A year after the LA fires, survivors are still going hungry

The line of cars stretched a quarter-mile down Sierra Madre Villa Avenue in Pasadena. For hours, they inched into the parking lot, where volunteers filled trunks with bottled water, produce, diapers, toothbrushes — and, on this particular Saturday during the December holiday season, toys.

Pasadena Church became a distribution hub when the Eaton Fire began — and never stopped.

“People respond to crises… So everybody responded, all of the companies, all of the agencies, they all tried to do something. And then the resources started shifting,” Pastor Kerwin Manning of Pasadena Church said. “After a couple of months, all of the hype died down… It became apparent that those of us who were remaining were in it for the long haul.”

Cars line up outside Pasadena Church as Pastor Kerwin Manning and volunteers distribute food to families during a community distribution in December.

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Erin Rode

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The LA Local

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A year after the Palisades and Eaton fires, many Angelenos are still struggling to afford food and other basic necessities. An October survey of 2,335 fire survivors commissioned by the Department of Angels found that 27% of those with incomes under $50,000 and 22% of those earning between $50,000 and $99,999 have had to cut back on food.

Around half of those surveyed are making up the difference by “blowing through their savings and taking on debt,” Angela Giacchetti, head of communications at the Department of Angels told The LA Local. “And that’s not good, but there’s a smaller percentage, but an alarming number of survivors who are experiencing even worse outcomes… People are going without food. They’re skipping meals. They’re skipping medical care, they’re taking on extra jobs to make ends meet, they’re falling behind on their bills.”

For many families, that tradeoff has become impossible. Before the Eaton Fire, “We had a place to stay, so if we had to spend our last money on food, then that was fine,” Danielle Valdes said at a recent “Come Get Some Event” by local non-profit Home of Kings and Queens, which runs a free weekly farmer’s market for Eaton Fire victims. Now, the family is juggling paying rent while trying to stretch their insurance money as far as possible so that “it can go towards housing or getting our way back to Altadena.”

Local non-profit Home of Kings and Queens runs a free weekly farmer’s market for Eaton Fire victims.

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Erin Rode

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The LA Local

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For most people impacted by the fires, there is a significant gap between what was lost and what insurance and other aid has covered. A January survey from the Department of Angels found that 60% of survivors face a gap in coverage of at least $100,000, and for more than half of respondents, that amount exceeds their annual household income.

When it comes to these more severe hardships, “the disparity between white and nonwhite survivors is large,” according to the January survey. Black and Latino survivors are two to three times as likely as white survivors to have cut back on food or experienced other forms of severe hardship, such as falling behind on rent, mortgage, or utility bills, relying on food assistance, or experiencing homelessness. Single parents and renters are also experiencing these challenges at higher rates.

For Alexa Rodriguez, losing her family’s Altadena apartment of 17 years pushed them over the edge. Rodriguez landed in a Pasadena apartment with her two teenage children after the fire, but now pays $800 more a month. As a renter, she didn’t receive insurance money for temporary housing, and has struggled to piece together financial support. “To get back on your feet it might take a year or two, the first month I did get help, but since then I’ve been on my own,” Rodriguez said, who takes the bus to the Home of Kings and Queens’ distributions every week.

In the weeks after the fires, events like those at Pasadena Church were a common scene. Brandon Lamar, founder of Project Passion, said he once counted more than 30 separate distribution events in the area on a single Saturday.

Now, the weekly events at Pasadena Church (a collaborative effort with Project Passion and other partners) are among the few remaining regular distribution events for people impacted by the Eaton Fire. Lamar calls it “the longest-lasting distribution hub in our community.” Project Passion also offers an appointment-only free store every Monday and Tuesday.

“People told us early on that this might change in the long haul, because when people get settled and things of that nature, but what we’ve started to see is that the need has actually increased, but the donations have decreased,” Lamar said.

Some national organizations that were on-the-ground immediately after the fires have moved on. FEMA ended its in-person presence in October (although virtual support is still available). And some local groups that pivoted to provide support after the fires have also returned to their usual focus areas. The remaining food distributions are mostly run by residents of the fire-impacted communities, according to Giacchetti.

As direct aid has slowed, some have also turned to longstanding food programs. Foothill Unity Center, which offers six weekly food distribution events for residents across 12 foothill communities (including Altadena and Pasadena), saw about six times as many people in 2025 versus 2024, according to Julie Swayze, director of advancement and institutional giving at the nonprofit.

Foothill Unity Center offers six weekly food distribution events for residents across 12 foothill communities, including Altadena and Pasadena.

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Erin Rode

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The LA Local

)

Many fire survivors are “likely to face years of deficits” before they can recover financially, according to the Department of Angels report. A year after the fire, Manning and Lamar believe they’re seeing increasing need.

Finding new work, rebuilding a home or securing housing all takes time, Manning said, complicated by factors like paying higher rent or running out of insurance for temporary housing. That’s why he believes in supporting people through the “middle passage” of recovery. When members of his congregation ask how much longer the church’s parking lot will be a food distribution hub, he gives a one-word answer: “Until.”