A year ago, the Eaton and Palisades Fires tore through Los Angeles County, displacing nearly 150,000 people and destroying more than 16,000 homes and buildings. The devastation was immense. But what stayed with me was the disparity in who recovers quickly, who struggles, and who risks being pushed out altogether.
Families with savings, strong insurance coverage, and access to financing are often able to rebuild first. Families without those resources—disproportionately communities of color—face a very different reality.
As cash buyers move quickly to purchase lots, longtime residents navigate stalled or inadequate insurance claims, complex government assistance systems, and limited access to credit. Pressure mounts to sell or leave. We saw this play out in Altadena and Pasadena, echoing patterns that followed Hurricane Katrina, the Camp Fire in Paradise, and COVID.
When recovery relies solely on conventional markets, it deepens existing inequities. If we want people to remain rooted in the communities they love, especially communities of color and low-income communities, we have to change how dollars flow after a disaster.
Why We Came Together
This conviction led us at Cal Wellness to convene a group of impact investors about a month after the fires to launch the Los Angeles Wildfire Recovery and Rebuilding Collaborative. Anchored at the California Community Foundation (CCF), the collaborative brings together foundations, health systems, banks, and other mission-driven investors who do not typically invest side by side.
Our goals are straightforward but ambitious: reduce fragmentation, accelerate access to capital, and ensure resources reach community-led efforts that help residents rebuild on their own terms. With long-term rebuilding underway, we are inviting additional partners to join this work.
What We’re Building
Foundations can often move quickly after a disaster to provide grants. Just over a week after the fires, for example, Cal Wellness committed $1.1 million. That support is essential. But long-term, equitable recovery requires more—both because of the scale of need and the timeline of rebuilding.
It requires larger pools of financing that are flexible, patient, and affordable. The collaborative allows us to blend different types of capital, including investments willing to accept below-market returns. This enables us to offer low-cost financial tools aligned with real recovery timelines, and to increase the amount of funding available.
Our goal is to raise $100 million. CCF has seeded the fund with a $30 million commitment. To reduce the burden on funders and community-based organizations, we created a shared back office. Led by Avivar Capital, it streamlines due diligence and monitoring for funders and creates one application portal for community organizations.
Equitable recovery is not just about rebuilding structures. As Antwone Roberts, CCF’s Vice President of Community Investment and Engagement, puts it, it’s about supporting people as they rebuild their lives. By aligning diverse sources of capital around community priorities, we help residents retain control and rebuild on their own terms.