Gabriel Gonzalez has been living in his car for most of 2025.
It’s a struggle he’s kept hidden from most friends and family, not wanting to worry them after losing his apartment in the Eaton Fire in January. But the loneliness, the constant struggle of keeping it together, is getting to him.
" It's difficult for me to ask for help because I don't like to be a burden," he said.
Just one year ago, the lifelong Angeleno — born in South Central, raised in the Valley — moved to Altadena with hopes of buying a house and growing his American Pipe Dream Plumbing Company.
Now, he's drained his savings and has been living mostly in his Ford Fusion sedan. The small business he built is gone. He's looking for a lifeline.
Homelessness among fire survivors
He's not the only one. Community groups, including the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, and people who lost everything are raising the alarm about fire survivors experiencing homelessness — and many more who are at risk.
"Overnight, rents doubled and tripled across the region. Insurance coverage that was meant to last three years is being depleted in just one," said Joy Chen, who leads the fire survivors' group and spoke at a news conference Tuesday. "As that happens, families are facing eviction, overcrowding, or living in their cars."
The majority of Altadenans affected by the fire have not yet been able to return home, and the financial challenges are piling up. Many are running out of insurance money for temporary housing, and some already ran out. Others were uninsured. Soon, mortgage forbearance for homeowners will end.
Megan Katerjian, who runs Pasadena shelter Door of Hope, said 10 families who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire are currently living in the shelter. She said she's preparing to accept more fire survivors in the new year.
“We know the cliff is coming. Families are running out of family resources, savings," she said.
Many families who have come to the shelter for housing were previously saving money by living with relatives, or sharing a house with another family, she said. Many weren't formally on a lease and had no savings to lean on after the fire, let alone rental insurance.
"So they're living in their cars. They're living in emergency shelters," Katerjian said. "They're shacking up in unsafe living conditions, and they come to us in those circumstances."
Seeking help from Edison
Chen, with the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, said Tuesday that Southern California Edison has the resources and should immediately offer financial support.
The utility giant is facing a slew of lawsuits alleging its equipment sparked the Eaton Fire. Meanwhile, SoCal Edison has created a compensation package for survivors if they agree not to sue. The utility announced Tuesday that it had made its first payment.
The fire survivors group is asking Edison to offer separate emergency housing relief of up to $200,000 a household for survivors, no strings attached, and recommending it get reimbursed later by the California Wildfire Fund — a $21 billion pool of money funded by ratepayers and investors that was established in 2019 to protect utilities, including Edison, from bankruptcy if they cause a fire.
" We're asking for that money to come back to us," said fire survivor Zaire Calvin, "so we can get in our homes and people aren't living in their cars."
Edison's chief executive has acknowledged that it's "certainly possible" that its equipment sparked the Eaton Fire.
Edison spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas said survivors looking for housing relief should apply for the utility's compensation program, which she said includes 42 months of temporary housing assistance.
"We're fully committed to helping the Altadena community recover," she said.
Some on Tuesday said they felt pressured to take a bad deal with the utility to secure badly needed cash.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Gonzalez is hoping for some help before the new year. A nonprofit gave him some cash for a rental this month, but it's running out Jan. 1.
"As of the first, I'll probably be back in my car," he said.
