Julia Barajas
explores how college students achieve their goals, whether they’re fresh out of high school, pursuing graduate work or looking to join the labor force through alternative pathways.
Published July 3, 2025 2:02 PM
Items from the exhibition, including a flyer inviting Angelenos to gather at a Montebello bar.
(
Courtesy
/
UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
)
Topline:
East Los Angeles College’s Vincent Price Art Museum is hosting an exhibition that spans three decades of local Latina lesbian activism, from the 1980s to the late 2000s.
What you’ll see: The show features photos, posters, letters and other ephemera that highlight the work of those who fought to put an end to anti-gay hate crimes. The activists also took on a range of other issues, from LGBTQ healthcare to immigrants’ rights.
Good to know: The exhibition is free and will run through August.
The backstory: The show has been nearly three years in the making. It includes civil rights advocate Laura Esquivel, tenant rights attorney Elena Popp and the late archivist, and “herstorian” Yolanda Retter Vargas.
Go deeper: The exhibition draws from UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center library, which holds over 600 archival and manuscript collections. The archives are open to the public. To schedule a visit, you can make an appointment.
Now through August, East Los Angeles College’s Vincent Price Art Museum will host an exhibition that spans three decades of local Latina lesbian activism, from the 1980s to the late 2000s.
Housed on the museum’s third floor, the exhibition features photos, posters, letters and other ephemera that highlight the work of those who fought to put an end to anti-gay hate crimes. The activists also took on other issues, including LGBTQ+ healthcare, affordable housing, fair wages for janitors and immigrants’ rights.
The show is a collaboration between the museum and the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, a research initiative led by UCLA. Jocelyne Sanchez is a project archivist at the university’s Chicano Studies Research Center library and co-curator of the exhibition. In a conversation with LAist, she reflected on what the show might mean for Angelenos, who are bearing witness to immigration detentions across the region.
“It is quite terrifying to see the violence,” she said. “But here, in this room, there's a serenity in knowing that people have always loved each other, and people will always fight for each other.”
Fighting for justice, building community
The small but mighty exhibition pays homage to activists who have passed and who remain in the fold. This includes civil rights advocate Laura Esquivel, as well as tenant rights attorney Elena Popp. Both of them attended the show’s opening in June.
Vanessa Esperanza Quintero, who co-curated the show and serves as exhibitions coordinator of the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, said she was glad to hear they felt their story has been captured with care.
Co-curator Jocelyne Sanchez, UCLA CSRC director Veronica Terriquez, co-curator Vanessa Esperanza Quintero, Laura Esquivel, Elena Popp, Ridge Gonzalez, and UCLA CSRC assistant director Celia Lacayo.
(
Monica Orozco
/
Courtesy of Gloria Ortega, Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation
)
About halfway through the exhibition, visitors encounter a photo titled “Lesbians of Color- LA, 1980." It features a group of women (and a child in sunglasses) smiling and dancing in a living room. The photo was shot by historian, author and activist Lydia Otero, but the people in the image are unnamed.
The co-curators said they chose to include a large-scale version of the photo because it speaks to a crucial, but rarely acknowledged, aspect of organizing: the joy of finding community. The show also aims to honor unknown people who’ve helped make change.
"Our mission is to share with the public as much history as possible, including highlighting historical moments — and people — who tend to not receive all the attention or credit for their important work,” said Veronica Terriquez, director of UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center and cofounder of Latina Futures 2050 Lab.
Next to the photo, Quintero decided to affix a QR code. Should visitors feel called to be part of the women’s legacy, their phones will pull up organizations doing social justice work today.
The co-curators also aim to illustrate that the activists’ work was “not confined by borders,” Sanchez said. Toward the end of the exhibition, several materials — including a giant poster of a 2009 lesbian march in Mexico City — show that the L.A. County organizers were in dialogue with people across the country and the world.
Parts of the exhibition are bathed in lavender. VPAM curatorial assistant Gloria Ortega said the color was chosen because of its "long history with the [LGBTQ+] community."
(
Monica Orozco
/
Courtesy of Gloria Ortega, Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation
)
Ode to an “oppositional child”
Above all, the exhibition is a tribute to the late archivist, “herstorian” and former Chicano Studies Research Center librarian Yolanda Retter Vargas.
During her tenure, she expanded the center’s archives to include the papers of Esquivel, Popp and other local activists. Retter Vargas also led the Latina Lesbian Oral Histories project and, in the early years of the internet, created a website that housed a wealth of information on L.A. County’s lesbian history.
But when Retter Vargas died in 2007, her website domain was lost, and everything she’d posted vanished into the ether. The Latina Futures 2050 Lab digital projects librarian managed to retrieve that work. Now, Retter Vargas’ website is at the museum. Visitors can navigate it by clicking through the pages on a vintage neon green Mac desktop.
