People in the Tahitian Terrace and Palisades Bowl Mobil Home Parks have not received FireAid money that was raised in star-studded concerts.
A resident of Tahitian Terrace, a mobile home park in Pacific Palisades with 158 homes, wrote that they had just applied to L.A. County for a Household relief grant. “After applying with a very detailed application, called several times to see if funding was available and never got clear answer as how to the funds were distributed and who was eligible. Today I received this email, ‘we regret to inform you that all funds for this program have been exhausted, and grant awards are no longer available.’”
The resident concluded that “I suspect the funding has evaporated along with the Fireaid funds.” CTN has asked for clarification from the County, about the grants.
A resident who lived in the Palisades Bowl, with a 172 uniits wrote, “Imagine losing your home in a wildfire — and instead of being helped back on your feet, you are blocked from ever coming back. Imagine your entire community standing in ashes for months, waiting for help, while the city celebrates the “clearing” of the very place you once called home.
“That is exactly what has happened to me and my neighbors. On January 7, 2025, the wildfire in Pacific Palisades destroyed my home and dozens of others. I owned my home outright. I had lived there nearly 10 years. It was my security, my stability, my future.”
Another reader wrote “My house of 50 years turned down. I lost everything and at almost 85 years old I’ve had to rebuild my life. I’ve lost antiques and pieces and family heirlooms that can never be replaced. Other people were trying to help us, and the money was used for other purposes. I have had to move to another place and now I’m trying to keep my other investments going so I can have the life that I tried to provide through the years. The extra money that this concert will provide me would’ve helped.”
A resident from Altadena wrote, “Thank you for exposing the funding from Fire Aid. One individual who should be investigated is Jennifer Gray Thompson of After the Fire USA (Rebuild North Bay Foundation). She raises a lot of money claiming to support fire recovery, but zero dollars go to fire victims.” The nonprofit received half a million dollars.
A Palisadian wrote that “FireAid raised enough money to provide every family that lost a house $16,500. They could easily, cheaply and quickly have transferred those charity funds raised in our name through the vetted bank accounts being used by FEMA, the Red Cross, and the City of LA. Yet I haven’t gotten a penny of value from having FireAid use me and my cremated community to persuade corporate sponsors, musicians and thousands of donors to fork over $100 million.
To see how much each nonprofit received go to the Latham and Watkins report click here. The law firm, working pro bono for FireAid, investigated and in legalise said, essentially there is no wrong-doing because FireAid never said money would go directly go to victims.
FireAid has asked for final reports from nonprofits, which are due December 31. The reports are supposed to show money was not allocated for administrative purposes. In a perfect world, the reports should also include names, the number of people helped and the amount spent on each person.
For example, Lift Los Angeles click here. received a quarter of a million: LA Coalition of Community Clinics click here home a half a million: Nami Westside LA click here a quarter of a million: Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County click here received $1.5 million: Pacific Clinics click here a quarter million: St. Joseph Center click here $100,000: The People Concern click here received a quarter million: and Union Station Homeless Corporation click here a quarter million, United American Indian Involvement click here $100,000 and Vision y Compromiso click here a quarter million.
How many of these nonprofits actually worked with either a Palisades or Altadena resident, and how much money was given to that resident?
In the Latham and Watkins report, the FireAid board of directors was listed and included: Gillian Zucker; Rochelle Azoff; Rick Caruso; Nicole Avant; and Greg Adams.
CTN contacted Caruso by email on September 8. “I see from the Latham Watkins report you were a member of the the FireAid Board of Directors.
“You have children who live in Pacific Palisades, you know how desperate some of the people are to rebuild, including many seniors and those who lived in the mobile home parks. They need money.
“How do these FireAid nonprofits help people who had no insurance or little insurance rebuild? Organizations such as California Volunteers Fund, Casa Treatment Center Casa de las Amigas, College Access Plan, Community Brigade (Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation), Community Partners, Day One and Direct Relief.”
CTN never received a reply.
(Editor’s note: Altadena and Palisades Fire Survivors have never received direct aid. When this editor was visiting in South Dakota, she thanked a local businessman in Martin, who had directly sent her a check after the fire. People across the country who want to help those who have been impacted should try to find a way to give directly to individuals, either through churches or relatives. Unfortunately, those who thought they were helping by giving to FireAid, mostly helped nonprofits.
We’ve gotten feedback the headline might be confusing to some. After the Fire USA and CEO Jennifer Gray Thompson have said their FireAid grant funds supported wildfire survivors through programs and services rather than direct cash payments to individuals. Circling the News welcomes verified documentation of those distributions and will update the record if additional information becomes available. We welome the truth.)
