The Brief

In the city of Los Angeles, some 650,000 apartments are subject to local rent control. How much rents can go up each year has been the subject of ongoing controversy between tenants and landlords, who often disagree about what’s fair amid a regional crisis in affordable housing.

The L.A. City Council, which sets policy, has been at the center of that tension. Last October, Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Hugo Soto-Martinez put forward a motion calling for a fresh look at the city’s decades-old formula for setting annual limits on rent hikes. The council approved that motion and called for a study to “conclude within 3 months.”

This May, the Economic Roundtable, the nonprofit research organization the city commissioned to carry out the study, submitted its report to the L.A. Housing Department. Four months later, the city still has not released it publicly. LAist obtained the report through a public records request.

The independent analysis found some of the city’s rules governing rent increases have favored landlords over tenants. The report recommends changes that could lower the rent hikes tenants face each year, setting up what is sure to be a fierce debate at city hall.

LAist has published the full report here (and you can also read it below).

What’s in the report? 

Over the course of 193 pages, the report offers an extensive analysis of the L.A. rental housing market, challenges facing both tenants and landlords, and the impact of the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Among the findings:

• About 35% of the rent L.A. tenants pay goes to operating expenses for apartment buildings, on average. This includes maintenance, utilities, insurance, payroll and other routine costs. Landlords can use the remainder to cover mortgages and turn a profit.
• From January 2020 through January 2023, 4 in 10 rent-controlled L.A. apartments became vacant. When a tenant leaves a rent-controlled unit, the city’s rules allow landlords to raise rents to market rates. These higher rents helped landlords absorb the impact of a nearly four-year freeze on rent hikes.
• Many expenses have risen sharply for landlords in recent years, outpacing inflation. Property insurance costs have roughly doubled since 2020. However, the report notes these expenses make up a relatively small portion of overall costs.
• About one-fifth of L.A. renters are living below the federal poverty line. According to U.S. Census data, just over half of those renters spend 90% of their income or more on rent. Rent increases can leave these low-income renters vulnerable to displacement and homelessness.
• The city’s current range of allowable annual rent increases — anywhere from 3% to 8% depending on inflation — is higher than the increases permitted in most other California cities with rent control.

The report makes some recommendations on how the city could change its formula for determining annual rent increase limits:

• Either eliminate a provision allowing landlords to raise rents an extra 1% per year if they pay for a tenant’s gas, plus another 1% if they pay for electricity — or replace it. The report estimates each 1% increase could raise rents an additional $150 to $240 per month after 10 years, more than the actual cost of providing those utilities. One option, the report says, would be to instead use a surcharge that better captures the increased costs of providing those utilities.

The report recommends considering changing which version of the consumer price index is used to calculate allowable increased to one that excludes housing costs, shown as "Less Shelter" in the chart above.

(

Courtesy Equitable Rent report

)

• Change how annual rent increases are calculated. Instead of using a version of the consumer price index driven to a large degree by housing cost inflation, the report recommends a different index that excludes housing costs. The report argues this would stop the feedback loop of allowing high housing inflation to create further housing inflation.

What do landlord advocates say?

LAist shared the report with advocates for landlords and tenants.

Landlord advocates strongly disputed the report’s conclusions. Daniel Yukelson with the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles pointed to recent data from the National Apartment Association, a trade group for property owners, concluding that California landlords earn 7 cents of profit on average for every dollar of rent.

“What [the report] is trying to do is make a PR effort to lay the groundwork to chip away at what little ability landlords have in L.A. to be able to raise rents and be able to keep up with their costs,” Yukelson said.

He said the report takes a macroeconomic view of the city’s rental market, but fails to capture the unique struggles facing many small landlords.

“There are plenty of owners out there who have had their renters in place for many years,” Yukelson said. “They're way below market. And they're having trouble today keeping up with the growing costs of insurance, maintenance and supplies.”

What do tenant advocates say?

Tenant advocates took a very different view of the report. They said it correctly identifies problems with L.A. rent control and validates their demands for stronger limits.

“Small landlords are able to maintain their profits and draw income above their expenses — they haven't been overly burdened by rent stabilization,” said Christina Boyar, a legal fellow with Public Counsel and a member of the Keep L.A. Housed coalition.

