And that's another challenge because now
homeowners are back in the renters spot, and that is
(38:36):
a really unfortunate spot to be in. And I encourage
people if they can reach out to their homeowners' insurance
and find out if there's some type of extended stay
or long term housing for at least six months that
they can get that the.
Speaker 5 (38:51):
Insurance will cover. Take it.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
Because I don't know about you, but paying fifty four
hundred a month on a two bedroom apartment is not feasible.
It would we would have nothing to show for it
at the end.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
I'm looking at a comment from Derek Steele, from the
executive director of the Social Justice Learning Institute, and he
stated the tax Assessor's office is supposed to be reassessing
homes for land rather than homes, and that will provide
folks with the opportunity to renegotiate their loans, something that
he's heard.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
Yeah, that is something that we're working on right now
with Jeff Frame's office, the La County Assessor is making
sure that that happens, but also making sure that we
fight with our local, state and federal legislators to make
sure that they put a pause on mortgage payments right now.
(39:49):
Because you cannot pay your mortgage payments and pay for
a hotel right or or even pay your mortgage and
pay for long term temporary housing like a lease of
an apartment until you built your home again. It doesn't
make any sense and it's not feasible, and it's and
it's interesting because, like, let's be very honest, this is
(40:12):
happening to the black community. Come on, yes, and this
is happening to families that homes have been here for generations.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
When we couldn't even buy a home, let alone had
a place so we could be safe and lay our head.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
And then this absolutely and and and in Pasadena, red
lining was a thing. And the community in al Aadena
that has burnt down was the community that many blacks
have gone to because of red lining. In the City
of Pasadena, right. That was my mom when so many
people was moved away from the seventeen stuff. Those people
(40:52):
went to Northwest Pasadena and they went to North Altadena, right,
which is the community that has been burnt down. And
so I think we have to talk about the history
of it, of redlining, but we also have to talk
about that this is generational wealth that has been impacted
into our community, into a community that was actually about
(41:14):
eighteen percent black two weeks ago. And now if you
take all those people, if they don't move back here,
then that community would only be one to two percent
black now. So those are the conversations that we really
have to have. Those are the conversations that we have
to have in order to put pressure on elected officials
(41:34):
and on our community members to say, hey, y'all, Altaanina
is not for sale. You can't buy yourself into Altanina.
We don't want multi units to be built on land
that was single family home for generations. We want single
family homes to be in those areas so that people
can actually live there and rebuild their homes the way
(41:55):
they wanted to be rebuilt.
Speaker 6 (41:58):
Because Altadena has been known for decades as a bedroom community,
and I mean there are very few or were very
few apartments in the Altadena area because it was known
as a bedroom community. My mom was one of those
that moved Altadena because of the redlining situation.
Speaker 5 (42:18):
And I mean even on our block.
Speaker 6 (42:20):
It's that there were about four original neighbors that were
still on our block that I grew up with. Everyone
else had changed or moved. So yeah, the greater question
is are they returning. But also at the same time,
we got to fight for it. I mean Altadena, I
mean I say it.
Speaker 5 (42:41):
Alcadna is our home. That's our home, right.
Speaker 6 (42:46):
We were in Pasadena, then we got gently pushed quote unquote.
Speaker 5 (42:51):
Into Alcadena and we made that hours and we can't
let this push us out again.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Yeah, I'm just go ahead.
Speaker 4 (43:03):
There's also so many people, just to mention, there's so
many groups like Derek Still and SJLI and like literally
so many organizations from Inglewood showed up on Saturday to
support passing out in the efforts saying, hey, y'all, we
fighting with y'all. We ready to rebuild with y'all. We
want to help y'all to rebuild. This is not something
(43:24):
that they coming in here trying to lead. This is
something that they're following our lead behind, saying hey, we
want to maximize your voice. We want to literally lift
up what you guys are doing. And so that that's
what is going to take for us. I mean this
is this isn't an entire city, y'all. An entire city
is gone, and so it's going to take multiple efforts
(43:46):
for us to rebuild this entire city.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Is like, I'm a little frustrated.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
I said, we got to do this out as a
community because ain't no one else going to do it
for us.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
Ain't nobody taking care of Ain't nobody coming to save
ourselves but ourselves.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
That's all we got to step into. That whole notion
is for us and by us.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
And that's why we're so happy to hear even Derek
was saying this, and just how you've echoed in Brandon,
even you Roland just yesterday of speaking how we are
going to have to lock hands with one another. We're
gonna have to get back to the times that we
didn't got in the circle. We didn't have these conversations
about what we need, who's looking after who, who's taking
care of our children, who's taking care of our elderly people.
(44:28):
Who is taking care of the people that we need
because we can't expect somebody on the outside. Now, something
else that I think that needs to be addressed. What
are we gonna do about in the future, well outa
dina once it's rebuilt, or what we're doing to ensure
that it's no longer unincorporated, to ensure that we have
a firehouse, to ensure we have whatever resources one needs
in the community, because clearly this is a hazard zone
(44:50):
when it comes to wildfires, right, this is not a secret.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Who do we need to talk to for somebody.
Speaker 2 (44:56):
That may not be so politically intelligent of knowing who
the officials are, knowing about the legislations, knowing about the bills.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
Where does a regular, average Joe, average Jane.
Speaker 4 (45:07):
Start supervisor's office, county supervisor are a supervisor in Altadena area?
It's Katherin Barger And I mean, yeah, we have a
town council, but the supervisors is what has the power
in Altadena past. Altadena has always been a red zone.
(45:27):
And what I mean by that is you cannot light
fireworks in Altina because there's so many trees, right, there's
so many trees in al Tandina. We're that close to
the mountains and so you cannot light fireworks up there.
There's a lot of stuff that you can do. Because
it's a red zone when it comes to fires, there's
(45:49):
not as many fire stations that it should be. Fire
stations are very small within themselves as well. But you know,
I think at the end of the day, if you
want to advocate for that, you first have to go
to the supervisors.
Speaker 6 (46:09):
I agree, because I mean I can easily name both
the fire stations.
Speaker 5 (46:15):
It's eleven and twelve.
Speaker 6 (46:16):
Twelve was a blockdown for me, and eleven is off
of Mariposa and El Molino.
Speaker 4 (46:21):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Also, do you feel as though, like FEMA and a
lot of resources that have been sent by the government,
are they doing the job and they're showing.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
Up in the ways that we would expect them to.
Speaker 5 (46:36):
From what our experience has been. Yes. In fact, it
was interesting.
Speaker 6 (46:40):
You should mention that Brandon Katherine Barker actually approached me
when I was at PCC and she wanted feedback, like,
how is this working for you? I said, I'm grateful
that FEMA is on the ground and we can apply
in person, because that helped soothe a lot of worry
and stress that my mom and I were experiencing. And
(47:01):
to have that personal connection of talking to someone and
even interjecting jokes here and there made that process a
whole lot better than what it could have been. And
that's the important part, is that the personal connection is
important right now, impersonal connection and I've had some on
(47:22):
the phone experiences with this.
Speaker 5 (47:24):
People will ask, we'll do the usual script.
Speaker 6 (47:28):
I tell them what happened, and it's heard, but it's
not received, and then by the end of the conversation, Okay,
have a great day. I'm like, I ain't having a
great day, and you just made it worse because they're
not mindful. They're not reading the room, they're they're not
(47:49):
truly listening to me. They're just hearing sound and waiting
for a pause and jumping in and doing whatever they're doing.
So the actually, I would say, the active listening is
a really important thing. And FEMA showed up. We found
out through and I'll be honest with you, we had
(48:11):
the hustle on this one. My mom has her insurance
and she reached out to the agent probably the second
day that we were in the hotel, and the phone
just kept ringing, and I told my mom, I said,
is there anyone else that you know that knows your insurance,
like someone that works for that same insurance company?
