Local businesses and volunteers transform spaces into shelters, donation hubs, and meal services, stepping up to support evacuees and frontline workers during the devastating Palisades Fire.
By Zach Armstrong
Soon after Savannah Aubinoe walked out of her beachfront home to see a billow of smoke miles away, she knew, being the owner of a local interactive event and community space, she had a duty to fill.
Within days, moss, a coworking and wellness space in Venice founded by Aubinoe, transformed into a full-fledged donation center and shelter for evacuees of the devastating Palisades Fire. The building abounds with volunteers who coordinate with walkie talkies and a Slack channel to accept donations, distribute goods, assist evacuees and direct traffic outside. One of its meditation spaces, along with three units from an adjacent building, became bedrooms. Its computer room is now a dispatch center. The main area, usually a community and event area for moss members, is wall-to-wall with cardboard boxes of shoes, backpacks, clothing, prepackaged food and anything else donors provide.
“It’s quite an operation, but every single person working there is so positive, eager and willing to help,” said Aubinoe.
As thousands of West L.A. residents scramble to find shelter, food, and other resources, a slew of local businesses have heeded the call to convert their spaces into much-needed distribution centers and shelters; working in conjunction with nonprofit organizations and volunteers to store and distribute goods to those in need. Through word of mouth and social media posts, in addition to online spreadsheets, awareness has grown among evacuees who have fled to such businesses in droves.
“A lot of people who donate want to do good things, but on an operational level they’re gridlocked and it creates an overwhelming amount of goods coming in that don’t go to the right places,” said Jonathan Chia, founder of Reality Center, a Santa Monica-based wellness center which, by working with nonprofits, is delivering around 2,000 meals a day. “We’re able to quarterback and work with volunteers and nonprofits to make sure things get to the right places.”
All of Reality Center’s staff, even though some have lost their homes and are sheltered in the office, grind around the clock to accept donated items in its 2nd Street storefront just outside the Promenade–wheelchairs, gas cards, etc.– and deliver them with ‘no questions asked’, said Chia, noting that operations get so frantic that some items are intercepted from the offload to be delivered immediately.
“It’s almost overwhelming,” said Chia. “All of us basically have two phones in our hands fielding calls and assessing different things throughout the day.”
Some establishments are concurrently utilizing their ingenuity and services to address problems brought on by the fires beyond the demand for shelter and donations.
The KINN, a Venice-based accelerator network and collaborative workspace for “conscious” entrepreneurs, started as a shelter/distribution spot soon after the fire ignited, then evolved into a hot meal service in conjunction with No Res Gourmet (501c3) whereby professional chefs on-site prepare meals to be sent to firefighters and frontline workers. One of its members, Stanley Bishop, an AI scientist affiliated with Stanford Medicine, is working to build makeshift air purifiers for the classrooms of Los Angeles schools to reduce the air’s toxicity in light of wildfires, according to KINN’s co-founder and CEO Oliver Evans.
As of Tuesday, Jan. 14, over 5,300 structures have been destroyed with 12,000 threatened by the Palisades Fire, which has already charred 23,713 acres and numerous landmarks and beloved establishments such as Will Rogers Historic Ranch, Palisades Charter High School and Topanga Ranch Motel. The fire, at the time of this writing, is at 14% containment, up from 11% early Sunday. More than 150,000 people throughout Los Angeles County have been forced to evacuate, some piecing together how to rebuild from here, some still unaware whether their homes still stand.
Amid the turmoil brought on by what is officially the most destructive fire in L.A.’s history, business owners of the city’s Westside stand ready to provide and serve until the smoke clears.
“The most amazing feeling I can never explain to anybody is when we’re riding out the gate for a mission and better cause, and you’re the one spearheading it.” said Chia, a combat infantry veteran of the Iraq War. “When things like this happen, I get that feeling back again. Our team gets to jump on our horses and go save the day.”