Tenant advocates have called for a 3% ceiling on annual rent hikes and elimination of the 2% surcharge for landlords who provide gas and electricity. They point to other L.A.-area cities that currently limit rent increases to less than 3% with no add-ons for utilities.

“The report shows that rent costs exceeding what tenants can pay is a primary cause of homelessness,” Boyar said. “We are obviously in a homelessness crisis in L.A., and if this formula isn't updated soon, more folks will just fall into homelessness.”

How LAist obtained the report

The city’s housing officials have been in possession of the Economic Roundtable report since May.

When LAist first requested the report, officials told a reporter the study was not subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act, saying there was an exemption for “deliberative process.”

They provided the report shortly after LAist’s public records lawyer intervened.

Why had the city not released the report? 

Daniel Flaming, president of the Economic Roundtable and a co-author of the report, said he didn’t have a good answer for why the report was kept under wraps.

“I think when it's a politically contentious issue, there are attempts to manage the conversation,” Flaming said. “The substance of the report is final. It was submitted as a final report and accepted by the city as a final work product.”

Sharon Sandow, a spokesperson for the L.A. Housing Department, told LAist last week the document was still a “draft report,” and they didn't have a specific date lined up for its release.

“There are several rounds of revisions left to go before this report is considered final,” Sandow said in an email. “Economic Roundtable is under contract to complete this report through January 2025 — though clearly we hope to have it finalized before then.”

By the end of last week, Sandow sent LAist a version of the report she described as "final."

Under state public records law, preliminary drafts must be released if they are retained in the ordinary course of business, as this one has been. LAist noted in its correspondence with housing department officials that the report was not a draft but was a finished product submitted by the contractor.

Why it matters

The city’s rent increase limits apply to a huge number of L.A. residents. Almost two-thirds of L.A. households rent their homes. Local rent control rules cover about 650,000 apartments — 44% of the city’s entire housing stock. Apartments in L.A. are generally covered by local rent control if they were built before Oct. 1, 1978.

Housing costs are a major burden for many L.A. households. About 59% of the city’s renters spend more than 30% of their income on rent, a level considered unaffordable by federal government standards.

The report notes that because L.A. has a 3% floor on annual increases — even in years when the consumer price index is lower — landlords have often been allowed to raise rents above inflation. Between 2010 and 2020, the consumer price index in L.A. rose 21%. During the same period, rents in rent-controlled L.A. apartments were allowed to rise 36%.

The issues facing landlords

On the other hand, the report finds that landlords have faced unique challenges — particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

State and local regulations allowed tenants who lost income during the pandemic to delay rent payments. Annual increases in rent-controlled housing were banned. And landlords were restricted from evicting tenants who fell behind on rent. That all played out during a time when the cost of maintenance, utilities and insurance was rising faster than inflation.

L.A. kept COVID-19 protections in place far longer than many other jurisdictions. The city faced strong criticism from landlords who argued too little was being done to help property owners.

Some of these hardships were addressed by government rent relief programs, which provided funds to landlords with tenants behind on rent. The report also notes that high turnover helped landlords raise rents to market rates and keep rental income nearly at pace with inflation.

But landlord advocates say some property owners have yet to fully recover from the pandemic. They now worry about the potential cost of proposals to remove gas stoves and install air conditioners.

“The cost of electricity is just going to continue going up,” Yukelson with the Apartment Association said. If the city stops landlords who provide electricity from raising rents an additional 1% per year, he said, “The next tenant is going to have to pay that burden, because the rents are going to have to go up.”

How L.A. stacks up to other cities

On balance, Flaming said the report shows that L.A.’s policies diverge significantly from how other California cities handle rent control. He said the utility surcharge in particular seems “arbitrary.”

“The Los Angeles ceiling and floor are atypically high for rent-controlled cities,” he said. “Among cities that have elected to control rents — and not all cities have — Los Angeles appears to be tilted toward landlords.”

Some L.A. city council members have floated the idea of establishing different rent control rules for “mom and pop” landlords and larger, corporate landlords. The report recommends the city instead target aid to small landlords, rather than allowing additional rent increases on tenants.

What happens now? 

The clock is ticking for the city to develop a new rent-control formula in time for Jan. 1, 2025. That’s when landlords will be required to give tenants notice of any rent increases starting in February. Many tenants in rent-controlled housing received a 4 to 6% annual rent increase on Feb. 1, 2024 due to the lapse of the L.A.’s COVID-19 rent freeze.