Speaker 5 (48:33):
And she started brainstorming. She's like, Oh, that's right. And
there's a food.
Speaker 6 (48:37):
Bank that she was helping out at a church that
was unfortunately lost in the fire in Altadena. That's Fountain
of Life off of Fair Oaks, And she reached out
to those two women, and those two women put her
in touch with another phone number that got us to
find out that there were mobile centers throughout the area.
(48:58):
So we went to that mobile center and we're able
to process that and get that done. However, if it
weren't for my mom's connection to the community, she would
not have had that and I would not have been
able to help her with that other than trying to
dig online on the internet and try to find a
backwards the way to get in.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Now, what about you, Brandon, what would you say on
the end of the other end, as far as helping others,
providing resources.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
Making a way.
Speaker 2 (49:26):
What is it that you see that you even need
from your support? Do you find it more beneficial if
people donate directly to those who have been directly affected,
such as it go fundme or send over monies to
Red Cross and with FEMA and so forth.
Speaker 4 (49:43):
Maybe I shouldn't say this on here, but I'm gonna
say it anyway. I think Red crossing FEMA has enough money.
They've been doing this for a very long time, and
they have a track record of supporters who already support them.
So that's that I think. What you I think what
needs to happen is people who know people donate to
(50:05):
those gofundmes, and we have a list of trusted gofund
me accounts because also I have friends who wanted to
create go fundmes for their families and they couldn't because
some fake person created gofundmes with the house.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
On them shut the front door.
Speaker 4 (50:29):
Yeah, this is how this was happening. The same day
it started, the fire started. So if you're going to
donate to a GoFundMe, make sure you get that link
from the person that you're donating to or trusted individual
that you trust, because there are fake accounts, and I
mean those fake accounts were upward of twenty thousand dollars
(50:50):
in them, and so just be mindful of that, right
and then the organizations that I that I trust is
the flint Ridge Center locally and Neighborhood Servants locally in
the city of Pasadena. Those are the organizations that I
trust that are supporting the efforts that we're doing with
(51:11):
the Dena relief drive. And then also if you're in
the LA area and you're looking for organizations that you trust.
S j l I is one of Social Justice Learning
Institute with there still there direct partners to us and
they're they've been supporting us from the ground literally, and
(51:33):
so if that's also an option for you. I always
tell people, tap into the people that you trust, tapp
into the organizations that you trust, because the people in
the organizations that you trust are connected to the people
that are in need. So and then also I always
tell people as well that make sure you do your homework,
(51:54):
especially in disasters, groups come out the woolworks. Everybody got
a group, now, Alighty got to drive Now, it comes
out the woodwork. So do your homework on who you
should support, and do your homework on who you should
give to and what organizations and churches used to support.
(52:14):
Even during this time, there's a lot of people that
are doing some great work, but there are some that
are just in it for the moment and so just
do your homework. And then last year I'll say is
now that I'm the president of the NAACP here in
Passing that you can always get gift there and support
there and we always make sure that all donations go
(52:35):
right back into our community.
Speaker 1 (52:37):
Okay, awesome.
Speaker 2 (52:38):
Now I see that the Diner Relief Drive is doing
something all this week, right each week?
Speaker 1 (52:42):
Are you guys? What's tell me to do?
Speaker 4 (52:45):
So? Yeah, Diner Relief Drive is going on at the
Passing the Church with Pastor Kurrmany Monday through Saturday. This week.
Also Saturday, the Dinner Drive, we're hosting a youth festival
at Harambe Ministris which is sixteen oh nine Navarro Street
in Pasadena. Because we are young people have benefactored the service.
Speaker 1 (53:14):
Is a little blotchy on your end, Brandon, can you
hear me? Okay?
Speaker 4 (53:21):
Yeah, So despite all the other organizations and stuff that
I've named already that has been supported what we're doing.
You know, it's always good to find trusted go fund
means that you can give to. Also, if you have
people who need donations for go funding, you can actually
send those to me and I'll make sure that we
(53:43):
push those out to our networks as.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
Well where they send it to you. You said to you,
what's your email? Social media?
Speaker 4 (53:51):
Yeah, you can send it to me on Instagram which
is b d Lamar on Instagram. If you want to
send it to my email, that's Brandon F. R. Pasadena
at Gmail is Branding four Pasadena at gmail dot com,
and Instagram is bed Lamar. I don't mind sharing that
with my space of influence and things that that nature.
(54:13):
At the end of the day, we're trying to rebuild
together and we're trying to grow this together. Dina Relief
Drive is our main hub now is at the Pasiting
the Church which is four twenty five North sier Madre
Villa Avenue in Pasadena. It's literally right across the street
(54:33):
from Northstrom Drack and their arrows. This week is Monday
through Saturday from eleven to six pm, and so you
can get everything from water, clothes, hygiene, kids, babywear, feminine product,
(54:54):
anything that you can think of that was in your home.
It's probably at our site that you can come in get.
We also have gift cars available if you are looking
to donate something. I would say The biggest need right
now is gift cards. The reason why we're asking people
to give gift cards is so many restaurants are gracious
(55:15):
to be providing food for families, hot meals for families.
But the truth of the matter is those families don't
have refrigerators, they don't have microwaves, they don't have ovens,
they don't have anything. They have nowhere to put it.
And so what we've been telling people is to give
restaurant gift cards where families can go get hot meals
when they want them and when they need them. And
(55:38):
so we're really pushing those gift cards. And then also
you can always give Target gift cards and Walmart gift
cards so that families can go get the essentials and
the clothes and stuff that they might need for days
and weeks to come as well. But those are really
the biggest needs for us and what we're seeing in
our community. And you know, the drives are just emergency
(56:01):
relief for this moment, in this time right now. But
there's so many things that are happening within the space,
and like I said, this is going to be a
five to seven year process within our community. And so yeah,
there's a lot to happen. There's a lot that is happening,
and then there's also a lot that will be happening
(56:21):
as well. And then one of the things that I
want to highlight to is if you have anybody looking
for long term temporary housing, which I know that's a
crazy word, but long term temporary housing is those lease
or apartments that's twelve months or under which our families
are going to be looking for those things. We have
a direct partnership with an organization called green Line Housing Foundation.
(56:45):
Green Line is g r ee n l I n
E Housing Foundation, and they actually have grants available for
families to be able to pay their short term housing
short term housing needs. So you can look up green
Light Housing Foundation and they're there to support with long
(57:08):
term support as well.
Speaker 2 (57:10):
All right now, who were passing a baton to y'all,
you could just say, just so we can put the
name out there and y'all can send me the information.
Speaker 1 (57:19):
Brandon, who you got.
Speaker 4 (57:22):
I spoke a little bit about green Light Housing Foundation,
and so we're gonna pass botime the green Light Housing
Foundation and the owner is Jasmine super which I'm very
close to and I would definitely send you her information
so that you guys can connect and make sure that
the information that she is sharing goes out into the public.
Speaker 1 (57:43):
All right, Jasmine, I'm pulling up on you, and I'm
gonna need you to pull up on me.
Speaker 2 (57:49):
Uh Roland, did you have some you want to say?
Speaker 6 (57:53):
Yeah, the person I'd like to pass a baton too,
or the organization rather especially for I'd say for voice actors.
Particularly is NAVA, which stands for the National Association of
Voice Actors and you can find them at nav as
in Victora dot org. And they are providing monetary support
(58:18):
to voice actors that are in need at this time,
so you can definitely reach out to them, and they
will also put you in touch with other resources or
people for the voice acting community for those that have
lost their year in this fire.
