Birthworkers of Color Collective Abortion Doula Program Coordinator Christina Lares, right, provides information at the organization’s brick-and-mortar grand opening event on Sunday, December 17, 2023 in Long Beach.
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California’s insurance program for low-income residents, known elsewhere as Medicaid, started paying for doula services in January. Nearly a year later, it’s clear that without more doulas enrolled in the program, not every family will get the care they are entitled to receive.
OK, first, what is a doula? Doulas provide expecting and new mothers or birthing people with educational, emotional, and physical support before, during and after a baby is born. We made a guide to finding one.
Numbers please: As of mid-November, 180 individual doulas and about 70 doula organizations had completed the Medi-Cal provider enrollment process, according to the Department of Health Care Services.
And that's for how many babies? In 2021, 168,000 births were covered by Medi-Cal insurance— 40% of all births in the state. Research suggests many families are interested in doula support — 55% of recent parents insured through Medi-Cal said they would definitely want or consider a doula in a statewide survey from 2018.
What's the hold-up? A mix of things, but one of them is paperwork: “It's been an arduous process, a lot slower than we imagined.” said Birthworkers of Color Collective Co-Founder Stevie Merino, who’s based in Long Beach.
A Year After Medi-Cal Allowed Doula Services, Uptake Is Slow
The added benefit has the potential to make emotional, physical, and educational support during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum available to tens of thousands of families. It can also support a workforce that often chooses between their livelihood and serving low-income clients.
“I feel like this really bridges that gap of like, really like, sustainably doing the work for people who need it the most,” said Long Beach doula Andrea Howard.
Nearly a year after the benefit began, it’s clear that without more doulas enrolled in the program, not every family will get the care they are entitled to receive.
What doulas do
Doulas are not doctors or midwives. They don't deliver babies and they do not make medical decisions on a client's behalf or tell them what to do. Think of them more like coaches or advocates for pregnant people and their partners as they approach their due date, while they're giving birth, during the postpartum phase. Doulas also support people through miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion.
As of mid-November, 180 individual doulas and about 70 doula organizations had completed the Medi-Cal provider enrollment process, according to the Department of Health Care Services.
“It's been an arduous process, a lot slower than we imagined,” said Birthworkers of Color Collective Co-Founder Stevie Merino, who’s also based in Long Beach.
How many people with Medi-Cal have doulas now?
Only a tiny fraction of people insured through Medi-Cal have been able to access doula support so far.
What is Medi-Cal?
Medi-Cal is California’s public healthcare program for low-income residents and pregnant people. In other states, this program is called Medicaid. More than 15 million people were enrolled across California as of October 2023.
As of July, 50 Medi-Cal members had received doula services, according to DHCS. The data is an incomplete picture, because claims were still being processed and the total does not include the managed care plans through which most members receive their insurance.
In November, DHCS issued a statewide recommendation affirming that Medi-Cal members would benefit from doula support that could substitute for that of an individual provider.
LAist went to two of L.A. County’s largest Medi-Cal providers— Health Net and L.A. Care Health Plan— to learn more about how they’ve implemented the benefit since January.
L.A. Care Health Plan reported 79 members have received doula services since the benefit started in January.
“Members who are pregnant, recently given birth, or experienced loss have expressed gratitude for these services,” wrote L.A. Care Health Education Program Manager Kristin Schlater, in a statement.
A Health Net spokesperson said in a statement that the health plan has partnered with doulas throughout the state, but declined to share how many members had received services.
"Having a space really helps to normalize the work that we're trying to do," said Birthworkers of Color Collective co-founder Stevie Merino. "It creates that visibility in the communities that we are really trying to make doula work more accessible to."
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The rate of people dying from pregnancy and birth complications in California has declined in recent years, but there are still stark racial disparities. Black Californians die from pregnancy complications at a rate nearly four times higher than the general population.
The continuous support doulas provide is increasingly seen as part of the solution for the high rate of U.S. mothers and babies who die each year compared with other developed countries.