Soto-Martinez, one of the council members who requested the report be commissioned — has already called for capping increases at 3%.

In an email reacting to the Economic Roundtable report, Soto-Martínez told LAist, “As we await the finalized version of this report, it’s heartening to see so much data supporting the policy changes that renters have been demanding — especially when it comes to preventing excessive rent increases that can devastate working families.”

The city’s rent control debate is playing out against the larger backdrop of an election season where rent control — and many other housing-related measures — are up for a state-wide vote.

Read the full report

Link: Equitable Rent Rent Stabilization Standards in the City of Los Angeles

Note: The initial report released to LAist early last week was dated May 2024. Late last week, L.A. housing officials resent the report, now dated September 2024.

Facing growing public backlash and a pivot from his own past vetoes, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of seven bills on Monday that aim to force the data center industry to pay its own way in California.

Three of the new laws shift electric infrastructure costs away from residential customers and toward data center operators, three more mandate disclosures of water usage and other resources, and the last one makes data centers ineligible for environmental review exemptions.

Newsom, in a written statement, contrasted the new regulations with President Donald Trump’s hands-off approach to data centers and artificial intelligence.

“We know that we don’t have to sell out Californians or sacrifice our well-being to innovate and succeed,” the statement read. “California has proven that time and time again. With these laws, we are ensuring that Californians remain in the driver’s seat — and that those profiting from data centers aren’t doing so at our expense.”

Trump has aggressively pushed to accelerate data center development nationwide, arguing that they represent a significant economic opportunity for states that embrace them. He said last week at the All-In Summit, an invite-only conference for business leaders, that the industry is the “oil of the next 20, 25 years.”

Newsom’s signature on the new laws represents a significant departure from his actions on data centers last year, when he vetoed a water disclosure bill over concerns that regulation could stifle AI growth and signed into law only a single stripped-down environmental study bill.

Environmental advocates and the lawmakers behind this year’s bills previously told CalMatters that intensifying public backlash to data center construction propelled the legislation this year, despite a flood of lobbying funds from Big Tech and other business interests that aimed to soften the proposals.

“When you’re looking down the barrel of public outcry that says we don’t want [data centers] at all, and you’ve got localities that are saying they’re going to ban them, then you know the atmosphere has changed,” Assemblymember Diane Papan, a San Mateo Democrat who authored two of the bills which were signed into law on Monday, previously told CalMatters.

Other state legislatures as well as Congress are also advancing new measures to regulate the industry. In May, a Gallup poll found seven in 10 Americans oppose data center construction in their communities, while a July Public Policy Institute of California poll found similar opposition statewide. Hundreds of cities nationwide — including Monterey Park and Bay Area cities like Pittsburg — have either passed data center bans or walked back approvals following public outcry.

Arnab Pal, the executive director of Deploy Action, a nonprofit that promotes clean energy, told CalMatters the new laws are a good step toward preventing data centers from harming consumers through utility rate increases or environmental damage. Still, Pal said, more can be done to ensure such projects actually benefit everyday people through advancements to the electrical grid and the acceleration of clean energy infrastructure.

“I don't think these bills are the end of this fight; I think we're gonna have to do a lot of implementation on the back end and, as other states roll out their policies next year, I think California is going to look back and be like, ‘maybe we should have done more,’” Pal said. “I'm interested to see what we do next year on this.”

Business interests that oppose the measures, like the Data Center Coalition — which counts companies like Google, Microsoft and OpenAI among its members — warn that further regulation could push the data center industry out of California. According to the latest figures from the Data Center Coalition, the industry contributed 665,500 jobs, more than $159 billion in economic activity, and $14.1 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in California in 2024.

Khara Boender, the director of government affairs west for the Data Center Coalition, told CalMatters that “the data center industry shares the goal of ensuring growth of this critical infrastructure is responsible and well managed,” but more work needs to be done “to promote responsible data center growth while maintaining California as a key, competitive market in the global economy.”