For the exhibition, the co-curators also decided to flip the camera on Retter Vargas. Instead of one of the interviews she conducted, Quintero and Sanchez opted to project an interview conducted by Popp, in which Retter Vargas recounts her life and work. In it, viewers can catch glimpses of rare vulnerability.
The tough as nails archivist opens up about her youth, including the pushback she experienced when attempting to live outside prescribed gender norms. In the video, Retter Vargas describes herself as an “oppositional child” — a label she “really took on throughout her life,” Sanchez said.
The name of the exhibition is itself a nod to Retter Vargas’s work. She titled her dissertation “On the Side of Angels: Lesbian Activism in Los Angeles, 1970-1990.” When Quintero came across it, she knew she wanted it to be the name of the exhibition.
Good to know: Parking is available at no cost on lot 4 , located on the corner of Collegian Avenue and Floral Drive.
At the show, the co-curators placed the toolbelt Retter Vargas wore while making her rounds at UCLA under a glass display case, along with other belongings. More than museum pieces, they seem to function as part of a room-sized altar.
On one of the exhibition’s walls, Quintero and Sanchez quoted the dedication in Retter Vargas’ academic work.
The first line reads: “To the butch and femme lesbian resisters, who were ‘out’ and about when it was not safe.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom stands with first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom as he speaks during an election night news conference at a California Democratic Party office.
(
Godofredo A. Vásquez
/
AP
)
Topline:
Gov. Gavin Newsom will deliver his final State of the State address on Thursday, capping seven years in which he oversaw an aggressive expansion of health care and early childhood education access in California, pushed the state’s progressive climate policies and — in a break from his predecessors — made reducing homelessness and increasing housing supply top state priorities.
What to expect from the address: In his speech, Newsom is expected to unveil his budget priorities for the year ahead. The address comes as Newsom continues to burnish his national reputation ahead of a possible presidential run in 2028, and as the state faces ongoing fiscal threats from both rising state costs and the Trump administration. Jason Elliott, a longtime adviser to Newsom who left the administration last year but remains close to the governor, said this year will probably be more about finishing what Newsom started than rolling out new initiatives.
Newsom's achievements: Among the governor’s biggest achievements, said longtime early childhood education advocate Scott Moore, was the creation of a new school grade for all 4-year-olds, transitional kindergarten, as well as the expansion of child care and preschool slots for low-income families. Health care advocates also give Newsom high marks for his aggressive expansion of coverage, including to immigrant communities. But they remain disappointed that last year — facing budget constraints and political pressure — Newsom and lawmakers moved to freeze new enrollments of undocumented adults in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program.
Gov. Gavin Newsom will deliver his final State of the State address on Thursday, capping seven years in which he oversaw an aggressive expansion of health care and early childhood education access in California, pushed the state’s progressive climate policies and — in a break from his predecessors — made reducing homelessness and increasing housing supply top state priorities.
In his speech, Newsom is expected to unveil his budget priorities for the year ahead. The address comes as Newsom continues to burnish his national reputation ahead of a possible presidential run in 2028, and as the state faces ongoing fiscal threats from both rising state costs and the Trump administration.
Jason Elliott, a longtime adviser to Newsom who left the administration last year but remains close to the governor, said this year will probably be more about finishing what Newsom started than rolling out new initiatives.
“Gov. Newsom, in order to feel satisfied with the job he did as governor, will want to see universal transitional kindergarten extended to every single eligible kid in California. He will want to see child care slots expanded to the level that he promised and promoted. He will want to see homeless encampment grants and Proposition 1 bond funding for homeless mental health housing be administered quickly,” he said.
“There’s a lot that he talked about over the last eight years that is not quite done that needs to get finished,” Elliott said, “and I would expect that his focus would be very much on completing those multi-year commitments that he made.”
The California State Capitol in Sacramento. (iStock/Getty Images Plus)While there are critics aplenty, as Newsom begins his final year in the governor’s office, he has managed to maintain relatively cozy relationships with business and labor leaders as well as other powerful interest groups in Sacramento.
Advocates for education and child care, affordable housing, health care, and the business community all cited major policy accomplishments that they are hoping to protect in the face of growing costs and shrinking revenues.
“Unquestionably, he is the early childhood champion governor,” said Moore, who advised both Newsom and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on state councils and is now CEO of Kidango, a nonprofit preschool organization that serves low-income families in the Bay Area.
The toddler room at Kidango Early Care & Education in San José on Dec. 11, 2024. (Juliana Yamada/KQED)Moore has worked in the field for a quarter-century and said the progress made just in the past few years has been staggering.