In 2021, 168,000 births were covered by Medi-Cal insurance— 40% of all births in the state. Research suggests many families are interested in doula support— 55% of recent parents insured through Medi-Cal said they would definitely want or consider a doula in a statewide survey from 2018.
How do doulas become Medi-Cal Providers?
In many cases, provider enrollment is only the first step to serving clients.
Then doulas have to contract with one or more of the managed care plans that provide health care access for the majority of California’s Medi-Cal recipients. In 2024 there will be six in L.A. County.
“That's really the challenge,” said Priya Batra, an OB-GYN and medical director for the L.A. County Department of Public Health's Health Promotion Bureau. “Not only bringing doulas and the community up to speed on these new processes, but then also trying to retrofit the system a little bit to make it easier for doulas to participate and for everyone who's eligible to take advantage of the benefit.”
An illustration of medicinal plants used by the Chamoru people — who are indigenous to Guam and Mariana Islands where Merino's family is from — hangs next to a chart that shows the stages of cervical dilation at the Birthworkers of Color Collective's space.
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Howard gave birth to her son Cub, left, without medication. “It was the most empowering thing I've ever done in my life, essentially," Howard said. Less than a year after her son was born, she enrolled in a doula training with the Birthworkers of Color Collective.
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In Los Angeles County, the Birthworkers of Color Collective is one of several organizations spreading the word about the benefit to Medi-Cal members and helping doulas enroll with the state.
“Doulas are not billers ... they're not contract negotiators,” co-founder Merino said. “They aren't used to working with huge conglomerates like insurance companies and managed care plans and so we've really been taking on the onus of that burden.”
"Birth is unpredictable," said doula Andrea Howard. "We can't control what happens, but if you feel like you've had some decisions, like some choices, some agency — you feel like you were an active participant in your labor process... then I feel like I've done my job."
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Andrea Howard, the Long Beach doula, is part of the collective and started the enrollment process in March. She said one of the biggest challenges was securing a business license from the city of Long Beach. It took more than a month and cost $260. She also spent about nearly $100 on required trainings, including CPR, and, to meet the requirement of some managed care plans, has liability insurance that costs about $30 a month.
Howard said she’s had a full roster of Medi-Cal clients since she finished signing up in June.
“This is what I've gone through all the red tape for,” Howard said. “It’s to be able to really get out there and serve people who are so grateful, so happy to have me, [and] did not think in their wildest dreams they'd be able to afford a doula.”
However, Howard is still waiting to get paid from some health insurers while the collective continues to negotiate with managed care plans.
“I'm OK with that because I see the bigger picture,” Howard said.
This is what I've gone through all the red tape for. It’s to be able to really get out there and serve people who are so grateful, so happy to have me, [and] did not think in their wildest dreams they'd be able to afford a doula.
The current average is about half of what Howard would charge a private client, but she said the consistency of Medi-Cal clients can make up the difference.
“You have to really think about how to do this work sustainably,” Howard said. “Because if you're going to births, but your lights are off at home, you're not going to be present enough for your client to really help them in the way that they need.”
The future of California’s Medi-Cal doula program
Los Angeles County is developing a doula resource hub that will provide new doula training, professional development for existing birth workers, and assistance with Medi-Cal billing.
“We're definitely enthusiastic about being able to have a backbone and support for the doula workforce, as well as the community,” said Ashley Skiffer-Thompson, the program coordinator for the African American Infant and Maternal Mortality Prevention Initiative (AAIMM) doula program.
ABOUT THIS STORY’S LANGUAGE
You might notice this story uses the term pregnant or birthing people. That's because our newsroom uses language in reproductive health that includes people of different genders who can give birth.
Next month, the Department of Health Care Services will again convene a workgroup of doulas, health advocates, and other stakeholders to discuss the Medi-Cal benefit and how it might be improved.