Newsom signed the following bills:

• Senate Bill 1168, SB 886 and Assembly Bill 2383, which shift electric infrastructure costs away from residential customers and toward data center operators
• AB 2469, AB 1577 and AB 2619, which mandate disclosures or estimates of water usage and other resources
• SB 887, which makes data centers ineligible for blanket environmental review exemptions, and offers fast-tracked approval for facilities that meet state standards for water and energy conservation

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a pair of bills that will create a new system for approving community college bachelor’s degrees.

Senate Bill 960 and Assembly Bill 2694, which were sent to Newsom as a two-bill package, will let community college districts create between two and 12 new bachelor’s degrees to fill local workforce needs.

The bills take effect Jan. 1, 2028, and will create a five-tiered system determining how many bachelor’s degrees each district can offer. Districts will be placed into tiers based on the percentage of students who complete a degree or certificate or transfer to a four-year university. Districts with higher graduation and transfer rates will be allowed to create more bachelor’s degrees — up to the maximum of 12.

The tiered system, which was among several last-minute amendments to the legislation, has drawn backlash from community college presidents and chancellors, who say the system will pit colleges against one another.

However, the legislation does make at least one significant change supported by the community colleges: It only prohibits degrees that duplicate CSU programs offered in the same local service area as the community college proposing the degree. In the past, duplication wasn’t tied to location, and community colleges sometimes faced duplication objections from CSU campuses located in different regions of the state.

The legislation also allows for certain circumstances when community colleges can create bachelor’s degrees even if a nearby CSU campus has a similar program. That will be permitted if the CSU program has had a transfer acceptance rate of less than 75% for three consecutive years.

It’s back!

Pasadena Humane’s popular “poorly drawn pets” fundraiser is returning for another year, and the artists are already deep into drawing as of Monday.

Here’s how it works: you’ll be asked to make a donation through this Facebook post, comment on the post with a photo of your pet, and volunteers will respond in about a day with their best attempt at your four-legged friend. If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can also participate here via email.

“There’s just one tiny disclaimer: we’re much better at caring for animals than drawing them,” Pasadena Humane shared on social media. “Some of our artists are genuinely talented. Others… well, let’s just say your pet may come out looking artistically interpreted.”

Last year, officials said the fundraiser exceeded expectations, raising around $11,000 for the shelter from more than 450 submissions. Dogs and cats are most common, but people have also sent in photos of their birds, turtles, hamsters and horses in years past.

LAist takes you inside the artists’ studio at Pasadena Humane.

Both volunteers and staff signed up to draw the pets people are submitting - for good and for bad.

(

Makenna Cramer

/

LAist

)

The table was fully stocked with markers, colored pencils, pens and sharpies to choose from.

(

Makenna Cramer

/

LAist

)

Meet the people behind the 'poorly drawn pets'

Volunteers and staff filed in and out of what’s been turned into the official drawing room Monday morning. Pens, colored pencils, markers and Sharpies were scattered all over the table in between pieces of paper and small printed photos of pets.

I asked Julie Nakahara, Pasadena Humane’s director of partnerships and events, how she would describe her artistic ability as she sketched out a lounging cat.

“That of a toddler,” Nakahara replied. “All right, maybe fourth grade.”

Her strategy was to outline the pet first in pencil before thickening the lines with a Sharpie, adding pops of color through the small details in the photo.

“[The cat’s] enjoying the sunshine, and so I tried to reflect it in my drawing,” she said. “Not sure if that's a true reflection, but I did the best I can.”

Julie Nakahara, Pasadena Humane’s director of partnerships and events, sketches out submission #49.

(

Makenna Cramer

/

LAist

)

Robbin Huntingdale, a Pasadena resident and volunteer, had a colorful, Lisa Frank-style approach to her picture of two pups.

“I kind of felt like the more I add, the more interesting it'll be, and the less you'll notice that it doesn't look like the photo,” she said to a roar of laughter in the room.

But markers seemed to be a bold choice among the artists. As Mia Dunn, chief philanthropy officer, put it: “I'm a colored pencil girl, because they can be erased.”

Some of the portraits have been turned into tattoos in years past.

(

Makenna Cramer

/

LAist

)

The artists would often share their work with the room when they were done.

(

Makenna Cramer

/

LAist

)

Some artists focused on nailing the vibe, while others narrowed in on the details.