“Back then, we had about 50,000 or so children that got public-funded pre-K in the state of California. And now we have over 500,000. That’s a big difference. And most of that growth happened under Governor Newsom,” he said.
Health care expansion limited, holding the line on taxes
Health care advocates also give Newsom high marks for his aggressive expansion of coverage, including to immigrant communities. But they remain disappointed that last year — facing budget constraints and political pressure — Newsom and lawmakers moved to freeze new enrollments of undocumented adults in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program.
Kiran Savage-Sangwan, executive director of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, which works to ensure all Californians have access to quality, affordable health care, said Newsom has made universal coverage a priority since day one.
“The first executive order that he signed immediately after being sworn in was to establish the Office of the Surgeon General … That really showed that he understood the connection between the conditions that poor communities are facing and health outcomes,” she said. “He has continued to tackle what we consider the twin issues of the rising and unsustainable cost of health care, and getting to universal health coverage for all Californians.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a successful 2024 mental health ballot initiative at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego on March 19, 2023. (Adriana Heldiz/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP Pool)Savage-Sangwan also gave Newsom high marks for establishing an Office of HealthCare Affordability in 2022. But as he heads into his final year, she hopes he will reconsider limiting Medi-Cal for undocumented adults — especially as consumers confront President Donald Trump’s deep cuts to both Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“We’re hoping that this is gonna be a moment for the state of California to distinguish ourselves from what is happening at the national and federal levels,” she said. “We think that California has an opportunity to stand in contrast to that rather than bow down and continue that trajectory of taking health care from people.”
She urged Newsom to consider new revenue sources, something that the business community is staunchly opposed to and that Newsom has been generally unwilling to consider.
In fact, CalChamber CEO Jennifer Barrera said taxes are one area where Newsom and the business community have been in lockstep. This year, he has made clear his opposition to a proposed ballot measure being pushed by labor unions that would levy a one-time tax on billionaires.
“He has really drawn the line in the sand on tax policy. He has been the one who has been defending against tax increases for the past several years,” Barrera said.
Barrera also gave Newsom high marks for generally embracing fiscal restraint, for helping broker a huge deal between labor and business in 2024 related to labor protections and litigation, and for generally understanding the importance of the business community to the state’s economic health.
But there have been areas of sharp disagreement, Barrera noted, including around labor protections, environmental laws and oil and gas regulation.
“There’s always going to be those tough calls on some of these labor bills,” she said. “In the environment space, there was some legislation that we certainly would have preferred not be signed and are dealing with now.”
Newsom also gets mixed reviews in one of his signature policy areas: housing and homelessness. Republican leaders in the state Legislature note that Newsom failed to deliver on his 2018 campaign promise to build 3.5 million new homes, and say it’s part of a larger pattern.
“Gov. Newsom has made big promises and launched endless new initiatives,” Assembly Republican Leader Heath Flora said in a prebuttal to Newsom’s speech. “But no matter what he says [today] Californians are paying more and getting less, because his policies keep driving up the cost of everyday life.”
California state Assemblymember Heath Flora in Sacramento on May 15, 2017 (Bert Johnson/KQED)But others say Newsom and the Democratic-led Legislature made big strides in increasing housing production and tackling homelessness through policies that will continue to pay dividends after he leaves office. Newsom also used the bully pulpit to bring the issue front and center, said Ray Pearl, executive director of the California Housing Consortium, which advocates for affordable housing.
Pearl noted that Newsom’s 2020 State of the State speech was entirely about housing and homelessness.
“With former governors, when they’d have a State of the State, we would look for anywhere where housing was mentioned,” he said. “I think more than anyone, he helped change the trajectory of the housing issue and made it a mainstream issue.”
Pearl said Newsom pushed unprecedented state investments in affordable housing by significantly increasing tax credits and other resources. He’s hopeful this year that the governor will support a proposed $10 billion affordable housing bond being considered by lawmakers.
As Newsom enters his final year and looks to a potential 2028 presidential run, those close to him know that the state’s shortcomings — and what Newsom did or didn’t do to address them — will be under a microscope.
Elliott, Newsom’s former adviser, said he believes the governor laid the groundwork over his two terms to fundamentally change the state’s trajectory, particularly around housing and homelessness.
“When you’ve got a problem that’s 40-plus years in the making, you don’t see overnight results. That’s frustrating to me. I know it’s frustrating for the governor. I know it’s frustrating to the average Californian,” he said. “What I’m saying is we’ve spent the last seven or eight years in this state putting the pieces in place to materially address all those problems.”
Take the Polar Bear Plunge in Santa Monica, head to a comedy show, watch a movie on a rooftop and more of the best things to do this weekend.