Merino, who’s participated in these meetings before, said one shortfall is the absence of money for community organizations to do outreach to Medi-Cal recipients and coach doulas through the enrollment process.
“Right now we're all essentially doing this because of our commitment to our communities,” Merino said. “But how sustainable is it if we aren't receiving funding for these things?”
Birthworkers of Color Collective: support for birth workers and doula training. The collective recently opened a physical space in Long Beach.
Frontline Doulas: a perinatal health program providing free doula services for qualified Black families in Los Angeles County. They’ve also published a handy resource guide on the Medi-Cal doula program.
National Health Law Program: The health education, advocacy and legal aid organization’s Doula Medicaid Project convenes stakeholders around, shares information about and advocates for doula programs across the country, including California’s.
Medi-Cal members who are pregnant or were pregnant in the last year are eligible for doula services, including to support pregnancies stillbirth, miscarriage, or abortion.
The Department of Health Care Services has issued a statewide standing recommendation for doula services, so people no longer need approval from an individual licensed provider to start working with a doula.
The majority of Medi-Cal enrollees participate in a managed care plan and receive services through a single provider network. Here are the main providers in L.A. County and how to learn more about their doula benefit:
Health Net: Call member services at 800-675-6110 (TTY: 711) to find a contracted doula nearby. If a preferred doula is not contracted with Health Net, members have the option to request a single case agreement. The plan also offers two other programs geared toward expectant and new parents: Start Smart for Baby and First Year of Life.
L.A. Care Health Plan: Members can call the number on the back of their ID card to request doula services and learn more online. The plan also offers a maternal health text messaging program.
Enrollees who participate in fee-for-service would work with a doula who then bills the state directly for their services.
DHCS has the answers to more frequently asked questions regarding doula services for Medi-Cal members here.
Gas prices displayed at a gas station in Monrovia on March 31.
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In the face of the nation’s highest gas prices, California lawmakers approved a bill to ease restrictions on E85 conversion kits — devices that let conventional gasoline cars run on a cheaper, mostly ethanol fuel blend.
Background: The measure is the latest example of Sacramento lawmakers scrambling to respond to gas costs that have soared amidst the Iran-Israel war, which has rattled global oil markets and pushed California pump prices above $6 a gallon. It now heads to the California state Senate and would need Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval before it becomes law.
What supporters say: “Californians consistently pay more at the pump than drivers from other states, and gas prices are once again climbing across the state,” Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom said Thursday. “For commuters and working families, [the proposal] offers a practical way to save money.”
What critics say: Environmentally, the fuel is rated cleaner than regular gasoline by California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. But that rating has critics. Aaron Smith, a Berkeley economist, said the benefits of ethanol are likely overstated. Official numbers likely understate emissions from land use as rising corn demand for ethanol pushes farmers to clear forested land.
Read on ... for more on the push to offer ethanol as an alternative fuel.
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
In the face of the nation's highest gas prices, California lawmakers approved a bill to ease restrictions on E85 conversion kits — devices that let conventional gasoline cars run on a cheaper, mostly ethanol fuel blend.
Assembly Bill 2046, dubbed the “Access to Affordable Gas Act” by its author, Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, a Stockton Democrat, advanced through the Assembly on a 59-0 vote with no debate or opposition.
The measure is the latest example of Sacramento lawmakers scrambling to respond to gas costs that have soared amid the Iran-Israel war, which has rattled global oil markets and pushed California pump prices above $6 a gallon. It now heads to the California state Senate and would need Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval before it becomes law.
“Californians consistently pay more at the pump than drivers from other states, and gas prices are once again climbing across the state,” Ransom said on the Assembly floor Thursday. “For commuters and working families, [the proposal] offers a practical way to save money.”
If approved in its current form, the measure would exempt manufacturers of E85 converter kits from an approval process by the state’s primary climate regulator, the California Air Resources Board, which requires companies to demonstrate the devices do not increase a vehicle's emissions. The bill would leave in place a separate federal certification process run by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Members in Sacramento are looking for ways to try to reduce costs — or appear to reduce costs of driving — and so this is a way to do that,” said Aaron Smith, a UC Berkeley economist and fuels expert.