Speaker 2 (58:36):
Not only have people lost their homes, but for many
even their livelihood. But guess what if you fall down
seven times, you get up eight If you can look up,
you can get up. And where we are right now,
we know that our location is not our destination.
Speaker 1 (58:50):
Okay, So were going to keep the faith in mind.
Speaker 2 (58:53):
I want to remind all of you if you know
somebody that has been affected, if you know somebody that
needs some more information, Please feel free to.
Speaker 1 (58:59):
Say send me an email.
Speaker 2 (59:01):
Vitamin D at Dawn Dai speaks dot com. That's Vitamin
D at Dawn Dai speaks dot com. Just put in
the subject la wildfire Pasadena, Alta Dina support, help put
whatever you need. Just reach out and touch somebody so
we can touch somebody on So okay now when also
(59:21):
welcome you to follow us on all social media. Vitamin
D Dawn d Ai. It's Vitamin D Dawn d Ai.
And if you like your own personal Vitamin D you me, baby,
I want to encourage you to follow me on all
social media at Dawn Dai speaks. That's Dawn Dai speaks.
All right, Well, fellows, thank you so much for sharing
(59:43):
your story.
Speaker 1 (59:44):
Thank you so much for the work that you do.
Speaker 2 (59:46):
And as always, if there's any way that I can support,
how I can elevate the conversation or amplify a voice,
please feel free.
Speaker 1 (59:53):
To reach out to me.
Speaker 4 (59:55):
Well Dale that you're doing all right?
Speaker 1 (59:59):
All right, guys, until next time, get your
Speaker 3 (01:00:03):
Fighting indy right here with me and get excited about
your life
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You are tuned in to the Vitamin D with Dawn
Day podcast and I am your host, Dawn Day, here
to get you excited about your life so that you
can live life on purpose and for a purpose. If
this is your first time tuning in, and welcome Vitamin D.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
It's upon off. My name.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
My name is Dawn, and you get Vitamin D from
the sun. So I'm here shed light into your life.
And I do this with inspirational insights and conversations with
celebrities and everyday people like you and me. Because if
you want to be better and you want to do better,
then you're going to have to be able to see better.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
So join me on this journey of living.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Our best lives and understanding and realizing how you are
your greatest asset.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Get your Vita mindy right with me and get excited
about your life.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Oh, welcome to Vitamin D Live. I'm your host.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Down like the break of day, and I am so
excited to have each and every one of you with me.
Get ready for a riveting conversation. I am in the
studio right now. I am broadcasting live on Facebook. We're
on LinkedIn and I'm also set up my IG live
Brandon waiting for me to accept the request. I'm waiting
on you to recept request. So I have a very
(01:13):
special guest. He is the Pasadena INAC president, and we're
gonna be talking about what's happening in Pasadena and Altadena area.
We know that the wildfires have been ravaging all the
way through, so I said, let's bring the.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
News and information to you. Let's talk to somebody that's.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
On the ground making it work, making the impact, so
we can see what kind of resources people need. Plus,
I've been teasing this guest. His name is Roland Wiley.
He is a I don't want to say past or
previous resident, but a resident of the Pasadena Alta Dina
area that has been displaced.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
He was supposed to join right at five, but be
due to the fact of traveling trying to get stuff together.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
He said, Dawn, I'm gonna call in.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Later so we can pull up on the conversation, and
I want to invite you as well. Make sure that
you take note of the number in the studio if
you would like to call for any comments. It's eight one,
eight four sixty one fifty four to thirty two. That's
eight one, eight four, six one fifty four to thirty two.
And if you are tuning in on Facebook or LinkedIn,
I have provided the link for you to join us live.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Okay, so get ready for this rivenon conversation.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
I'm talking about twenty seven people have been noted to
have been killed, fourteen thousand structures have been destroyed.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
That's over sixty square feet.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Miles and millions upon millions and even generations of lives
have been impacted. So family, without further ado, please help me.
Welcome Brandon Lamar. Hello there, Brandon, how you doing? Let
me see can.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
You hear me now?
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Oh kamen, yes I can hear you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So you have been on the ground, running, running and rolling.
You have really been putting forth the effort with the
Dina Relief Drive. And as we are here, I want
you to share with everyone about what's going on in
Pasadena Altadena area and what's information you want to share
with share with the folks.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah, So there's been a lot of stuff that we've
been doing with the Deaner Relief Drive.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
First, can you introduce yourself and how you've been impacted
about the fall wildfires.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, so my name is Brandon Lamar, born and raised
in the past and Alta area. My grandparents has had
a church in Altina for the past since nineteen seventy seven, honestly,
and so it's been a long history of being in
the Altadena around Altina and my grandparents lived in Altina,
(03:52):
my aunts living out my parents used to live in
out Tina, of course, and so it's a long history
of Outa. I went to school in elementary's. I went
to elementary school in Alzire and so it's a long
history of our connection with the city of altd And
so I am the passing the branch president of the NAACP.
(04:18):
They literally just solidified it two days ago, and so
it's amazing work that is happening within our communities and
what we're trying to do here locally. And then also
serve as the vice chair of the Rental Housing Board
for the City of Pasaden as well.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Oh wow, So you really have your hands and the
thick of everything about what's going on from a lot
of angles, from being an actual resident to having families
that have been impacted, as well as doing your community
work there.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Absolutely, so two weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Today is when it all started.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, literally about ten days,
it has all shifted for us, and it shifted in
a way where we were It's a normal day and
I'm on my way home from dropping off my dad
and literally we get notifications that we had to evacuate
(05:18):
because the fire just started eating canyon and that night
it was about eighty miles an hour wind that had hit,
and so it overnight. It took the fire literally a
couple hours to go ten thousand acres, and our lives
have changed since it.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So you you were awaken in the middle of the
night when all of this happened.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I was actually on my way home from work from
dropping off my dad and then work when the fire
actually started. But the out of residents I actually living
passing the outing and residents were awaken two and three
o'clock in the morning to evacuate out of their home
because the fire had spread it that quickly, and some
(06:07):
people didn't have any time to put on clothes. We
had a lady who came to our drive and she
literally showed up in her car with a T shirt
and underwear that she had on from running out of
her car because this I mean running out of her
house because the Sheriff's department actually had knocked on her
door because the fire literally was on her roof, and
(06:31):
so they would banging on her door to get out,
and she only had time to get her keys and
runt her car and drive away. And so when we
started to drive, she was one of our first people
that showed up to the drive with her t shirt
and underwear on.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
And I'm sure she's not the only one. There's so
many other people who just grab whatever they could grab
at the moment and knew that they had to get
it out.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Of the house.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Absolutely. Absolutely, There's so many stories that has been told
from family members to friends that lost everything right and
they just had to get up and go. Literally majority
of them had to leave between two and three o'clock
in the morning because that's how fast the fire had
spread it. So if you look at it in Palisades,
(07:18):
it took Palisades fire between three to four days to
get to ten thousand acres. It took the Eating Kenyon
fire less than six or seven hours to get to
ten thousand acres. And that's how that is fast it spreaded.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Now you may mention that you have aunts and relatives.
Was your childhood home burned down in Altadena?
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Yeah, it's gone. Where we used to living outside it
is gone. It's gone. The corner where my grandparents had
their church is gone. My elementary school, Edison Elementary School
is gone. My middle school for the middle schools burned
down at Elliott Middle School. That's gone. A lot of
(08:05):
my neighbors, homes of the community as a kid where
I grew up, it's gone. Liquor stores, grocery stores, neighborhood stores,
black businesses are gone. Banks are gone, churches are gone.