Highlights:
Dena United is hosting the all-day Power Up Altadena! festivalat Altadena’s historic Zorthian Ranch to commemorate one year since the devastating Eaton Fire.
Cold plunge, or really cold plunge? Start your year with fellow polar bears at the Annenberg Community Beach House and take a group jump into the Pacific.
Two special afternoons of concerts from Piano Spheresat the Wende Museum on Sunday and The Brick on Monday span the masterworks of legendary American composer Morton Feldman.
Chaos/riotous laughter/who knows what will happen when these three incredibly funny women get together on stage?Chelsea Peretti (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Natasha Leggero (Chelsea Lately), and Sabrina Jalees (Search Party) take to the Elysian.
If you’re looking for fire anniversary events (many of which continue through the weekend), check out our roundup here.
We’re continuing with our staff L.A. resolutions, and Associate Editor Anthony Schneck has on his list some old and new adventures for 2026. First, it’s to have a martini at Musso and Frank (despite the touristy rep!), then it’s a trip to a Grand Ole Echo night at The Echo for some country music vibes. Later in the year, he’s excited to watch World Cup matches at the boisterous fan villages.
Senior K-12 education reporter Mariana Dale is trying not to take our beautiful landscape for granted this year; she hopes to spot an octopus at the tidepools after lucking out seeing a bat star and a colorful nudibranch during the last king tide at White Point tidepools in San Pedro. She also plans a valiant return to Eaton Canyon once the damaged trails begin to reopen.
Our friends at Licorice Pizza have tons of new music on their 2026 to-do list; this weekend, Mike Garson wraps up this three-night Bowie tribute residency at the Sun Rose with a rotating cast of all-stars, including Billy Corgan, Chad Smith, Jake Wesley Rogers, Judith Hill, Luke Spiller and Licorice Pizza’s own all-star Carmine Rojas. Friday and Saturday, Galantis play the Hollywood Palladium, and on Saturday there’s another big benefit show at the Shrine, Artists For Aid, to raise funds for those affected by the ongoing crises in Sudan and Palestine. Also on Saturday, you could also check out Unwritten Law at the Teragram Ballroom, or American Idol winner Lee DeWyze at the Hotel Café.
Sunday, January 11, 11 a.m. Zorthian Ranch 3990 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Altadena COST: FREE, $10 SUGGESTED DONATION; MORE INFO
(
Courtesy KCRW
)
Dena United is hosting this all-day festival at Altadena’s historic Zorthian Ranch to celebrate the community’s diverse culture and commemorate one year since the devastating Eaton Fire. Expect to see a wide range of performances from acts including Bobby Bradford, Dwight Trible, Baba Onochie Chukwurah & the Rhythms of the Village Family Band, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Earthseed Band and the Whispering Giants with MCs Medusa and Myka 9.
Polar Bear Plunge
Saturday, January 10, 10:15 a.m. Annenberg Community Beach House 415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica COST: FREE, $10 for heated pool admission; MORE INFO
(
Courtesy Annenberg Community Beach House
)
Cold plunge, or really cold plunge? Start your year with fellow polar bears at the Annenberg Community Beach House and take a group jump into the Pacific, followed by a 300-yard swim out and back to warm up for those with a little more stamina. Brrr!
Morton Feldman: Centennial Marathon
Sunday, January 11, 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wende Museum 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City COST: FREE; MORE INFO
(
Courtesy Wende Museum
)
Two special afternoons of concerts from Piano Spheres at the Wende Museum on Sunday and The Brick on Monday span the masterworks of legendary American composer Morton Feldman. The two days will feature works including Crippled Symmetry, For Bunita Marcus, and Patterns in a Chromatic Field. Special guests like Amy Williams, Conor Hanick and more will perform. On Monday, head to Melrose Hill to art space The Brick (518 N. Western Ave.) from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. for a second set of music.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Saturday, January 10, 8:30 p.m. Rooftop Cinema Club 888 S. Olive Street, Downtown L.A. COST: $31; MORE INFO
(
Focus Features
)
The rainy weather seems to be taking a break, so take advantage and enjoy some eternal sunshine of your own at Rooftop Cinema Club’s Fireside Films. The modern classic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey, is a meditation on memory — and the setting is cozy, with outside heaters and a roaring fire. Tickets include a hot beverage.
Historic Main St. Santa Monica Walk
Saturday, January 10, 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Shotgun House 2520 2nd. Street, Santa Monica COST: FREE; MORE INFO
(
Piermario Eva
/
Unsplash
)
Santa Monica Conservancy hosts this walk along historic Main Street and through the vibrant Ocean Park neighborhood, led by street historian and author of the award-winning blog The Street Seen, Mark Gorman. Miss this week? The SMC leads tours every second Saturday of each month.