The converter kits, which cost between $800 to $1,250, according to a legislative analysis of the bill, would let drivers convert their cars to run on both gasoline and E85 fuel.
E85 is a blend of up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline; the share of ethanol typically is between 55% and 85%, said Smith, the Berkeley expert.
Jeff Wilkerson, government affairs manager for Pearson Fuels, the largest E85 fuel provider in the state and a bill supporter, said E85 — much of which is made from Midwest corn — is largely insulated from overseas oil shocks that drive California gas prices. The ethanol blend has sold for $2 or more less per gallon than gasoline during recent price spikes.
While E85 is typically priced lower than gasoline and can reduce petroleum dependence and carbon emissions, it delivers 20% to 30% fewer miles per gallon, according to the air board, meaning drivers only save money when E85 is priced at least 20% to 30% below gasoline.
About 1.3 million vehicles in California can currently use the fuel, which is sold at about 640 stations statewide — just 3% of the state’s more than 15,000 fuel pumps, according to the bill analysis.
Ransom said more E85 pumps would be built if the state loosened restrictions and encouraged demand for the fuel blend. She stressed that her bill would present E85 as an alternative.
“For some people, it may not be a wise choice, but at least now it’s going to be a choice,” she said.
Environmentally, the fuel is rated cleaner than regular gasoline by California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. But that rating has critics. Smith, the Berkeley economist, said the benefits of ethanol are likely overstated. Official numbers likely understate emissions from land use as rising corn demand for ethanol pushes farmers to clear forested land.
The state’s own certification record offers a cautionary tale. Lindsay Buckley, a spokesperson for the board, said the agency has received only five applications from companies for E85 conversion kits since 2008 and that none has cleared the certification process, which is designed to ensure modified vehicles still meet their original emissions standards. Supporters of the proposal argue the board moves slowly and its regulations are burdensome.
But loosening that standard carries its own risk, cautioned Aaron Kurz, senior consultant on the Assembly Transportation Committee, especially now.
As the federal government has stripped scientific expertise from regulatory decisions, he wrote in his analysis, “this committee should consider if the state should cede authority over an inherently scientific process and set a precedent for transferring approval authority to the federal government.”
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai speaks during the tech titan's annual I/O developers conference May 14, 2024, in Mountain View. Google on Tuesday said it would introduce AI-generated answers to online queries made by users in the United States in one of the biggest updates to its search engine in 25 years.
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Google this week announced significant changes to its search box — that austere, single-line input field on its homepage that has been the world's most popular entry point into the web for around two-and-a-half decades.
What's the big shift? Behind the scenes, a bigger shift is under way. Google is merging artificial intelligence and traditional web search in a move that Liz Reid, who oversees search at Google, said brings "the best of web and the best of AI together."
What are critics saying? Critics say folding AI deeper into search risks further muddying the waters around the provenance of information gleaned from the web, and could take agency away from users. A chatbot is likely to return a summary with only a few links to further information, unlike a web search that returns many pages of links.
Read on ... for more on what this shift means for Google users.
MOUNTAIN VIEW – Google is changing what it means to Google.
The company this week announced significant changes to its search box — that austere, single-line input field on its homepage that has been the world's most popular entry point into the web for around two-and-a-half decades.
The new version looks similar to the old one-line text box, but it's dynamic, expanding with longer queries. Users can also drop videos, pictures and files into it for what Google calls "multimodal" search.
Behind the scenes, a bigger shift is under way. Google is merging artificial intelligence and traditional web search in a move that Liz Reid, who oversees search at Google, said brings "the best of web and the best of AI together."
Critics say folding AI deeper into search risks further muddying the waters around the provenance of information gleaned from the web and could take agency away from users. A chatbot is likely to return a summary with only a few links to further information, unlike a web search that returns many pages of links.