There's so many things that are not there anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I'm so sorry to hear that at this moment, at
this time. What made you starter? How did you start
the Dina Relief Drive? And I've seen your social media.
Everybody has been talking about the work that you have
been doing in a coalition to others. In fact, I
was just speaking with Derek Steele and said, Hey, you
need to talk to Brandon.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
You need to talk to him about what's going on.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Yeah, that's my boy. He's been helping since day one.
But literally how it took place is Wednesday night. I
actually drove up myself in the neighborhood across Altadena, and
things were still on fire, but some way I was
able to finesse and get around law enforcement and the
(09:12):
fire department and so many other people that blocking streets,
and I saw firsthand homes were still on fire, Schools
were still on fire, homes were completely destroyed and gone,
and fire was still coming out of home from the
gas pipes. And I witnessed that with my own eyes.
(09:35):
Literally the smoke was so thick to where you couldn't
even see literally your hand in front of your face,
which is how thick the smoke was. It was like
a bomb blue in the city of Altadena. And so
that night I got home because I actually had took
my family to Ontario, my wife and my mother in
(09:57):
law and my sister and them. They stayed in hotel
and I actually stayed home with the humidifier here. And
so after helping family and friends evacuate and stuff like that,
and I got home late that night, about midnight, And
when I woke up the next morning, the first person
(10:17):
I called was Michelle White, who was the executive director
for Neighborhood Servants, and I told her, I said, hey,
I don't know purple.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
No okay, okay.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Yeah that's what that's Michelle from SEIU twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Okay, yes, okay, okay, my pologies, please go ahead.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
All good, All good. So Michelle White from Neighborhood Servants,
and I said, Michelle, we have to do something. It
to go like it's a green light. We got to
do something for our community. That was at nine o'clock
in the morning at so we was like, hey, there's needed,
we need a location nine thirty. I called Josh was
(10:57):
the executive director from Flintridge and he was like, yes, absolutely,
like y'all can do that today. So he said he's
going to be there at ten o'clock. I showed up
at ten o'clock. By eleven o'clock that same morning, we
had one hundred and fifty volunteers to help us. We
had pallettes and pallettes of items that were being donated
(11:18):
to us. Literally within an hour of us doing a
simple post online on Instagram, it turned into something that
was literally crazy. So since that Thursday, we have service
today over three thousand families. Now we have given out
over forty thousand dollars worth of gift cards. We have
(11:41):
hosted over one thousand volunteers to support families, and even
this past weekend, we had free haircuts for our young
people and our families. We had free massages for our
families that was affected. We had free chiropractor services for
families that were affected, and with sciu Won twenty one
(12:02):
that provided health screenings for families that was affected by
this fire as well. And then we saw another need
that yes, we were doing this at this location, but
the fire actually started in East Pasadena, and so we
decided to partner with Passing the Church pastor Kurlin Manny,
and we just started doing the same thing at Passing
(12:22):
the Church on the east side so that the people
in that community can actually get the same support that
we were doing in Northwest Pasadena.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Oh my goodness. And what about mental health services? Are
you guys providing resources or options for that as well?
Speaker 4 (12:37):
We are providing resources to mental health services on site.
We had about I think it was four license clinical
mental health professionals that was there on site to new
family check ins with family people, and then for those
that needed more support, we did do some referral outs
(12:57):
and so yeah, it's been a world wind of support,
but then also to be honest, don we're still at
the emergency stages of it right. People haven't even really
comprehended in the totality of what just took place, because
that's the type of emergency that we were We were
just in. So people are still getting their necessities that
(13:19):
they need, and they get in the essentials that they
need right now, and I don't think it really has
hit home the damage that has really been done to
our community. Literally ninety percent, I would say eighty five
to ninety percent of a city is actually gone at
this moment.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
I have another guest in here who's actually been affected.
I made mentioned to him earlier. His name is Roland Wiley,
who's a resident in the Pasadena Altadena area who has
been displaced. And I really want this to be a
free going conversation where you know, you guys piggyback or forth,
because what I really want to do is bring awareness
to this. I don't want this to be something like,
(13:59):
oh this happened. All the era is fine. People are fine.
We've donated with the long terms effects and really have
a grassroot feel. So without further ado, I would like
to welcome our one and only.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Roland Wiley to the program.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Hi Roland, Hi, y'all.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
Brandon, thank you for bringing up the very point that's
been on my mind throughout this entire time. It's that,
like he said, between eighty ninety percent of a city
is gone, it's displaced. I mean, we've got people friends
of mine that I mean, I'm a long, long standing
(14:39):
Altadena resident of forty plus years, and I have friends
that have been displaced as far as Riverside to Mecula,
Ontario and all points far east. And it's it's difficult
because being that far away from our home, I mean,
(15:01):
Altadena is forever my home.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
It's hard because it's adjusting to not being a homeowner anymore.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
Now you're being a renter and trying to figure out
places that will fit within your budget. And like Brandon said,
it's like, I'm so grateful for his relief services that
have been throughout thepacity the Altadena area because those have
helped me and my family as well.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Oh yeah, yes, absolutely, And just really quickly with both
of you on right now, from the perspective of someone
who has been affected and doing the work and versus
someone that has been to displaced, do you feel that
the media, the people, there's some misconceptions because done.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
We can't hear you on the live shoam.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Oh okay, can you hear me now?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (15:52):
Okay, yeah, now you're in.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
There, all right? Perfect.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
My question was I love the fact that we have
both of you on here somebody that has been.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
I mean, we've all been affected, honestly.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
But you're on one end where you're providing the support
and rolling you're on the other end where you're actually
needing the support. Are there any misconceptions or are there
any messages that you want people to know about what
has happened, what is happening, and maybe some fears of
what we need to prepare in the future.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
Gosh, I would say, well, what is happening is just
massive displacement of a city is first and foremost, and
the age range is so wide. I mean, when I
was at the Pasadena Convention Center Wednesday morning to see
people that were convalescent and in their wheelchairs or in
(16:43):
their night gowns and being escorted to the convention center,
I mean, my heart drops because I think about.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
These elderly people that are whether.
Speaker 6 (16:55):
They're ambulatory meaning that they can walk or nonambulatory, meaning
that they have to be in a wheelchair and someone.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
Has to escort them.
Speaker 6 (17:02):
That's a challenge because being in the convention center, the
things that they may need are really not readily available.
And luckily there has been a turn within the past gosh,
it feels like it's been so long, but in the
past week or so that accommodations have been made and
they've been provided and sent to other locations that could
(17:22):
really help them right now, because that's a really big part.
And places like the Pasenia Convention Center, places like PCC
along with the Passia City College Community Center which is
on the east side of Pasaden and towards like Sarah
Madre Villa has FEMA there.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
They have social Security there.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
If you lost your Social Security card, if you lost
your passport due to the fire, and I stressed due
to the fire, because there have been people. Even I
was there earlier today, people were like, well, I like
to get a new passport, and everyone is telling them
this is for people that lost their identification do the fires.
(18:03):
So that is the main thing I want to convey
these these resources are available for those that have been
affected by the fire. Primarily, what I would say myths
that are going on. Gosh, I would say misconceptions right now.
