Our lot being cleared of “debris.”
Somedays I wake up and I feel low, so low I don’t want to get out of bed.
I feel like all the money that people sent to Fire Aid that went to nonprofits (and the people that made that responsible) will never go to the people it was intended.
It’s hard to stomach all of the people in Tahitian Terrace and Palisades Bowl that are not being helped. Lawmakers seem to throw up their hands and say there’s ‘nothing we can do.’ All those people who lost everything have no concrete way of coming back.
The town was 30 percent seniors, who had worked their whole lives and bought into the Palisades when it was cheap. They had their largest financial asset, their home, taken away in the Fire. These people, who participated and ran clubs, and were the “eyes” on the streets, may never come back. And I sob. Even if we ever get through insurance to rebuild, my friends won’t be in the town.
And the politicians talk. They talk a lot. They all say they want to help, they’ll take meetings with everyone, but there is no help.
And I take it personally that so many people were wronged and have no way of coming home.
I look at the decimated streets, the burned-out lots, the weeds growing everywhere, no streetlights, the town center still struggling to come back and it’s hard to stay positive.
Last night a reader sent this video—I opened it this morning and I cried. It was easier to get out of bed this morning because it’s the residents–so many, in so many different ways who are trying to keep our community together and bring as many people home as possible.