But the shift is, in some ways, not surprising, given Silicon Valley's hard pivot toward AI, with Google and others investing billions in the technology and refocusing corporate strategies around it.
For about a year, Google has put "AI Overviews" — short summaries — at the top of some search results. "What we've seen with AI Overviews is that people don't want either just an AI or the web. They want a mix of both," said Reid.
She said she's noticed that users have started to ask longer questions, with more natural language, rather than fragments or key words. "They're asking the question that they really have," Reid said.
For Google, that potentially unlocks new understandings of user intentions. "If you start using more natural language, if you're having a conversation, when you've shifted from researching into buying, you've sort of indicated that. And so we can put better ads because we understand what that is," Reid said.
Google is also introducing agentic functionality to search, so that users can ask it to do tasks over time — like search for theater tickets at regular intervals or send shoppers a notification when something goes on sale or conduct a weekly scan of the internet for local events.
Carolina Milanesi, an independent technology analyst, said Google is trying to make its cash cow business — search — richer and more personalized, and it will make shopping easier. But there is a risk that users may have fewer choices about what to click.
"Right now it's: I ask a question, I get a bunch of answers and I feel that I'm in control as to which answer I take, or if I'm looking for something, which product I'm going to end up buying. That is going to be less so going forward," she said.
Milanesi envisions AI-enabled search and agents proposing products to consumers — perhaps even those they have requested — but with less clarity or choice around where it's coming from.
"If you're going to say: 'I want a pair of Jordans, go find them,' you're not necessarily sure what steps have been taken and whether the AI has used a source or a store that was paid for and, therefore, came up in the search results," she said, "or if AI actually went and did their due diligence and picked the best for me as a customer."
Sarah T. Roberts, director of the Center for Critical Internet Inquiry at UCLA, said the algorithmic underpinnings of Google's web search results have long been "by design, inscrutable to end users," and there's more to it than simply the best of the web floating to the top of any given search. Adding AI will only make the system more opaque, she said.
"What's happening now with AI is that that complexity that already existed will be further obfuscated and even more difficult to unpack," she said.
She noted episodes where Google's AI has provided bad results, including advising putting glue in pizza and eating rocks. "Those gaffes shouldn't be forgotten as Google makes this transition," she said.
And critics say that driving more Google users from web searches to interacting with AI will exacerbate the risks of the so-called "Google Zero" scenario, where the growth of AI queries kills off web search and suffocates the internet click economy as we know it. That includes online shops, web advertisers and news organizations that all depend on referred traffic from Google.
While the redesigned box will be the same for all Google users, there are various tricks and tips online for people who want to disable or avoid some AI functions when using Google.
Google is a financial supporter of NPR.
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Early every Saturday for the last three and a half years, William Campbell, 61, leaves his Silver Lake home to be at the Angels Flight station for the first ride at 6:45 a.m.
Why it matters: Campbell is one of a team of operators behind the proverbial wheel of the two near-identical funiculars — named Olivet and Sinai — that go up and down a 33% angle slope from Hill Street to Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles.
The backstory: Campbell is also a superfan and has been researching the Bunker Hill funicular's 124-year history.
Early every Saturday for the last three and a half years, William Campbell, 61, leaves his Silver Lake home to be at the Angels Flight station for the first ride at 6:45 a.m.
Campbell is one of a team of operators behind the proverbial wheel of the two near-identical funiculars — named Olivet and Sinai — that go up and down a 33% angle slope from Hill Street to Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles.
“You’re a part of living history,” said Campbell, who is dressed in an orange and black waistcoat and bow tie, and wears a bowler hat with a monarch butterfly on top. There’s a reason for that, he said mysteriously.
Angels Flight on Bunker Hill.
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Today, I am the first rider. Soon after, I am joined by a family visiting from Texas.