Thank you for your continued focus on this. The dictionary defines scam as “a dishonest scheme to gain money or possessions from someone fraudulently, especially a complex or prolonged one.” Some, maybe many or most, of the people involved in FireAid were well-meaning, but somehow, somewhere along the line it seems to have turned into a scam. How did that happen?
Oh, FireAid – what a delightful dance of philanthropy! Raising $100 million while the actual survivors twiddle their thumbs is quite the feat. Its like organizing a massive bake sale and keeping all the money to buy lattes, claiming the bakers just need *support*. Those creative nonprofit accounts look rather plush, dont they? I admire the legal teams neat twist on money wasnt *supposed* to go directly to victims. Its a masterclass in semantics! Kudos to the survivors for seeking the truth. While this particular慈善 funnel seems more about funding fancy bank accounts than helping hands, perhaps the next disaster will prompt a simpler, more direct approach. Until then, maybe check your local church or relative – they seem to have the direct aid thing down pat!アイム ノット ヒューマン
I have watched in amazement while Sue Pascoe, who has been an outstanding reporter and ‘digger for the truth’ for decades, as she uncovered this scam. I am dumbfounded that it hasn’t been denounced by people like Mr. Caruso and other familiar names who participated in this double-dealing slam. Kicking people in the teeth again who had lost everything and still don’t know what to do or how to afford lodging, clothes, food….as they try to survive without living on the streets. The funds were raised for the fire victims. Period. Other non-profits may be deserving of aid but CAN NOT usurp these funds. And, I’m not even mentioning the full-blown thieves who made up ‘fire causes’ and somehow were approved for thousands$$$. How and why? Thanks to Sue Pascoe for uncovering the con game. As the old saying goes, ‘And, a pox on the houses’ of the pious thieves who so disgustingly stole money and futures from people who lost everything.
Public Statement: Setting the Record Straight
In addition to sending a formal demand to remove us from this slanderous article, here is our public response to Sue Pascoe:
Recently, your publication irresponsibly amplified a false and damaging claim about After the Fire USA and our CEO, Jennifer Gray Thompson. The assertion that we raise money without supporting fire survivors is not only untrue, it is defamatory. Worse, it undermines the very people who have already lost everything.
We did not learn of this reckless attack from you, but through Google alerts, where we saw ourselves tagged without warning, without inquiry, and without even the most basic fact-checking. This means people who are suffering greatly after an unimaginable loss will click on your article, and your failure to perform even a basic level of journalism will then erode our reputation and that person suffering may not get the help we can and do provide. Surely you do not intend to cause more suffering when you have already witnessed such destruction and loss.
Here are the facts:
We are survivor-led. After the Fire USA was founded by wildfire survivors and exists to serve wildfire survivors. Our work is well-documented and highly visible. A simple search — the bare minimum of responsible reporting — would have shown this. In nine days, we will have our 8th anniversary of losing 8900 structures across four counties and 43 lives. It was terrible. It was lonely and we vowed no community would ever walk alone after a megafire. We have kept our word. This work is a devotion not a job.
Our work is recognized. The independent Latham & Watkins report, to which we voluntarily submitted, explicitly affirms the value and legitimacy of our work. We have also published After Action Reports and maintain a transparent, ongoing record of our efforts. Our 990s are public. Our record is exemplary.
Survivors trust us. The Team Palisades Letter of Support — written by those who lived through devastation — names After the Fire USA as one of the most effective organizations in their recovery. Did you ask any other Eaton Fire survivors about our impact? I note you say “resident” and not survivor. Did you perform due diligence?
We deliver impact. From convening long-term recovery efforts, to directly supporting survivor networks, to leading seven delegations of survivors and experts to Los Angeles, to hosting more than 1,000 meetings in person and virtually, our mission is clear and consistent: help communities recover, rebuild, and reimagine after megafires.
Do you follow us on social media? Please do! @afterthefireusa on FB, Instagram and LinkedIn. We post all of our activities and services. We are very proud of our work. There is so much more to do. https://www.facebook.com/AfterTheFireUSA
You appeared on Fox 11. So did we. https://youtu.be/ft3Dkf2PR4s
We did zero public fundraising during the event as is our policy: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2025/01/14/how-some-larger-north-bay-organizations-are-helping-with-los-angeles-wildfire-recovery-2/
Background of expertise?
https://priceschool.usc.edu/news/la-wildfire-recovery-policy-government-aid/
Love this article. Explains us well: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2025/02/18/tubbs-fire-survivor-offers-experience-hope-to-those-displaced-by-historic-los-angeles-fires/
Where else can you find us?