Two films by Zoe Beloff Friday, January 9, 6 p.m. Velaslavasay Panorama 1122 W. 24th Street, West Adams COST: $18; MORE INFO
There’s no more unique place in L.A. than the Velaslavasay Panorama, and filmmaker Zoe Beloff will be there in person to debut two new films at the space, Josephine the Singer or The Mouse People and Life Forgotten. The first looks at the history of New York’s Lower East Side through its community gardens, told through the text of a Franz Kafka short story; the second centers on a silent movie theater and storefront cinema in early 20th-century New York City.
CHAOS: Chelsea Peretti, Natasha Leggero, Sabrina Jalees
Sunday, January 11, 7:30 p.m. Elysian Theater 1944 Riverside Drive, Elysian Valley COST: FROM $25; MORE INFO
(
Courtesy The Elysian
)
Chaos/riotous laughter/who knows what will happen when these three incredibly funny women get together on stage? Chelsea Peretti (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Natasha Leggero (Chelsea Lately) and Sabrina Jalees (Search Party) take to the Elysian for a night of much-needed antics.
Ukrainian Christmas Dinner
Sunday, January 11, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Ukrainian Cultural Center 4315 Melrose Ave., East Hollywood COST: FROM $81; MORE INFO
(
Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles
/
Eventbrite
)
Keep the holiday celebrations going with this Ukrainian Christmas Dinner — the Schedriy Vechir (“generous evening”) Holiday Gala — celebrating the resilience of the Ukrainian people in this challenging time. The fundraising event includes performances from the Kobzar Choir, KOLO Choir of St. Volodymyr’s Church, Blagovist Choir of St. Andrew’s Church, Vova Zi Lvova, Vsudy Svoya, Chervona Kalyna Dance Ensemble and more.
Dry January at Burden of Proof Various dates 1012 Mission Street, South Pasadena COST: VARIES; MORE INFO
(
Courtesy Burden of Proof
)
If drinking less is on your January to-do list, you couldn’t pick a better place to start than Burden of Proof in South Pasadena. While other N.A. bars have closed in the past year (The New Bar, Stay), Burden of Proof is thriving, with a variety of events featuring local producers to help keep you on the straight and narrow for dry January and all year long.
Keep up with LAist.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Libby Rainey
is a general assignment reporter. She covers the news that shapes Los Angeles and how people change the city in return.
Published January 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Group purchasing can save significant money, fire survivors are finding. But the tradeoffs are in efficiency and time. .
(
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images North America
)
Topline:
A year after L.A. went up in flames, survivors are looking to rebuild quickly and affordably. As just one person, the costs of rebuilding add up fast. But by pooling their purchasing power, neighborhoods — or what's left of them — are working together to curtail rebuilding costs.
Why it matters: Many face an issue that some fire survivors refer to simply as "the gap" — the financial hole between what insurance will give and what it will actually cost to rebuild. Working together could be the difference that allows some people to return home.
L.A. isn't the first: Jennifer Gray Thompson, who leads the advocacy organization After the Fire, said that since her group launched in 2017, she has seen communities in California, Colorado and elsewhere purchase goods and services together to bring costs down.
How bulk purchasing can work: Unlocking this type of coordination depends on a number of factors, including how tight-knit the recovering community is, how close together homes are, and how affluent the disaster zone is.
Read on ... to hear from fire survivors banding together to rebuild.
If you need a new refrigerator, you go to a hardware store. But what if you need a thousand refrigerators?
This is a math problem in the era of urban mega-fires. A year after L.A. went up in flames, survivors are looking to rebuild quickly and affordably.
As just one person, the costs of rebuilding add up fast. But by pooling their purchasing power, neighborhoods — or what's left of them — are working together to curtail rebuilding costs.
It turns out needing a thousand fridges could be a good issue to have. In Altadena, fire survivors are working together to buy things in bulk. And they're trying to find the most efficient and fair way to do it.
" When you see that deal on the shelf: 'Buy four, get the fifth for 20% off,' all you have to do is consult your wallet," said Michael Tuccillo, whose home was damaged in the Eaton Fire. "But when you're bulk purchasing, it becomes complicated because you have to make a choice that's right for the entire community."
Morgan Whirledge first tried the group approach when he needed a land survey of his property. He's an Eaton Fire block captain, meaning he coordinates with neighbors and other block captains on all types of issues related to fire recovery.
" If you're bringing out survey equipment to an area … why not knock out a few properties at the same time in one day, as opposed to coming out over and over again?" Whirledge said.
A lot of other neighborhoods had the same idea.
This process allowed block captains like Whirledge to try out their negotiating skills — and understand the limits of their leverage. He made a deal for a handful of plots, including his own.