(18:24):
Of course, with tragedy comes people that prey upon those
that are in need. So they're I mean, my mom
has gotten calls from different spam numbers saying, oh, well,
we heard that your roof was damaged.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
And I'm like, well, it's not the roof.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Our higher block is decimated and it's gone, so we
already know that to scam. We actually verified and questioned
FEMA as we were over at past Meda City College
today about certain phone numbers that we received, and they
were able to confirm or verify or just let us know, hey,
(19:04):
that's not a legit number. So being really aware of that,
I really want to emphasize that people, if they are
able to get to these locations to seek help, get
it that way because this reminds me of working during
the pandemic, and the office I work for by day
(19:26):
deals with unlawful evictions, homelessness prevention and things like that,
So they're I mean, in that way, people were being
notified by email. However, Internet access is not readily available
for people and during the pandemic that was a thing
because I mean, I'm old school. If I don't have
(19:47):
internet at home, I'm going to the library. But you
couldn't get to the library or a coffee shop or
things like that where you could get free Wi Fi
or internet. So I encourage people to if you're in
the Pasadena area, definitely find those resources. The Pasadena Convention
Center is one Pasadena City Colleges. Both campuses are available.
(20:11):
Randon Lamar's Dina Relief is available. But go to these places,
go physically in person, and talk to someone because that
is how you will get the most help. Trying to
do it online is stressful and I can't speak for
anyone other than my mom and myself. We just shut
down because it was just too much online because you're
(20:35):
not sure. You want to ask questions about the things
that you're filling out, and the best way to do
that is to make the time to go to these locations,
to speak to.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Someone in person, and to be honest too, We don't
want people to do this by themselves. Agree the tragedy
has hit all of us, let me say that. And
so you have people who don't know how to maneuver
and don't know how to go through this process that
are still trying to figure out this process and understand
(21:09):
what in totality has happened. And so we really don't
want people to go through this process by themselves, to
get the support by themselves. I remember when FEMA first
came out. I've heard of a lot of people who
had already gotten denied from FEMA when they first applied,
and they had to go back in and apply and
(21:30):
get services. And so we really don't want that to
happen because also this is very emotional for a lot
of people. It's tragic what has happened. And within the
matter of moments, you had to leave your home, you
have to find somewhere else to stay, you have to
(21:53):
drop everything. Some people left their pets, you left memories,
you left pictures, you deft identification, like there's just so
many things that people didn't have the chance to just
grab a hold on and take with them. And so,
you know, this is not a process that we want
people to go through by themselves. There is support out there,
(22:13):
whether it be through the city, whether it be do
the dener Relief Drive, whether it be through I know
my church alone has helped over six hundred families with
this situation with case Management Services, and so Victory Bible
Church is here to help as well. But there's so
many partners within our community that want to be of support.
(22:38):
But like I said before, don you know, I don't
think that the real reality of what has taken place
has really hit our community yet, because you still have
a lot of family members and people who still have
not seen out ta Dina. They news, but you still
have people out there that don't even know if they're
(23:00):
house is standing or is it going. You know, you
still have people out there that are still looking for
missing family members right right, So the totality of this
destruction has not really hit our community to me, and I'm.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Glad you highlighted that.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I know we've heard like many people who have already
been notated as died, but I don't know if I've
heard or maybe I've missed how many people were just injured,
not only physically, not only mentally. And I'm just wondering
not to put a blame game, but do you feel
as though the city has shown up in the way
that it should it could have, and do you feel
(23:40):
comfortable how things will operate in the future.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
If I can jump in there from the city side,
of it. To be honest, there's only so much that
the city can do because the majority of the damage
was in an unincorporated area. So Altadena is not a
part of Pasadena. Right. The fact that the emergency center
(24:05):
is at the Convention Center is a partnership between the
county and the city, right, And so the city is
really only required to support and help Pasadena in Pasadena people, right.
But Altadena as a whole is pretty much the city
(24:28):
that has actually gone. Altadena has a town council, but
it does not have a city council. It does not
have a health department, it does not have its own
police department. It's like it's all ran through the county.
So the services that is coming through to Altadena is
actually from county services, which we know county services are
(24:48):
stretched stretched pretty thin. And so that's what brings a
difference between what's happening and the need that is happening
in this this era right now, is resources are really stretched.
But I also want to say too that even when
it comes to like responses, because I've heard a lot
(25:09):
of people talk about you know, I've literally seen fires
that started and it expanded and not a fire truck
fireman was around, right. But let me also say that
even though we're hurt behind that the fire in La Counties,
(25:34):
there was four fires at the same time. There was
the palis Ase fire, there was Stilmar fire that was passing,
an Eden Canyon fire, and there was another one that
I can't remember off the top of my head. But
there was four fires that happened at the same time,
which resources are stretched across our county because the wind
was so strong those nights, right, and so literally not
(25:59):
only was resources for the fire department stretch, but also
we had hydrants that was running out of water, that
did not have any more water for fire departments to
actually fight these fires. So they're gone connected to the
hydrants and they push all.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
The water out.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
They have no more water for the rest of the box,
which is another issue that was happening. Right.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Does this sound crazy though insane?
Speaker 6 (26:26):
Well, the thing is is, like I put it like this,
It's like if we had a big old soda right
in front of us, and you.
Speaker 5 (26:35):
Brandon, me, my mom, and.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
Several other people all have straws trying to drink from
the same cup, there's not enough to go around. And
that's exactly what happened. You had a scenario that could
not have been compensated like this. It wasn't it wasn't
a possibility. And I actually feel for the fire chief
when he was saying that he failed us. I said, man,
(27:01):
there there's nothing you could have done to prevent or
prepare for this because it has never happened. It's the
same thing like the pandemic four five years ago that
was unprecedented at least in our lifetime. And then to
have all these fires happening at one time is I mean,
(27:23):
the odds of it happening again, Lord Willing are too great.
So that's where I mean I was talking with someone else.
It's that the resources were there, however, they were stretched
to an extent that has never been encountered before.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
So this is not the time to point fingers to
put a blame because it's not going to do anything.
In fact, we're just wasting energy, wasting time to possibly
outsource resources and just go on in circles.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
But I guess one of.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Outcome, it's not going to change. It's not going to
change the outcome. The outcome come, it's not going to
bring those homes back. It's not going to bring. It's
like it's not the time for it. The time right
now is to work together and figure out how to
get people in a better emotional place, a living space
in all those things. Those are the things that are
(28:18):
important right now. The fault issue is so far down
the list. Right now, we just need to focus on
the people right now.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
And looking at Brandon, your news clip that you have
on your Instagram page, I saw you may mention that
you had people from all over the country that were
either flying in or coming in with donating different products
and resources. And you know, it's unfortunate that it is
a circumstance like this to happen. But if we were
to see the silver lining or the gin to the gang,
(28:52):
what screens out to me is community. And just as
time and technology has advanced, we've gotten so far we've
separated from one another, like we're close to rin but
get so far apart. And the main thing, Roland, I
think we had discussed this on a conversation that, like
you said, I don't have time to be going on
the website, calling a number, speaking to an operator. I
(29:13):
need to feel I need to see you, I need
to experience you, and I think If anything, the beautiful
thing about is that now we're getting back together, right.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Yeah, I mean for us, we really saw the response
from the community in totality. Now, let me be at
this and say, and I've set this to everybody's out
on my sand it here. A lot of the attention
was on palisades for a very long time, which y'all do,
(29:43):
y'all stuff. I ain't got nothing against that, But at
the same time, Pasadena Al Sadina needs help. And for
a long time we didn't get the news, press, we
didn't get media, we didn't get any of that stuff
because it was all on palisades for a very long time.
It wasn't until we actually started getting celebrities show up
(30:04):
to our drives to say what's happening here and they
started going on live and that from those moments is
when seeing in ABC all these people start showing up
to talk to families, When celebrities start showing up saying, hey,
there's an issue in out Tadna and you know, we
have to push the word out for ours. The first
(30:26):
two celebrities that came to ours that pushed the word
out was Afion Crocket and Trade the truth. They have
literally been on the ground running with us. I talked
to Trade every day, I talked to Afion every day.