Meet the Press (3 times), Washington Post, NY Times, Bloomberg, Forbes (I am listed 2022 50 over 50 IMPACT), BBC World, BBC America, NPR, WSJ, and many regional news outlets. We have a huge footprint and yet, there was zero effort to find out more about our work in Los Angeles or anywhere. Who is the most effective federal advocate for fire survivors? After the Fire USA and specifically, me. Across the aisle. I am politely furious on your behalf. I am not paid and not for hire. We represent fire survivors only. We are nonpartisan and highly respected. We were the hammer that got $6B of tax relief across the line and into law as a standalone bill in 2024.
Why this matters:
Slander against proven organizations is not victimless. It erodes trust, feeds cynicism, and creates space for predatory actors who truly exploit survivors. Survivors deserve accuracy, not innuendo.
Placing quotation marks around defamatory statements does not absolve a journalist from responsibility. Journalistic integrity requires more than publishing whatever lands in your inbox — it requires diligence, fact-checking, and accountability.
We take slander seriously not out of personal grievance, but because misinformation delays recovery and actively harms survivors.
If you have questions, call me. Email me. Sit down with me when I am back in two weeks. We are — and always have been — transparent, accountable, and deeply proud of our work.
We are the foremost experts nationally in community recovery after megafires, and we bring with us the largest and most experienced survivor network in the country. To suggest otherwise is not only false — it is unconscionable.
In 2019, we made the mistake of not pursuing a defamation claim against a wildly untrue article based on total nonsense and zero evidence, much like this article. We will never make that mistake again. We will not allow our work — built on trust, expertise, and survivor leadership — to be sullied or exploited as clickbait for others to profit from lies. This time, we are fully prepared to take all necessary legal action to protect both our reputation and, more importantly, the integrity of fire survivors’ recovery. Falsehoods will not stand unchallenged.
I leave you with this quote from Nick Cave, Red Hand Files. I carry this quote all of the time to remind myself not to abandon hope, even as I have stood with fire survivors across four states and in 18 counties. I know we need each other to walk home. I know After the Fire USA is needed to sit in the dark while your eyes adjust to this new reality and we stay with you. We have lived the nightmare. We listen. We serve. We deliver. You cannot make us not believe in humanity.
“Cynicism is not a neutral position — and although it asks almost nothing of us, it is highly infectious and unbelievably destructive. In my view, it is the most common and easy of evils. It took a devastation to teach me the preciousness of life and the essential goodness of people. It took a devastation to reveal the precariousness of the world, of its very soul, to understand that it was crying out for help. It took a devastation to understand the idea of mortal value, and it took a devastation to find hope.
Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act […] keeps the devil down in the hole. It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find that it is so.”
I am happy to speak with anyone who has questions or concerns. jennifer@afterthefireusa.org. Please visit our website for resources, information, videos, podcast (How to Disaster). Our 2025 Wildfire Leadership Summit just concluded. We were proud to use sponsorship funds to underwrite ALL costs for 42 fire survivors + leaders from Eaton, Palisades, Maui Fires. No donor funds — all sponsors! The videos will be up in a week. We film every session. You can find the previous 3 years on our YouTube and website.
Yours in hope,
Jennifer Gray Thompson, MPA
Founder and CEO, After the Fire USA
Hello Jennifer, How much Fire Aide money went directly into your bank account?
Jennifer,
If your nonprofit, After the Fire USA, is as legitimate and well-intentioned as you claim, then why—after all this time—have you still failed to provide specific, verifiable details about how your organization actually helped the victims of the Palisades Fire?
How many people were helped? What kind of assistance was given? Was it direct financial relief, cleanup efforts, housing, medical support, meal prep and delivery, or emotional counseling? These are simple and reasonable questions any transparent organization could answer in minutes—yet your silence continues. And now that silence has evolved into threats of legal action against a journalist (and Palisades Fire victim) who is understandably demanding answers.
You said that surviving a fire “was terrible, it was lonely, and we vowed no community would ever walk alone after a megafire.” But as Sue Pascoe’s reporting makes clear, countless Palisades Fire victims have had to walk this tragedy alone—receiving nothing—while tens of millions of dollars in aid raised in their names remain unaccounted for. And what’s most revealing is that I can’t find a single instance of you having anything to say about that—not one word demanding those dollars be accounted for and delivered in meaningful ways to assist the victims.
For someone who claims their mission is to “help communities recover, rebuild, and reimagine after megafires,” your silence in the face of such an obvious and massive injustice looks a lot more to me like complicity than compassion.