"The surveyor we ended up with was saying, 'Hey, there's kind of a threshold where it stops being more economical for me,'" Whirledge said.
It also revealed the challenges of making big financial decisions with other homeowners. Tuccillo scored a great deal for himself and two dozen neighbors: around $1,700 a lot for a land surveyor, compared to a one-off price of $5,000. But someone had to go first, and someone had to go last.
" It took like two months, maybe three months for some of these people to get service, which is a big deal," said Tuccillo, who is also a block captain. "And people were upset at me."
A house under construction in Altadena in June.
(
Myung J. Chun
/
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
)
'The gap'
Land surveying is simple compared to the decisions that lie ahead for most people rebuilding in Altadena and the Palisades.
Many face an issue that some fire survivors refer to simply as "the gap" — the financial hole between what insurance will give and what it will actually cost to rebuild.
Working together could be the difference that allows some people to return home.
Elizabeth Campbell has been thinking a lot about this problem. She negotiates bulk purchases for a living, and has worked as a buyer for companies like Saks Fifth Avenue and the North Face. When she lost her home in the Eaton Fire, she found a new arena for her expertise.
"Asking a vendor for a discount is not always the best way to get the best price," she said. "When you're purchasing a large amount of goods, you're thinking a little bit more broadly. Where are they manufacturing? Is it something that they need to manufacture six months in advance?"
In the first year of recovery, a lot of these logistical questions were playing out on Discord and in WhatsApp groups. Seeking a bigger fix, some fire survivors have teamed up with David Lee, a software developer.
Lee launched Buildnotes — an online platform to help more people do group purchasing with less logistical and interpersonal hassle. The site is a wholesale marketplace for materials and services needed for rebuilding. Right now, a big goal is to get homeowners and vendors to sign up.
" We try to line up homeowners and projects along three primary dimensions. One is geography. Two is chronology. What's the start date of your project and do the phases of your project line up with other homes? And then third is style of home," Lee said.
Some homeowners in Altadena scored great deals with other neighbors to pay for things such as a land surveyor. The cost went from $5,000 for a one-off price for one property to $1,700 for two dozen neighbors each.
(
Libby Rainey
/
LAist
)
The biggest group purchase: a home
The largest group purchase fire survivors can make is the home itself.
That's the route Brad Sherwood took after losing his house in Santa Rosa to the Tubbs Fire in 2017. He quickly realized that his insurance payout wasn't enough for him and his wife to rebuild a custom home, and they started talking with neighbors about rebuilding together.
In the end, Sherwood and around 20 other families in his neighborhood went in on the same builder: Stonefield Development of Orange County.
"They allowed neighbors to get into different focus groups, and based on how many bedrooms you wanted or your lot size, they allowed you to develop a floor plan," he said. "If we got enough people to do this particular floor plan, then we could do an assembly production of our homes. And that really benefited us in terms of construction costs, timeline, labor costs."
Sherwood said initial estimates were $700 a square foot. By purchasing his home alongside his neighbors, he spent $400 a square foot.
" The group buy was kind of like therapy in a way," Sherwood said. "Because we all were doing this together, and you didn't feel alone or scared."
Sherwood said custom finishes and small details made sure the neighborhood he returned to wasn't "cookie cutter" compared to the pre-fire hodgepodge of custom, older homes.
A familiar approach
Fire survivors in L.A. aren't the first to try out group purchasing after a large-scale disaster. Jennifer Gray Thompson, who leads the advocacy organization After the Fire, said that since her group launched in 2017, she has seen communities in California, Colorado and elsewhere purchase goods and services together to bring costs down.
In Maui, where the Lahaina Fire destroyed thousands of homes in 2023, many residents need trusses — structures made of wood or steel that form the base of a roof. It's inefficient to order them separately, especially in a place as hard to reach as Maui. So Gray Thompson said community members are working on placing a bulk order.
In Altadena, fire survivors are working together to buy things in bulk. And they're trying to find the most efficient and fair way to do it.
(
Libby Rainey
/
LAist
)
"Trusses are really hard to get on Maui," she said. "So what you have to find is what in the market is the barrier, and then you can often unlock that barrier by group buying."
But this type of coordination depends on a number of factors, including how tight-knit the recovering community is, how close together homes are, and how affluent the disaster zone is.
The collective decision making seen after the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa was harder to pull off in more rural communities destroyed in the 2021 Dixie Fire in Northern California, according to Gray Thompson. People lived farther apart and were scattered to the winds after their town was destroyed.
Still, she said, the idea that it's better to work together, as a community — the ethos of group purchasing — applies to all fire survivors.
" Nobody can walk through this alone. It's an inefficient way to do it. It's not healthy — emotionally or financially or politically or socially," she said. " All of rebuilding is a group project.”
