Larry Vein filming on the Alphabet Streets in April.
By LARRY VEIN – Pali Strong Founder
Over the past ten months, PALI STRONG has worked tirelessly to serve the Pacific Palisades community through one of the most difficult times in our history. Our mission has always been simple: to connect, inform, and support every resident — whether their home burned, was damaged, or remained standing but uninhabitable.
Shortly after the fire, I — like so many others — evacuated with my family through the flames of Palisades Drive and PCH. The home in which I lived suffered severe smoke and ash damage. I am still displaced from our community and living temporarily in Mar Vista.
From the day of the fire, I began posting updates to the community across multiple social media platforms. My focus was clear: keep our community informed. From that day on, I was out every day connecting directly with Cal Fire, LAFD, LAPD, Cal OES, FEMA, SBA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Guard, and nearly every agency on the ground because I wanted to inform the community about what was happening — especially when there was such a lack of information.
Behind the scenes, I have spent countless hours in meetings with various groups and agencies— including AECOM and other leadership organizations. It has been a 24/7 effort, and the goal has always been the same: to keep the community informed.
We were encouraged to submit a proposal to FireAid to continue this work for the community, and we signed with Community Partners as our fiscal sponsor. To our surprise, we were awarded a $500,000 grant from FireAid — but with strict limitations on how the funds could be used. We were directed to continue our communications work and to create a communications hub for the Palisades.
We have been developing this hub to support disaster preparedness, response, and recovery— including a website, central online source, and mobile app that will serve as your one-stop destination for everything happening in the Palisades. We hope to launch in early to mid-November, bringing together information from all our incredible community organizations —including events, calendars, wellness resources, soil study updates, rebuilding and insurance guidance, videos, updates on undergrounding projects, and more. It will feature direct links to agencies and resources residents rely on — providing easy access to accurate information and quick results, all in one trusted place.
We have been in contact with FireAid and expect to modify certain restrictions so that we can directly assist other Palisades organizations with the funds. To date, less than 20% of the funds have been used, and we continue to manage every dollar carefully.
We understand the concerns being voiced, and we believe every person speaking up is doing so out of care for our community. Every voice matters — that’s the heart of communication. Whether it’s a conversation, a helping hand, or simply listening, we move forward together.
Our mission has always been to be an encouraging voice in the community — to share positivity and stories of resilience. Sharing positive stories is what keeps us going. Seeing neighbors help one another and finding hope in small moments reminds us why we love this community so much. Through all our shared trauma, we truly believe, in our heart of hearts, that this spirit— this hope — is what will bring us home. Because we are Palisadians — and we got this!
We are so incredibly fortunate to have great organizations like Team Palisades, the Palisades Recovery Coalition, the Pacific Palisades Community Council, the Pacific Palisades Residents Association, Pali LTRG, Resilient Palisades, the Palisades Historical Society, Palisades Beautiful, and the Palisades Forestry Committee. In addition to the many Influencers and new organizations including Spencer Pratt, Circling the News, Palisadian-Post and the LA Times along with all other local groups, institutions, and faith organizations that are contributing to our recovery.
Many government agencies have stepped in to help our community, and their support has been important. Still, as a community, we deserve — and continue to seek — clear answers about why this fire happened and how it could have been prevented. Understanding that truth is essential to healing, rebuilding, and ensuring this never happens again.
PALI STRONG promises to stay committed to helping our community. This is just the beginning. If we stay united, we will come back stronger, safer, and more connected than ever before. Together, we are one community.
Wasn’t Pali Strong originally started by local students? I know they posted some weeks before he ever did. Why is he “real” Pali Strong, as if to discredit their group? Also, the last thing Palisadians need is another way to communicate. Lord knows we’ve figured that out.
Mr. Vein, you said you’ve spent countless hours with “various groups and leadership organizations.” For the record could you name some of those groups? Because vague phrases don’t tell the public much about where that half-million actually went. Do any of these “groups” have websites? Otherwise it looks like that $500,000 was received to master the art of saying nothing with confidence.
No one is asking for this app. What a waste of money. The Fire Aid people truly have no idea what they are doing.
Is there some website where the public can see where the 500,00 dollars have been spent that Pali Strong received from FireAid.
Larry is just one of the numerous carpetbaggers who crawled out of the Palisades Fire to create phony organizations that pay themselves to do nothing that has any real value in rebuilding the Palisades. There are so very many fire-born “nonprofits” with amorphous missions and no tangible results. Many aren’t real Palisadians (like Larry) but there are also local folks who have been shamelessly taking advantage of the circumstances to promote their own agendas. My family and neighbors challenge every one of these groups to publish their mission statement, names of their active members/employees, specific tangible accomplishments since January 7th, and financial records—exactly how much money they have brought in, from where it came, and exactly what it has been spent on.
Thank you so much for all the amazing work you have done. Your communication skills are Over the top! We are so appreciated to have you tell us what’s going on in our city on a daily basis. We are so lucky to have such an amazing humanitarian. Since day one you have always made sure that all communications are clear and we know what’s going on in our area. It was so traumatizing to see my city burned down, but luckily we had men like you making sure to update us and support us through this hardship. You’ve been in our community for many many years and we are lucky to have you take care of us during this crisis.
Thank you, Larry for everything you’ve done.
Best best wishes always to you and your family
Thank you so much for all the amazing work you have done. Your communication skills are Over the top! We are so appreciated to have you tell us what’s going on in our city on a daily basis. We are so lucky to have such an amazing humanitarian. Since day one you have always made sure that all communications are clear and we know what’s going on in our area. It was so traumatizing to see my city burned down, but luckily we had men like you making sure to update us and support us through this hardship. You’ve been in our community for many many years and we are lucky to have you take care of us during this crisis.