They're asking us what we need? Can we put out
something else that you guys need all this stuff, But
those two people were the first two celebrities that really
(30:49):
put out to Dina on the map when it came
to relief and support. And then after that then people
start to share their stories and news media starts to
come and really see what the devastation was in out
to Dino. But even within that space of it, like
I said before, we've gotten support from all across the
(31:10):
United States. Not only just people saying how can we help,
or people just flying in to volunteer and then they
fly right back out, but we also had palllets of
trucks that came in from Dallas, Texas, from Atlanta, Georgia,
literally driving here to support these efforts. And so I
(31:30):
think it's been a really it's been a community support thing.
But here's also my caution to that when we see
stuff like that that happens, and this is my caution
for our community, not for people outside of the community,
but for our community. When we see stuff that happens
like that, the truth of the matter is it only
(31:51):
happens for so long, and it only lasts for so long.
Emergency relief lasts for so long. Volunteers last for so
long before they have to go back to their regular
lives and their jobs and take care of their families
and things of that nature. And so as we have
these volunteers that are helping, what we're really working on
(32:12):
right now is long term solutions and long term goals
for the community so that we can really maximize this opportunity,
which we are trying to do in this moment with
services and so many other things that has taking place,
and so you know, we're even building on the community.
(32:34):
But also I like to mention is that at every
last one of the drives that we've had, there has
been people that homes have burnt down that still comes
and serves their community. We literally have people every single
day that we're at our Dina Drive the families that
homes have burned down can't even get into their homes.
(32:55):
They have been at our drives serving back into their
community because they don't want to be sitting up in
the hotel room looking at the walls all day or
trying to be on the phone with getting the wrap
arounds and all that kind of stuff. They've literally been
on our site serving their community. And that's the type
of community that we have in the outsene the Passing area.
Speaker 5 (33:17):
Yeah, to your point, Brandon, I remember because I was.
Speaker 6 (33:20):
I was getting frustrated with that on the news broadcast too,
because they were leading with the Palisades.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
I'm like, what about Dina? What about Dina?
Speaker 6 (33:28):
And it was strange because I remember seeing Afion Gosh,
he was doing a live feed off of Mountain in Pasadena,
and I was glad to see that because I was like, Okay, cool,
someone is recognizing something other than the Palisades and it's
not the throw shade. But I'm like, it's not the
(33:49):
only thing going on right now.
Speaker 4 (33:55):
Oh yeah, I mean important thing is about that too,
man is I don't want to compare fires, I'm not
doing that at all, But the Eating Canyon fire actually
burned more structures than the Palisades fire. Palisades fires was
more land. Eating Canyon fire was actually more structures and
(34:16):
homes that was impacted by the Eating Canyon fire. You have.
I think they said ten churches has burned down, five
schools have burned down, and multiple, multiple small businesses that
are gone. I even talked to a gentleman today where
his business burned down and he actually stayed on top
(34:39):
on the next floor above his business, and so his
business and his home is gone. And so I think
the what we what we have to see here is
so many people have been displaced from this, even within
our elder community, our elder individuals who don't have family
(34:59):
members to help them push, you know, keeping them and
having them come back into our community. You know, they
need support as well. I spoke to somebody I was
at a press conference and the eighty seven year old
woman said that she's been in the civic center for
seven days. And it told me to pieces, I'm like,
all the churches that we have in our community, and
(35:21):
you mean to tell me that this eighty seven year
old lady was sitting up in the civic center all
this time. And so I called Master and was like,
we got to do something about this. Literally within five minutes,
we got her a place to stay. And so, you know,
it's the community plays a big part in this. But
going back to my original point, I don't really think
(35:41):
that the community has really in totalitly felt or really
realized how big of a devastation this has become.
Speaker 6 (35:51):
Well see, and that brings up another point that I
wanted to share as you were talking, because I think
about especially like you were saying, the elderly, because they're
I mean, there's that eighty seven year old woman, there's
another ninety eight year old woman with her son who's
in his seventies.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
And and you with your mom.
Speaker 6 (36:08):
Yeah, And I think about that because I wonder how
is that going to play out for the city of Altadena.
Are these elderly people going to return back to Altadena?
And that's and that's yeah, And that's the question I've
that's been kicking around.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
In my head.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
And when you mentioned that, Brandon, I was like, yeah,
there are people that have I mean, they've lived like
my mom has lived her entire life in Dina, And
I mean I know that jointly we're going to return,
but I can't imagine what that's like for someone that
doesn't have the support because I mean, when they I mean,
(36:46):
if it comes down to it, it, I mean, are
they going to wait years for a home to be
rebuilt or are they going to downsize and find assisted
living or convalescent.
Speaker 5 (36:58):
Things like that. I mean, those are the immediate things
I think of.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
And even when you talk about people were turning back, well,
what does that look like? Because from my understanding, if
you were paying a mortgage, you still are responsible for that.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
So how are you supposed to.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Pay for that existing mortgage, let alone if you have
to rent a place and it's been going around. I
know there has been measures out to prevent this from happening,
but we hear it about what the rent gouging looks like.
So is this even put in place for people to
come back or is this kind of like a period
end of a sentence.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
I mean, from what I'm seeing, it looks like the following.
It's that, for example, we're still paying a mortgage, but
we had to reach out to let them know, hey,
there is nothing to pay a mortgage on.
Speaker 5 (37:45):
There ain't nothing there.
Speaker 6 (37:46):
So we are in the process of going through that
so that we're not being not only incurring the past
due balance for the month, but also telling them to
provide a forbearance to us. Because I'm like, there's no
way right now that that even makes sense. And that's
another part of the hoops that you're talking about branding
(38:06):
where it's like another hoop to jump through and another
hoop to jump through, and that's its.
Speaker 5 (38:12):
Own pay in the behind right now.
Speaker 6 (38:14):
And then yeah, rent, I mean there was offers of
people renting places, but my I mean I have a
nine to five job, and that monthly, those two monthly
checks along with whatever my mom gets on her fixed income,
still couldn't cover it. And that's another challenge because now
homeowners are back in the renters spot, and that is
(38:36):
a really unfortunate spot to be in. And I encourage
people if they can reach out to their homeowners' insurance
and find out if there's some type of extended stay
or long term housing for at least six months that
they can get that the.
Speaker 5 (38:51):
Insurance will cover. Take it.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
Because I don't know about you, but paying fifty four
hundred a month on a two bedroom apartment is not feasible.
It would we would have nothing to show for it
at the end.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
I'm looking at a comment from Derek Steele, from the
executive director of the Social Justice Learning Institute, and he
stated the tax Assessor's office is supposed to be reassessing
homes for land rather than homes, and that will provide
folks with the opportunity to renegotiate their loans, something that
he's heard.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
Yeah, that is something that we're working on right now
with Jeff Frame's office, the La County Assessor is making
sure that that happens, but also making sure that we
fight with our local, state and federal legislators to make
sure that they put a pause on mortgage payments right now.
(39:49):
Because you cannot pay your mortgage payments and pay for
a hotel right or or even pay your mortgage and
pay for long term temporary housing like a lease of
an apartment until you built your home again. It doesn't
make any sense and it's not feasible, and it's and
it's interesting because, like, let's be very honest, this is
(40:12):
happening to the black community. Come on, yes, and this
is happening to families that homes have been here for generations.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
When we couldn't even buy a home, let alone had
a place so we could be safe and lay our head.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
And then this absolutely and and and in Pasadena, red
lining was a thing. And the community in al Aadena
that has burnt down was the community that many blacks
have gone to because of red lining. In the City
of Pasadena, right. That was my mom when so many
people was moved away from the seventeen stuff. Those people
(40:52):
went to Northwest Pasadena and they went to North Altadena, right,
which is the community that has been burnt down. And
so I think we have to talk about the history
of it, of redlining, but we also have to talk
about that this is generational wealth that has been impacted
into our community, into a community that was actually about
(41:14):
eighteen percent black two weeks ago. And now if you
take all those people, if they don't move back here,
then that community would only be one to two percent
black now. So those are the conversations that we really
have to have. Those are the conversations that we have
to have in order to put pressure on elected officials
(41:34):
and on our community members to say, hey, y'all, Altaanina
is not for sale. You can't buy yourself into Altanina.