That's what Morgan Whirledge is finding in Altadena.
" If you are a survivor, being able to turn that corner from dread ... that's like a huge part of this effort," he said. " We're all looking for those steps in this process that give us the resiliency and the optimism to carry forward."
Wherever they may fall in the spectrum, engaging in the idea of group purchasing has given some fire survivors something that's in even shorter supply than building materials: hope.
Do you have a question about the wildfires or fire recovery?
Check out LAist.com/FireFAQs to see if your question has already been answered. If not, submit your questions here, and we’ll do our best to get you an answer.
Bonnie Ho
is a freelance writer and former reporter for LAist.
Published January 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Coleen Sterritt had plans for her art practice and life in her community. She said that has been erased, and many of the people in her community do not plan to return.
(
Bonnie Ho
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Fire survivors who received aid have ongoing needs beyond what those homegrown efforts have provided, and those who manage aid say more needs to be done to improve relief systems ahead of the next disaster.
Lessons learned from one mutual aid group: The Grief and Hope fund was intended to draw attention to the economics of working in culture and to the art workers who go unrecognized. It was among a number of initiatives to support artists and art workers after the fires; it raised approximately $1.6 million, much of that already distributed to 271 people.
The takeaway: The most dominant response Grief and Hope’s organizers heard from aid recipients in a survey was their gratitude for “how little information and hoops we required people to jump through,” Pittman said. She pointed out “the number of people who were just like, ‘thank you for not asking me to quantify my suffering to receive support.’”
“We need to have a sense of responsibility for each other,” Pittman said.
And she thinks about how to get relief money to survivors immediately, Pittman said, “rather than making them fill out mountains of paperwork and drive all over town trying to get resources.”
Pittman, owner and founder of the art gallery Official Welcome in Westlake, is among a group of five women art workers and artists — including Kathryn Andrews, Andrea Bowers, Olivia Gauthier, and Julia V. Hendrickson — who created the mutual aid fund Grief and Hope.
Mutual aid refers to individuals pooling resources to help one another. This collective action can build new social relationships but can also represent a shared understanding that existing relief systems often fail to help everyone.
After the Palisades and Eaton fires a year ago, there was an outpouring of giving for artists and art workers who experienced loss. In small and large gestures, this aid created connection, served as recognition of this shared moment, and suggested new ways of relating to one another.
But those who received aid have ongoing needs beyond what those homegrown efforts have provided, and those who manage aid told LAist that more needs to be done to improve relief systems ahead of the next disaster.
Supporting the art community after the fires
The Grief and Hope fund was intended to draw attention to the economics of working in culture and to the art workers who go unrecognized. It was among a number of initiatives to support artists and art workers after the fires; it raised approximately $1.6 million, much of that already distributed to 271 people.
“I think we all had this shared sense too of just not wanting to see our art world disappear here. And that felt very prescient when the fires happened,” gallery director Gauthier said.
A recent survey about artists in the labor force found more than half of the artists reported being “somewhat or very worried” about being able to afford “food, housing, medical care, or utilities” and around 10% “juggled three or more jobs.”
While some artists do well financially, Pittman said, she has seen art workers living on the edge: self-employed workers, underpaid gallery and museum employees, people who are underemployed or managing multiple jobs.
A disaster only makes their situations more precarious.
The organizers of the mutual aid fund Grief and Hope. From left standing, clockwise: Olivia Gauthier; Ariel Pittman; Kathryn Andrews, Julia V. Hendrickson. Not pictured: Andrea Bowers.
(
Bonnie Ho
/
LAist
)
Grief and Hope’s organizers were already active in supporting artists before the fires, so it came naturally to continue to do so. They quickly set up a fiscal sponsor through The Brick nonprofit to manage the money and researched the minimum requirements needed to distribute aid.
Hendrickson, a small business owner of the arts agency Verge, checked applications for false information, but overall the group aimed to cut red tape — an example they hope bureaucracies can learn from.
The most dominant response Grief and Hope’s organizers heard from aid recipients in a survey was their gratitude for “how little information and hoops we required people to jump through,” Pittman said. She pointed out “the number of people who were just like, ‘thank you for not asking me to quantify my suffering to receive support.’”
Recipients also reported in the survey that they felt more connected.
With its organizers bearing close ties to the community, Grief and Hope was also a hub for information, channeling requests from people wanting to help and sharing opportunities like temporary housing, access to studio space and free art supplies.
In their efforts to distribute funding quickly, members of Grief and Hope recognized that they missed a lot of older people who weren’t on social media or connected to those that are. To remedy this, Grief and Hope organizers were able to distribute funding to those who were less online at a later date.
I hope that the people who saw what we did would do the same for us, that there would be another group like this in the future, for the next thing that needs it, you know?