(

Makenna Cramer

/

LAist

)

Kevin McManus, PR and communications director, was trying to do justice to the two dogs he was drawing. He said he came up with a story as he sketched, describing one dog as the older brother and the other as its young punk with a look of “what did I do wrong?”

“It's a really fun way for us to raise money for the shelter,” McManus said. “Ultimately, that's what we're here for. To raise money for the pets in our care, for the programs that we do year-round.”

The fundraiser raises money to support the shelter's work and the animals in their care.

(

Makenna Cramer

/

LAist

)

Volunteers and staff said it's a great way to give back to Pasadena Humane.

(

Makenna Cramer

/

LAist

)

This LAist reporter was also invited to get in on the artistic action.

(

Makenna Cramer

/

LAist

)

You have until 12 p.m. Wednesday to submit your pets for the fundraiser.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Cynthia remembers the sound of her 1-year-old daughter’s cries as she tried to desperately explain to a caseworker over the phone how the Lineage warehouse fire had affected her family financially. 

She had stopped working as a sidewalk vendor because of the unhealthy air, and her family was unsure how they would pay rent that month. 

“I felt like, I don’t know, I was going insane,” said Cynthia, who chose not to share her last name due to immigration concerns.

When the 32-year-old mother reached out to Lineage for assistance, she was told she didn’t qualify for relief, even though her East L.A. home was less than 1.5 miles away. The company said its relief was only intended “for those closest to the warehouse.” 

“We were close enough to receive the smoke and ash but not to receive aid,” she told Boyle Heights Beat. 

Cynthia is among many residents who say they were left out of assistance from Lineage because of where they live. Residents outside the established boundary say they breathed the same smoke, smelled the same stench and suffered through headaches, nausea and high utility bills as their neighbors who qualified for help.

Their question has been simple: If the air has no border, why did we? 

Cynthia holds her daughter while cooking next to her air purifier and air monitor.

(

J.W. Hendricks

/

The LA Local

)

Who qualified for Lineage assistance?

Nearly 800 homes inside a designated area were eligible for assistance from Lineage during its recovery operations, according to the company. The support included free air purifiers, masks, air conditioners, temporary housing, grocery vouchers, utility assistance and cash assistance that were often delivered door-to-door by the company. 

Earlier this month, Lineage said it had provided support to 90% of the 797 households within the designated area and spent over $3.3 million on the recovery and relief effort. Lineage CEO Greg Lehmkuhl told Boyle Heights Beat that the company had made multiple attempts to reach the remaining households.  

“Our bilingual hotline remains open,” said Lehmkuhl. “We remain committed to supporting the community.”

Lineage first presented a map outlining the area closest to the warehouse as it announced a new wave of assistance at a community town hall on July 9. 

The map was later expanded to include all 797 homes and a larger part of East L.A. after L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis pushed for more support, according to her office. 

Now, the map covers households located between Union Pacific Avenue and the 5 Freeway, Los Palos Street and Herbert Avenue, all less than one mile from the Lineage warehouse. 

The map with the outlined resources was presented by Lineage at an AQMD hearing on Aug. 6.

(

Courtesy of Lineage

)

Why the boundary matters

The expanded map still left out residents like Cynthia, who lives with her husband and baby just one block north of the 5 Freeway. 

But it meant residents like Joaquin Angeles, who lives near Eastman Avenue Elementary School, would qualify. 

Angeles, however, said the support has been lackluster. 

“We haven’t been given what we really need,” Angeles said.

Angeles said his family received an air purifier with no filters and a faulty air conditioner that turns off after just five minutes. He has not yet received the $200 Southern California Edison credit Lineage promised. 

On Aug. 25, more than two months after the warehouse caught fire, his family was able to move into an Airbnb for nearly three weeks. While it allowed them a chance to finally breathe and not worry about what chemicals may be lingering in the air, the support came far too late, Angeles said. 

By then, his wife and son had already racked up medical bills of more than $1,300 each for emergency room visits for shortness of breath, respiratory infections and painful skin rashes. 

“We don’t have money to spare. We’re renting and living paycheck to paycheck,” Angeles said. “Aside from the illness itself, it’s a psychological blow. You feel discriminated against; you feel like they don’t care.”

Joaquin Angeles’s wife, Aurora , shows scarring from a rash on her arm after being exposed to smoke coming from the Lineage fire at her home in East Los Angeles.

