LA Wildfires: Mobilizing Support for the Jewish Community and Beyond

The list could go on forever, and it wouldn’t even begin to encompass all that losing your home to fire means. There is also the devastating material loss, being unsafe and unsheltered, and in some tragic cases, the loss of limb and life.

There is losing your home, and then there’s losing your home to fire. It’s sudden, relentless, dangerous, unstoppable, unpredictable. As any fire survivor will tell you, it’s one of the most horrific experiences a person can undergo.

The fires in California are equal opportunity destroyers, and they’ve hit close to home. Many JFN members lost their homes, and our staff in Los Angeles is affected. For many of us, this is not a tragedy one reads in the papers and moves on to the next item. It’s personal and heart-wrenching.

The Jewish Community in the area has been devastated. Synagogues and homes burned, communities in disarray, and relief services overstretched.

Let’s face it: After this past terrible year, many of us are experiencing compassion fatigue, that state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion resulting from prolonged exposure to suffering. Our elected leaders, trading accusations instead of showing empathy, aren’t helping. As funders, we don’t have that luxury. Our tired hearts need to open again and find room for the people of LA.

Simply put, money is needed, as it is during and after every disaster. As always, the best way to help is to work with established organizations that have infrastructure and presence in the ground, folks who know the area, and a network of local agencies to distribute help fast and seamlessly. As always, there’s the need to balance immediate help—which is sorely needed—with the need for long-term reconstruction, which will be enormous.

For those wanting to help, JFN is recommending the following:

Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles Wildfire Crisis Relief Fund - Give Help or Get Help.  In response to the devastating fires impacting Los Angeles, the Jewish community has mobilized to provide essential resources, including mental health support, warm meals, shelter, and space for displaced individuals, families, and institutions.  

Jewish Free Loan of Los Angeles. Emergency Housing aid, as well as interest free-loans for individuals, families and small businesses. For those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, the Jewish Free Loan Association (JFLA) can help with zero-interest and zero-fee loans up to $15,000 for temporary housing (including hotels and short-term rentals), purchase of clothing, medication, and other essential supplies, and other emergency needs.

Jewish Family Service. Food Resources, Mental Health Support, and Support for those experiencing Domestic Violence.

Bet Tzedek Legal Services. Bet Tzedek provides person-centered legal services, completely gratis, that integrate with social support services, educate community members with the powerful knowledge of their legal rights, and use their expertise to aid people in accesing help.

As in other emergency situations, JFN will support our members and advise as to the best ways to help within the Jewish Community and beyond.

If you know of specific needs or if you are using specific grantees who are doing good work on the ground, please let us know. In crises like this one, the network produces and holds vast quantities of valuable information, and our role is to gather and circulate it.

Members and funders interested in learning more can contact our JFN West Director, Tzivia Schwartz Getzug (mailto:Tzivia@jfunders.org) or our concierge service (mailto:concierge@jfunders.org).

We’re praying for all those affected and we hold them all in our hearts,

Andrés