Thank you, Larry for everything you’ve done.
Best best wishes always to you and your family
What is your compensation personally as the leader of this group? Why?
Larry, I’d like to know who appointed you to speak on behalf of all Palisades residents as you claimed you do in the video while giving Karen Bass an award and telling her she is a hero.
What did she do that is so heroic? She failed to take basic and necessary precautions and measures before the fire, she failed to have traffic control help everyone flee in a safe and efficient manner when she issued the evacuation order (a five year old would know this is necessary), our reservoirs were empty, the fire hydrant water supply was not maintained properly, we lost our homes and our
family heirlooms that are irreplaceable, people died! What is heroic about that?
For the record, you most definitely DO NOT speak for me!
No. No accountability that I can find. It would have to be from the FireAid people, who have not been extremely transparent on how nonprofits were chosen.
Sue
Alisa, how much were you paid for your “endorsement?” Asking for a friend…
It would be nice to see an accounting of the money spent by Pali Strong. Specifically it will be interesting to see how much Larry Vein is paying himself. If he’s spending full time on his non-profit that no one asked for then my suspicion is that this was a way to create a job for himself.
Larry has been so helpful to the Palisades community since day 1. He introduced us to Bob Fenton personally to help us get our debris removed (Tahitian Terrace), has been on the ground helping neighbors, and doing on the scene reporting, hosting webinars, etc. I’m sure he will disclose financial information soon. But he’s doing wonderful things in keeping our community focused on coming home at the ground level. BTW, those awards were given to everybody in May at the community pier event—even kids who made a difference in our community, Traci Park, Col. Swensen, etc.
It was said that Larry tried to get the entire Highlands deemed “uninhabitable” in order to collect insurance and other monies, even though most of the Highlands came through better than the rest of us, his own home is standing, and many are living there now. When a resident complained that this was not true on What’s Ap, he took her off the site (he is an administrator) to permanently silence her opposition to what he was trying to do. I also believe he has been selling Pali Strong merchandise and profiting off this tragedy. His website calendar lists Ben Allen as a United States Senator, which he is not so even the facts aren’t correct. Question: why would it take $500,000 to set up a simple website with a calendar? We get that information from Circling the News and other sources. Finally, this man came out of nowhere to profit off a tragedy and then purports to speak for all of us as he gives a medal to the mayor who was asleep at the helm when this tragedy occurred?
Sue Pascoe has served the Palisades for decades, as an extraordinary finder and reporter of the truth and news. When the Palisadian Post sold, Sue left the paper. Her absence was so immediately and severely felt that the once a highly regarded publication, took a seriously nosedive. The readers deserted the Post, looking for Sue’s professional location. We found her at Circle the News, a daily newsletter gift to all Palisadians. CTN is a combination of thorough reporting, especially on local interests, and highlighting events and stories involving our town and neighbors. She’s not afraid to tackle the tough issues and digs deep to get to the truth of them. And, in this matter of ‘Find the Money’, she has asked the questions no one else seems to have done, uncovering many duplications that have not furthered the rebuild, or helped the actual businesses or residents. Chit chat is not furthering anything at this point and many of our neighbors have had to move away. The money raised was to help the those harmed by the fires, not to spend money on carpetbaggers. We have so many wonderful people who are doing the groundwork for free, many who have lost their own homes and could use those funds raised specifically for those affected. We have Circling the News providing free updates and news despite the loss of Sue’s home. We have neighbors helping each other, driving, shopping, etc., without leaching a dime from the money raised to help rebuild. And, we have many groups who regularly meet to share information and planning with no demands on the funds for rebuilding. So… tell me why we have to have the many suddenly rising up groups ‘needing’ financing to do minimally what neighbors are doing – for FREE!? … It’s time for us to demand a full accounting. Thousands of neighbors deserve to know where the funds to help them rebuild have gone. Sue has opened the door. It’s long past time for us to do the cliche’ and walk through it.
I’m sorry Larry. You do not speak for me, either. If anyone does, it’s Sue Pascoe.
Larry
You are the biggest ass kissing Barney I’ve ever seen. All the good stuff you think you’re doing for the Palisades went out the window when I saw you suck up to wanna be mayor Bass. It’s a good way to get your real estate business in the news. Get that $ money $ Larry. You sucked up to Bass like nothing I’ve ever seen. Total phoney. You called her a “hero”??? Presented her with a CVS medal? What a joke! Then you go on to say “on behalf of the Palisades”… you don’t speak for anyone but yourself. 58 years in the Palisades and 4 generations affected by this disaster. I’m pissed! You don’t speak for me or anyone else! Larry, grow a pair, support Palisades people and stop sucking up to city officials who completely let us down. Thank you.
Joy, I could not agree with you more! Sue’s diligence, integrity and hard work are incredible and greatly appreciated.
Sue, I am forever grateful for all of your work and helping us through this tragedy.
Larry, please release all of the financial records and work records for The Real Pali Strong, including bank statements, asap. Pursuant to our conversation, so far you look like a propaganda tool for Bass and Newsom, and you are using the funds you obtained from Fire Aid to support your Bass and Newsom ass kissing efforts. You suggested having a meeting at the American Legion Hall to discuss how the funds you have remaining could be used to directly help the Palisades residents. Let’s get some community members together who want to participate and get that done. Time is of the essence.