“I was just looking at a local tourist place, and I just saw this small, cute railway,” said Michael Nguyen, who was alongside his mother and sister. “I was like, oh, this looks interesting. And I saw that you can actually go on it. I was like, OK, that’s pretty dope.”
Masterminded by lawyer, politician and engineer Col. James Ward Eddy, the Angels Flight “hillevator” opened on New Year’s Eve 1901 as a way for people to travel up and down Bunker Hill, which was then the place where the city’s wealthy population lived.
The journey took them down to the streets and stores below and from 1917, Grand Central Market, with the first passengers paying just a penny fare for what was billed as the “shortest railway in America,” traveling just 298 feet.
When he’s not working his weekday full-time day job investigating animal cruelty and abuse, Campbell spends his spare time looking through online newspaper archives for any information about Angels Flight.
Angels Flight Railway.
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Angels Flight Railway.
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Originally located by the 3rd Street Tunnel — at the end of the block from where it is now — the train has been through several changes, as has Bunker Hill itself.
“All the wealthy people moved to Beverly Hills, and Brentwood, and Bel Air, and beyond. And all their wonderful Victorian mansions were turned into boarding houses, and it attracted a lower income, more diverse population, which resulted in blight and crime — at least according to the city,” Campbell said of Bunker Hill's transformation.
City officials authorized Bunker Hill to be all but razed in the 1950s and '60s, and Angels Flight was put into what was promised to be temporary storage for a year or two, despite protests from singer Peggy Lee and others.
Angels Flight Railway 351 S. Hill St., Los Angeles Daily, 6:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. A round-trip ticket is $3, which is orange and has a souvenir portion. A one-way trip is $1.75 or $1 for TAP cardholders. William Campbell works there every Saturday and will happily talk to you if he can. You can find out more about Campbell's wildlife interests and win a prize in Angels Flight quizzes via Instagram.
The year was 1969. And it took nearly three decades for its return. Angels Flight welcomed passengers again in 1996 to its current location after test runs were made with cases of beer and soft drinks weighing 9,000 pounds. The cable cars were rebuilt exactly as before, but with modern safety requirements, such as Sinai having wheelchair space.
A 2001 accident in which one person died and seven were injured saw another long closure until 2010, and there was a derailment in 2014, which saw another short shuttering. But Angels Flight has been running ever since 2017, save the odd mechanical problem.
William Campbell.
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Angels Flight keepsakes made by William Campbell for riders to take.
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Campbell describes himself as a cheerleader for Angels Flight, and you can easily see why. During his shift he pins up a 1904 photo of the city’s landscape taken from an 80-foot-high observation tower at the original location, so people can compare it to the skyscraper skyline of today.
“At one time you could see all the way to Catalina,” he noted.
There is also a display about near-forgotten Bunker Hill folk artist Marcel Cavalla, and Campbell gives away Angels Flight bookmarks, stickers and maps, all of which he researches, designs and prints out of his own pocket.
One of his projects, old advertisements from 1901 to the 1940s, is displayed in the panels above the seats, and was installed a couple of months ago.
Interior of Angels Flight, showcasing old advertisements from 1901 to the 1940s that Campbell installed.
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One of the vintage ads for Catalina Carrier-Pigeon Service.
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There's everything from old Market Basket supermarket ads, to Barbara Stanwyck shilling for Lux toilet soap, to a standard power mower from John Bean manufacturing, to one for the Catalina Carrier Pigeon Service, which operated from 1894 to 1902, taking messages from Avalon to Bunker Hill.
And the monarch butterfly on his hat? That’s related to his Angels Flight “holy grail,” the one question he can’t definitively answer: why were they painted orange and black?
With that, Campbell grabs his binoculars and sees there are passengers waiting for a ride up, so I get into Olivet and wave goodbye as I travel down to Hill Street.
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published May 23, 2026 5:00 AM
The group Neighbors Helping Neighbors helps Altadena fire survivors clear weeds from burnt lots.