We don't want multi units to be built on land
that was single family home for generations. We want single
family homes to be in those areas so that people
can actually live there and rebuild their homes the way
(41:55):
they wanted to be rebuilt.
Speaker 6 (41:58):
Because Altadena has been known for decades as a bedroom community,
and I mean there are very few or were very
few apartments in the Altadena area because it was known
as a bedroom community. My mom was one of those
that moved Altadena because of the redlining situation.
Speaker 5 (42:18):
And I mean even on our block.
Speaker 6 (42:20):
It's that there were about four original neighbors that were
still on our block that I grew up with. Everyone
else had changed or moved. So yeah, the greater question
is are they returning. But also at the same time,
we got to fight for it. I mean Altadena, I
mean I say it.
Speaker 5 (42:41):
Alcadna is our home. That's our home, right.
Speaker 6 (42:46):
We were in Pasadena, then we got gently pushed quote unquote.
Speaker 5 (42:51):
Into Alcadena and we made that hours and we can't
let this push us out again.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Yeah, I'm just go ahead.
Speaker 4 (43:03):
There's also so many people, just to mention, there's so
many groups like Derek Still and SJLI and like literally
so many organizations from Inglewood showed up on Saturday to
support passing out in the efforts saying, hey, y'all, we
fighting with y'all. We ready to rebuild with y'all. We
want to help y'all to rebuild. This is not something
(43:24):
that they coming in here trying to lead. This is
something that they're following our lead behind, saying hey, we
want to maximize your voice. We want to literally lift
up what you guys are doing. And so that that's
what is going to take for us. I mean this
is this isn't an entire city, y'all. An entire city
is gone, and so it's going to take multiple efforts
(43:46):
for us to rebuild this entire city.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Is like, I'm a little frustrated.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
I said, we got to do this out as a
community because ain't no one else going to do it
for us.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
Ain't nobody taking care of Ain't nobody coming to save
ourselves but ourselves.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
That's all we got to step into. That whole notion
is for us and by us.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
And that's why we're so happy to hear even Derek
was saying this, and just how you've echoed in Brandon,
even you Roland just yesterday of speaking how we are
going to have to lock hands with one another. We're
gonna have to get back to the times that we
didn't got in the circle. We didn't have these conversations
about what we need, who's looking after who, who's taking
care of our children, who's taking care of our elderly people.
(44:28):
Who is taking care of the people that we need
because we can't expect somebody on the outside. Now, something
else that I think that needs to be addressed. What
are we gonna do about in the future, well outa
dina once it's rebuilt, or what we're doing to ensure
that it's no longer unincorporated, to ensure that we have
a firehouse, to ensure we have whatever resources one needs
in the community, because clearly this is a hazard zone
(44:50):
when it comes to wildfires, right, this is not a secret.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Who do we need to talk to for somebody.
Speaker 2 (44:56):
That may not be so politically intelligent of knowing who
the officials are, knowing about the legislations, knowing about the bills.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
Where does a regular, average Joe, average Jane.
Speaker 4 (45:07):
Start supervisor's office, county supervisor are a supervisor in Altadena area?
It's Katherin Barger And I mean, yeah, we have a
town council, but the supervisors is what has the power
in Altadena past. Altadena has always been a red zone.
(45:27):
And what I mean by that is you cannot light
fireworks in Altina because there's so many trees, right, there's
so many trees in al Tandina. We're that close to
the mountains and so you cannot light fireworks up there.
There's a lot of stuff that you can do. Because
it's a red zone when it comes to fires, there's
(45:49):
not as many fire stations that it should be. Fire
stations are very small within themselves as well. But you know,
I think at the end of the day, if you
want to advocate for that, you first have to go
to the supervisors.
Speaker 6 (46:09):
I agree, because I mean I can easily name both
the fire stations.
Speaker 5 (46:15):
It's eleven and twelve.
Speaker 6 (46:16):
Twelve was a blockdown for me, and eleven is off
of Mariposa and El Molino.
Speaker 4 (46:21):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Also, do you feel as though, like FEMA and a
lot of resources that have been sent by the government,
are they doing the job and they're showing.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
Up in the ways that we would expect them to.
Speaker 5 (46:36):
From what our experience has been. Yes. In fact, it
was interesting.
Speaker 6 (46:40):
You should mention that Brandon Katherine Barker actually approached me
when I was at PCC and she wanted feedback, like,
how is this working for you? I said, I'm grateful
that FEMA is on the ground and we can apply
in person, because that helped soothe a lot of worry
and stress that my mom and I were experiencing. And
(47:01):
to have that personal connection of talking to someone and
even interjecting jokes here and there made that process a
whole lot better than what it could have been. And
that's the important part, is that the personal connection is
important right now, impersonal connection and I've had some on
(47:22):
the phone experiences with this.
Speaker 5 (47:24):
People will ask, we'll do the usual script.
Speaker 6 (47:28):
I tell them what happened, and it's heard, but it's
not received, and then by the end of the conversation, Okay,
have a great day. I'm like, I ain't having a
great day, and you just made it worse because they're
not mindful. They're not reading the room, they're they're not
(47:49):
truly listening to me. They're just hearing sound and waiting
for a pause and jumping in and doing whatever they're doing.
So the actually, I would say, the active listening is
a really important thing. And FEMA showed up. We found
out through and I'll be honest with you, we had
(48:11):
the hustle on this one. My mom has her insurance
and she reached out to the agent probably the second
day that we were in the hotel, and the phone
just kept ringing, and I told my mom, I said,
is there anyone else that you know that knows your insurance,
like someone that works for that same insurance company?
Speaker 5 (48:33):
And she started brainstorming. She's like, Oh, that's right. And
there's a food.
Speaker 6 (48:37):
Bank that she was helping out at a church that
was unfortunately lost in the fire in Altadena. That's Fountain
of Life off of Fair Oaks, And she reached out
to those two women, and those two women put her
in touch with another phone number that got us to
find out that there were mobile centers throughout the area.
(48:58):
So we went to that mobile center and we're able
to process that and get that done. However, if it
weren't for my mom's connection to the community, she would
not have had that and I would not have been
able to help her with that other than trying to
dig online on the internet and try to find a
backwards the way to get in.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Now, what about you, Brandon, what would you say on
the end of the other end, as far as helping others,
providing resources.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
Making a way.
Speaker 2 (49:26):
What is it that you see that you even need
from your support? Do you find it more beneficial if
people donate directly to those who have been directly affected,
such as it go fundme or send over monies to
Red Cross and with FEMA and so forth.
Speaker 4 (49:43):
Maybe I shouldn't say this on here, but I'm gonna
say it anyway. I think Red crossing FEMA has enough money.
They've been doing this for a very long time, and
they have a track record of supporters who already support them.
So that's that I think. What you I think what
needs to happen is people who know people donate to
(50:05):
those gofundmes, and we have a list of trusted gofund
me accounts because also I have friends who wanted to
create go fundmes for their families and they couldn't because
some fake person created gofundmes with the house.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
On them shut the front door.