(

Isaac Ceja

/

Boyle Heights Beat

)

Who created the boundary? 

It remains unclear who initially identified the 797 homes. 

Lineage said it did not create the map. A company spokesperson said the map originated with the Boyle Heights Unified Recovery Command, a centralized body made up of city departments established to coordinate updates during the remediation process. 

The command operates under the city’s Emergency Management Department and was created at the direction of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ executive orders to speed up the Lineage cleanup and recovery. The Emergency Management Department did not respond to multiple inquiries about the map’s origin. 

Supervisor Solis’ office told The Beat it had no say in the original map but advocated for the area to be expanded. 

Navigating help hasn’t been easy

Residents outside the boundary have had to find alternative resources on their own. 

“The wind doesn’t have a boundary, why would you make a map?” Cynthia recalls asking herself as she navigated long lines at city and county resource centers.

City and county agencies initially offered temporary shelters, air purifiers and masks, and later added mobile health clinics, grocery gift cards and resource centers in Boyle Heights and East L.A. But residents also reported being turned away at distribution sites depending on whether they lived in Boyle Heights or unincorporated East L.A. 

A resident picks up air purifiers from a pop-up resource center in Boyle Heights on July 13, 2026.

(

Isaac Ceja

/

Boyle Heights Beat

)

Many often turned to nonprofit organizations already working in the community.

In her search, Cynthia managed to secure an air purifier from InnerCity Struggle, a $500 prepaid Visa card from El Centro de Ayuda and had her July rent covered by Proyecto Pastoral. She bought a $250 air conditioner to manage the unbearable summer heat and a $300 personal air monitor to track the air quality outside her home. 

Others haven’t been so lucky. 

Maria Duran, a Boyle Heights resident who lives outside Lineage’s assistance boundary, said she called 311 to receive an air purifier but was told they had run out. She later learned Proyecto Pastoral had stopped accepting applications for rent and utility assistance because of a waitlist of more than 1,500 people. 

“We are all being harmed. I feel frustrated. I feel down,” Duran said. 

Three months after the fire, Duran is struggling to pay a utility bill that nearly tripled over the summer. She continues to deal with stubborn eye irritation that has disrupted her daily life. 

Cynthia bought an air purifier following the Lineage fire.

(

J.W. Hendricks

/

The LA Local

)

Nonprofits have been unable to keep up with the demand

Angela Gutierrez, a community organizing coordinator at Proyecto Pastoral, says the demand for relief reflects the scale of the disaster. 

Gutierrez lives about one mile from Lineage and said she was also frustrated that she didn’t qualify for assistance from the company. 

“To me, it was like we were abandoned because of our ZIP codes,” Gutierrez said. “But for Proyecto — for me — there is no ZIP code. To me, everyone is equal. The help is the same.”

Proyecto Pastoral received about 1,500 requests for assistance before closing its application in the wake of the fire. The organization helped cover rent and utility bills for residents living primarily within a 3-mile radius of Lineage, with emergency funds extending to families living as far as Monterey Park. Its fire relief funds were exhausted last week.

“It makes me sad and angry, because people were affected by the fire — and it wasn’t just in the immediate area,” Gutierrez said. 

Cynthia holds her daughter’s hand in her home.

(

J.W. Hendricks

/

The LA Local

)

Is more help on its way?

Lineage said it remains committed to providing resources to the roughly 80 households that have not yet received assistance. 

“We’ve been working for weeks to make sure that we support everybody in this area that the county and city determined were impacted,” Lehmkuhl said. 

The company did not indicate whether it planned to expand its assistance boundary. 

District 14 Councilmember Ysabel Jurado is pushing for additional funding for the Lineage fire recovery. On Wednesday, the L.A. City Council approved a motion to explore creating a fund of up to $10 million to support the affected community. 

For residents like Cynthia, the need is urgent. She is already behind on rent and is using a credit card to pay for basic necessities.

In unincorporated East L.A., Angeles said more should be done to help the families affected. 

“It is not asking for a favor; it is simply asking for justice,” he said. 

Correction, Sep. 21, 2026 4:49 pm: This story was updated at 4:48 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2026, to clarify that Proyecto Pastoral received about 1,500 requests for fire assistance. An earlier version incorrectly stated that the organization had helped cover rent and utility bills to 1,500 people