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