Habitat LA Event Draws Hundreds of Volunteers to Restore Pacific Palisades Homes and Community Spaces
When fire survivor Susan Blumenthal’s rebuilding budget started running low, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles was there to help.
The nonprofit stepped in and provided a crucial cash grant earlier this year to cover costs for utility connections to her home that was destroyed in the Palisades fire in January 2025.
Less than two years after the wildfires, Blumenthal arrived at the nearly rebuilt house as dozens of volunteers with Habitat LA were digging irrigation trenches for a sprinkler system in her backyard. She was overwhelmed by the generosity of the volunteers.
“So many really kind things have happened that I would never have experienced,” said Blumenthal, a retired physical therapist, who is on a fixed income and hopes to move into her house this year.
About three of every four residents displaced by the Palisades fire still haven’t made it home, according to the latest survey from the Department of Angels. For many, the obstacle is money: insurance payouts that fall short and rebuilding costs that keep climbing.
To close that gap, Habitat LA organized a community build from Sept. 23 to 26, drawing hundreds of volunteers who worked on fire-damaged homes as part of its ReBUILD LA program. Volunteers got their hands dirty by restoring homes and community spaces damaged in the January 2025 Palisades fire, doing exterior work, landscaping and neighborhood cleanup.
The multi-day event coincided with the 50th anniversary of Habitat for Humanity International, which has spent five decades organizing volunteers to build homes and help families buy them.
The Palisades Fire burned about 23,400 acres, destroyed roughly 6,800 structures and killed 12 people, according to Cal Fire. Twenty months later, many families still face rising construction costs, insurance gaps and financial uncertainty, said Erin Rank, President and CEO of Habitat LA.
Returning home is not just about rebuilding a house, it’s about restoring stability, preserving community and reclaiming a sense of normalcy after unimaginable loss, she said.
“Habitat understands long-term recovery requires sustained action even after the headlines fade,” Rank said. “This community build brings together a cross-section of Los Angeles – residents, volunteers, donors, businesses and community leaders – to help the community heal. We are here working side-by-side to rebuild homes, restore hope, strengthen community and remind survivors that they are not alone in the long road ahead.”
The California Community Foundation raised $100 million for wildfire survivors with support from more than 50,000 donors. CCF has given grants totaling $2.5 million to Habitat LA and Habitat for Humanity San Gabriel Valley, which is leading rebuilding efforts in Altadena, said CCF President and CEO Miguel A. Santana.
“That is an initial investment to what is a long-term commitment to stand with the communities impacted,” Santana told a large group of volunteers gathered at the former Corpus Christi Catholic Church rectory site. “The thing that our two organizations share in common is that in many ways we lead institutions that are really driven by love.”
From the event’s inception, CCF served as a thought partner and leadership cabinet member committed to the community build’s success, Santana said.
After the historic wildfires swept across L.A. County, Santana worked with Pacific Palisades native Evan Spiegel to co-found the Department of Angels, a network of fire survivors and a community partner of Habitat LA. The idea came from those affected by other wildfires around the country.
“What they shared was that the difference between a fast recovery and a not-so-fast recovery is whether survivors are leading it,” Santana said.
Celebrity volunteers also came out to donate their time and effort. Actor Haley Joel Osment was on hand at the kickoff event and was eager to get to work. He said he was surprised by how much of the Palisades community still needs rebuilding.
“The fire burned through everything out here, so it’s nice to be working on a variety of different spaces that are important to the community,” Osment said.
The Eaton fire destroyed his family’s Altadena home where he had lived for about six years, he said.
“It was a real tragedy, so it’s nice to just come and do some solid work to help people rebuild,” Osment said.
Back at the job site, volunteer Leonor Vasquez was shoveling gravel and digging through dense, hard-packed soil so crews could install a sprinkler line in the backyard. A director of grants management at The Wonderful Company, Leonor said the Palisades fire hit close to home for her because several of her coworkers lost their homes in the fire.
“We’re in Los Angeles, and we have a lot of people within our office that lost their homes, and so this is the way we can give back to the community,” Vasquez said.
Blumenthal watched the volunteers as she reminisced about the halcyon days when she first moved to the Pacific Palisades in 1993. She bought her home on Edgar Street in 2011 before the wildfire leveled it.
“It’s a very surreal feeling,” she said of returning to the property after the fire. “It felt like a bomb went off.”
Blumenthal received an insurance payout, which she used to pay a contractor who had previously remodeled her kitchen and bathroom. The new house is about 1,500 square feet, up from 1,200.
But the insurance money didn’t cover everything. Habitat LA’s Accelerator Fund gave her a flexible grant to cover some unforeseen expenses.
Martha Phoenix, a Disaster Relief Navigator with Habitat LA, said Blumenthal was skeptical at first, but has since referred several neighbors through her weekly neighborhood Zoom group.
Blumenthal has been staying in a friend’s guest house and hopes to move back this fall, once city inspectors issue a certificate of occupancy.
She watched with delight as the volunteers were busy working on the landscaping project. Blumenthal said it will transform the yard into an outdoor space that her two granddaughters will enjoy exploring.
“This will be fun for them to play in,” she said.
– Ben Poston