please help me support my local LA community during the fires

Hi design system friends, I’m writing today with a heavy heart about the LA fires and a request for your support. I know this is a departure from regular design system podcast programming, thank you for sticking with me here ❤️

I live in LA, just north of Topanga, not too far from the north edge of the Palisades fire. It is hard to really comprehend how widespread and terrifying these fires are. While I am thankfully, safe, and so is my home, over 130,000 people have been displaced and lost their homes. News attention is strong now but those folks will need money, food, clothes, homes, and more, over the coming months as they try to find housing and regain their lives. The fires are still actively burning and not contained four days in.

I am fundraising for World Central Kitchen with a goal of reaching $2,000 by the end of January. Please donate here, whether that’s $5, $50, or $500.

WCK is in the Eaton fire area, providing healthy, hot meals to firefighters and displaced fire victims, and they will continue to do so long after the fires are over.

I love to cook and I believe food is more than just calories; as WCK says, “A nourishing meal in a time of crisis is so much more than a plate of food—it’s hope, it’s dignity, and it’s a sign that someone cares about you and that you are not alone.”

Additionally, my colleague Jen at Color lives in Santa Monica, and is helping a local collection center and charity called Nourish LA by getting childrens clothes and essentials. You can Venmo her directly with a note “fire relief,” or if you don’t feel comfortable since you don’t know her, you can Venmo me (Elyse) directly and I will forward to her and send you a receipt.

Design system community, we are so privileged. It’s so easy to look at the news and think, that won’t happen to me. But it can, and in this increasingly polycrisis climate change world, it very well might. I have only lived in LA for a year and will be moving again soon (unrelated to the fires) but it’s been my home and a happy place for me. Please help me take care of the very regular people here whose lives have been utterly upended.

In podcast news: I’ll be postponing the release of of the first podcast episode from this upcoming Monday 1/13 for a week until 1/20. Thanks for understanding.

With love and gratitude,

💓 Elyse

What’s going on in the LA fires?

The multiple fires have burned ~35,000 acres — that’s more than two Manhattans, all of San Francisco or Miami. 130,000 or more people are now homeless, displaced, and most have lost their homes and all their belongings. Here is a video of the devastation in Pacific Palisades and video over Altadena showing the size of the Eaton fire.

Remember that Altadena is a primarily working-class community, and while much of Palisades is a wealthy area, it’s not just rich celebrities who are losing their homes. Near where I live, in Woodland Hills and near the Kenneth Fire are full of horse ranches, including one that I took lessons at this summer that had to evacuate, wildlife areas and national parks, neighborhoods, elementary schools and parks. Altadena in particular burned heavily into the neighborhood, down one of the main streets.

Incredibly strong winds up to 80mph and single-digits humidity are increasing the danger, with the winds helping fires jump canyons in these difficult-to-access mountainous areas. Firefighters from all over the west coast and even Canada, including the incredible “super scooper” planes, are working nonstop to fight the fires. For more updated info, CNN has great coverage, NYTimes if you have access, as well as the r/losangeles megathreads and the WatchDuty app.

Other ways to help:

• Confirmed GoFundMes for direct support of folks who have lost their homes.

• @thisisaboutcommunity has a matching fund for migrants, farm workers, and day laborers who cannot access other sources of support.

• LA Mutual Aid sheet of local shelters, physical item donation, volunteers if local.

• Pasadena Humane society needs donations.

• If you need any info on relief, shelters, support, etc, please reach out to me and I will see what I can find and share for you.