Speaker 4 (50:29):
Yeah, this is how this was happening. The same day
it started, the fire started. So if you're going to
donate to a GoFundMe, make sure you get that link
from the person that you're donating to or trusted individual
that you trust, because there are fake accounts, and I
mean those fake accounts were upward of twenty thousand dollars
(50:50):
in them, and so just be mindful of that, right
and then the organizations that I that I trust is
the flint Ridge Center locally and Neighborhood Servants locally in
the city of Pasadena. Those are the organizations that I
trust that are supporting the efforts that we're doing with
(51:11):
the Dena relief drive. And then also if you're in
the LA area and you're looking for organizations that you trust.
S j l I is one of Social Justice Learning
Institute with there still there direct partners to us and
they're they've been supporting us from the ground literally, and
(51:33):
so if that's also an option for you. I always
tell people, tap into the people that you trust, tapp
into the organizations that you trust, because the people in
the organizations that you trust are connected to the people
that are in need. So and then also I always
tell people as well that make sure you do your homework,
(51:54):
especially in disasters, groups come out the woolworks. Everybody got
a group, now, Alighty got to drive Now, it comes
out the woodwork. So do your homework on who you
should support, and do your homework on who you should
give to and what organizations and churches used to support.
(52:14):
Even during this time, there's a lot of people that
are doing some great work, but there are some that
are just in it for the moment and so just
do your homework. And then last year I'll say is
now that I'm the president of the NAACP here in
Passing that you can always get gift there and support
there and we always make sure that all donations go
(52:35):
right back into our community.
Speaker 1 (52:37):
Okay, awesome.
Speaker 2 (52:38):
Now I see that the Diner Relief Drive is doing
something all this week, right each week?
Speaker 1 (52:42):
Are you guys? What's tell me to do?
Speaker 4 (52:45):
So? Yeah, Diner Relief Drive is going on at the
Passing the Church with Pastor Kurrmany Monday through Saturday. This week.
Also Saturday, the Dinner Drive, we're hosting a youth festival
at Harambe Ministris which is sixteen oh nine Navarro Street
in Pasadena. Because we are young people have benefactored the service.
Speaker 1 (53:14):
Is a little blotchy on your end, Brandon, can you
hear me? Okay?
Speaker 4 (53:21):
Yeah, So despite all the other organizations and stuff that
I've named already that has been supported what we're doing.
You know, it's always good to find trusted go fund
means that you can give to. Also, if you have
people who need donations for go funding, you can actually
send those to me and I'll make sure that we
(53:43):
push those out to our networks as.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
Well where they send it to you. You said to you,
what's your email? Social media?
Speaker 4 (53:51):
Yeah, you can send it to me on Instagram which
is b d Lamar on Instagram. If you want to
send it to my email, that's Brandon F. R. Pasadena
at Gmail is Branding four Pasadena at gmail dot com,
and Instagram is bed Lamar. I don't mind sharing that
with my space of influence and things that that nature.
(54:13):
At the end of the day, we're trying to rebuild
together and we're trying to grow this together. Dina Relief
Drive is our main hub now is at the Pasiting
the Church which is four twenty five North sier Madre
Villa Avenue in Pasadena. It's literally right across the street
(54:33):
from Northstrom Drack and their arrows. This week is Monday
through Saturday from eleven to six pm, and so you
can get everything from water, clothes, hygiene, kids, babywear, feminine product,
(54:54):
anything that you can think of that was in your home.
It's probably at our site that you can come in get.
We also have gift cars available if you are looking
to donate something. I would say The biggest need right
now is gift cards. The reason why we're asking people
to give gift cards is so many restaurants are gracious
(55:15):
to be providing food for families, hot meals for families.
But the truth of the matter is those families don't
have refrigerators, they don't have microwaves, they don't have ovens,
they don't have anything. They have nowhere to put it.
And so what we've been telling people is to give
restaurant gift cards where families can go get hot meals
when they want them and when they need them. And
(55:38):
so we're really pushing those gift cards. And then also
you can always give Target gift cards and Walmart gift
cards so that families can go get the essentials and
the clothes and stuff that they might need for days
and weeks to come as well. But those are really
the biggest needs for us and what we're seeing in
our community. And you know, the drives are just emergency
(56:01):
relief for this moment, in this time right now. But
there's so many things that are happening within the space,
and like I said, this is going to be a
five to seven year process within our community. And so yeah,
there's a lot to happen. There's a lot that is happening,
and then there's also a lot that will be happening
(56:21):
as well. And then one of the things that I
want to highlight to is if you have anybody looking
for long term temporary housing, which I know that's a
crazy word, but long term temporary housing is those lease
or apartments that's twelve months or under which our families
are going to be looking for those things. We have
a direct partnership with an organization called green Line Housing Foundation.
(56:45):
Green Line is g r ee n l I n
E Housing Foundation, and they actually have grants available for
families to be able to pay their short term housing
short term housing needs. So you can look up green
Light Housing Foundation and they're there to support with long
(57:08):
term support as well.
Speaker 2 (57:10):
All right now, who were passing a baton to y'all,
you could just say, just so we can put the
name out there and y'all can send me the information.
Speaker 1 (57:19):
Brandon, who you got.
Speaker 4 (57:22):
I spoke a little bit about green Light Housing Foundation,
and so we're gonna pass botime the green Light Housing
Foundation and the owner is Jasmine super which I'm very
close to and I would definitely send you her information
so that you guys can connect and make sure that
the information that she is sharing goes out into the public.
Speaker 1 (57:43):
All right, Jasmine, I'm pulling up on you, and I'm
gonna need you to pull up on me.
Speaker 2 (57:49):
Uh Roland, did you have some you want to say?
Speaker 6 (57:53):
Yeah, the person I'd like to pass a baton too,
or the organization rather especially for I'd say for voice actors.
Particularly is NAVA, which stands for the National Association of
Voice Actors and you can find them at nav as
in Victora dot org. And they are providing monetary support
(58:18):
to voice actors that are in need at this time,
so you can definitely reach out to them, and they
will also put you in touch with other resources or
people for the voice acting community for those that have
lost their year in this fire.
Speaker 2 (58:36):
Not only have people lost their homes, but for many
even their livelihood. But guess what if you fall down
seven times, you get up eight If you can look up,
you can get up. And where we are right now,
we know that our location is not our destination.
Speaker 1 (58:50):
Okay, So were going to keep the faith in mind.
Speaker 2 (58:53):
I want to remind all of you if you know
somebody that has been affected, if you know somebody that
needs some more information, Please feel free to.
Speaker 1 (58:59):
Say send me an email.
Speaker 2 (59:01):
Vitamin D at Dawn Dai speaks dot com. That's Vitamin
D at Dawn Dai speaks dot com. Just put in
the subject la wildfire Pasadena, Alta Dina support, help put
whatever you need. Just reach out and touch somebody so
we can touch somebody on So okay now when also
(59:21):
welcome you to follow us on all social media. Vitamin
D Dawn d Ai. It's Vitamin D Dawn d Ai.
And if you like your own personal Vitamin D you me, baby,
I want to encourage you to follow me on all
social media at Dawn Dai speaks. That's Dawn Dai speaks.
All right, Well, fellows, thank you so much for sharing
(59:43):
your story.
Speaker 1 (59:44):
Thank you so much for the work that you do.
Speaker 2 (59:46):
And as always, if there's any way that I can support,
how I can elevate the conversation or amplify a voice,
please feel free.
Speaker 1 (59:53):
To reach out to me.
Speaker 4 (59:55):
Well Dale that you're doing all right?
Speaker 1 (59:59):
All right, guys, until next time, get your
Speaker 3 (01:00:03):
Fighting indy right here with me and get excited about
your life
Host
Dawn Dai
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com