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A new group called Neighbors Helping Neighbors has been helping Eaton Fire survivors clear burnt lots of overgrown weeds.
Why now: The volunteering effort is not just to tidy things up – but to clear lots of fire fuels as the region enters fire season.
Backstory: The group is founded by Antoinette “Toni” Bailey-Raines, who grew up in Altadena and whose parents and sister all lost homes in the fire.
Read on ... to learn more about the group and how you can help.
A group called Neighbors Helping Neighbors has been clearing overgrown weeds for free on fire survivors' empty lots in Altadena.
They’ve finished 10 with many more to go. They’re keeping at it not just to keep things tidy, but to avert another disaster as the region enters fire season — and their efforts are spreading. More than 200 homeowners have signed up, after hearing about the group from its Facebook page and through word of mouth.
“I'm 5 feet 2 inches tall, but there were weeds 6 and 8 feet tall,” said Antoinette “Toni” Bailey-Raines, the ringleader. She is also a co-founder of Altadena Talks Foundation, a nonprofit started in the wake of the Eaton Fire.
Bailey-Raines lives in San Dimas but grew up in Altadena. Her parents and sister all lost their homes in the Eaton Fire.
“I went to my parents' lot one day,” she said. “I loaded up the back of my car with my lawnmower, my blower, my rake, because I wanted to make sure their lot was cleaned up.”
It took seven hours, but she figured all that overgrown vegetation can't be good for Altadena with the fire season just around the corner.
And just like that, the idea for Neighbors Helping Neighbors was born.
Antoinette “Toni” Bailey-Raines, founder of Neighbors Helping Neighbors.
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Antoinette “Toni” Bailey-Raines at one of the cleared lots.
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The very first lot, just south in Pasadena, was cleared in mid-April. Bailey-Raines said the property was getting notices from the city to clear the lot or face escalating fines. Pasadena conducts brush clearance inspections every spring and summer.
Toni said the family had moved to Mississippi after the Eaton Fire.
“You lost everything, and then somebody's gonna tell you they're gonna give you a fine because you have weeds on your lot and you're not even here to see that?” Bailey-Raines said.
That day, she rounded up a group of nine people, including her son and his friend. A neighbor across the street was suspicious at first, but eventually told her, "You have me for about an hour." He stayed for two.
On May 13, dozens of volunteers showed up in Altadena to clear seven lots in one morning.
One of them — a 14,000-square-foot lot — belongs to Sarkis Aleksanian and his family. He had reached out to Bailey-Raines in late April, after learning about the group from a neighborhood WhatsApp chat.
“I was looking into cleaning up the lot and really daunted by the prospect,” he said. “I was worried that the lawn would dry up and be a problem.”
Aleksanian and his wife were on hand to help out. It’s the one thing that Bailey-Raines requires — for the homeowners to be there.
“I've asked them that if they're able-bodied to be here and help,” she said. “You're here. You're encouraging people, and you're helping on your lot. [Sarkis] was doing everything from weed-eater, to chainsaw, to whatever, and that's what it's about.”
This 14,000-square-foot lot in Altadena was cleaned up in less than two hours on a recently Saturday.
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“It was just remarkable, I tell you,” Aleksanian said. He said he recognized some of the volunteers that morning — folks he sees in the community.
And he did encounter someone he knew — a high school acquaintance from years back. “It's neighbors helping neighbors, just like she called it, you know?” Aleksanian said.
His lot was finished in 90 minutes.
More is needed
With a growing waitlist, what is needed are people and equipment — from gloves and trash bags to the hardware.
“I have six brush cutters and two chainsaws and a couple trimmers, but I need, like, triple that at least,” she said.
Same goes for rechargeable batteries that power these tools — which Bailey-Raines juices up with generators they bring on-site.
“My dream is one Saturday morning to have 500 people and that we clear a whole street, a whole block — so that this list of 200 can go down, and as others hear about it, they get on it, and we as a community do this as neighbors to help one another,” she said.