— Ariel Pittman, Grief and Hope organizer
Pittman said this is another reason why there needs to be data for those distributing resources after a disaster, so that resources could be brought to people, rather than people having to find them or rely on an algorithm to learn about them.
Pittman said her group plans to make one more payment to applicants, but speaking for herself, she doesn’t see Grief and Hope being revived unless they’re uniquely situated to help.
“I hope that the people who saw what we did would do the same for us, that there would be another group like this in the future, for the next thing that needs it, you know?” she said.
And better data would mean future aid groups could get a head start. This group shares an understanding that with climate change, disasters will inevitably become more frequent.
One of Pittman’s collaborators, Andrews, an artist and founder of the gender equality nonprofit Judith Center, has now lost her home twice (first to the Bobcat Fire in 2020, second to the Palisades Fire).
She recognized this is a unique opportunity where people can come together and think about a different future, on how to construct a community anew, but also how to prepare for a different disaster response.
“I don't think a solution after the fact is the right approach because there's just not enough we can do. We need to reengineer it on the front end,” Andrews said. “And I think collectively we should make demands that the government does step up differently, that insurance performs differently.”
Needs after a disaster
Margaret Ross Griffith learned from her neighbor’s car camera that the Eaton Fire had made it to her Altadena home.
She also lost her and her husband’s art studios, their art storage, and also the period of time, the “soft space” she called it, that her family of four shared before her eldest daughter would go off to college.
“You're like, ‘I have to drive where?’” she recalled. “I mean, you're just in such a state of shock that driving anywhere is a hardship.”
Margaret Griffith learned from her neighbor’s car camera that the Eaton Fire had made it to her Altadena home.
(
Bonnie Ho
/
LAist
)
Griffith and her husband lost their art studios and their art storage in the Eaton Fire.
(
Bonnie Ho
/
LAist
)
Friends showed up for her and her family. At least two rented trucks to bring items to fill their empty rental home. One day five of her husband’s friends came with shovels and screen to remove and filter debris. The friends who took Griffith and her family in after the Eaton Fire said they could stay as long as they needed.
It also helped that she could receive funds quickly from Grief and Hope. There were immediate costs to cover, including paying for a security deposit and rent for a place that cost twice as much as their mortgage.
Even before having furniture for their rental, Griffith said with some amusement, she used aid from art groups to invest in a laser cutter. Griffith, an artist who makes intricate sculptures by cutting repeated patterns through metal and other materials, said it was an essential need for her art practice.
The value of having a space to create
At 72 years old, Coleen Sterritt had retired from teaching at a community college and had plans for her art practice and life in her community. She said that this has now been erased. The materials gathered for future projects have burned, along with her house and two art studios. The people in her former Altadena community who consider themselves too old to rebuild or who rented do not plan to return.
“It was like one day you had your life and the next day you did not,” Sterritt said. “It was just gone.”
Listen
0:44
For survivors of Eaton Fire, recovery has been a full-time job
After the Eaton Fire, Sterritt, her husband, and their two dogs have moved five times. She said it helps to be around people who understand what they went through. There is a sense of isolation among others, including family.
“They don't really understand that it's with us all the time. It's with us all the time,” she said.
Going to art galleries today is a reminder of the art she has lost: sculptural art in the last 15 years, and the works on paper that went back nearly 50 years, her notebooks, and her sketchbooks.
Sterritt received mutual aid from a GoFundMe a former student created for her. Sterritt was initially reluctant, but was persuaded that the GoFundMe was a connection to others who wanted to give, regardless of how much someone could contribute.
But as the one-year mark approached, she said she has noticed that the attention has begun to fade. Sterritt points out, for example, businesses that were so quick to offer discounts at the time of the fires, did not continue much past early 2025. By summertime, businesses appeared to have moved on, she said.
Recovery has been a full-time job — between working to create an inventory of all that was lost and participating in the lawsuit against SoCal Edison, Sterritt has not been able to make art.
Sterritt misses having a studio and the privacy it affords. The loss of a physical place for an artist isn’t the same as it is for a person whose profession isn’t so tied to having a space for creativity, Sterritt said. And space in Los Angeles is hard to come by.
Griffith, too, has found it challenging to make art since the fire. She said to do so, she needs to have three components — time, money and space. She recently was given access, however, to a temporary studio for her eight-week art residency with Arts at Blue Roof. There she seemed to relax.
“There're no distractions here. I'm not, you know, dealing with the burdens of the house rebuild when I come into this room,” she said in an interview at her Blue Roof studio.
She is not expecting her new home to be ready until 2027, so she hopes that organizations continue to offer studio space to those affected by the fires.
And she hopes people do not forget how long recovery takes.
