It has been one year since the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed roughly 13,000 homes. Fewer than a dozen have been rebuilt, a result of deliberate choices made at every stage of recovery.
Insurance companies collected premiums for years, then slowed, denied, or stalled claims when people needed them most. Hundreds of destroyed properties have already been sold instead of rebuilt, pushing out families who wanted to remain in their communities.
At the same time, disaster recovery capacity has been steadily reduced. FEMA grants have been cut, staffing has been hollowed out, and survivors are still waiting for help that was promised while the institutions responsible for delivering it are being dismantled.
Communities stepped in where systems failed. Mutual aid networks filled gaps left by billion-dollar corporations, and that work kept people alive.
Community care matters. Accountability does too.
I made the video above to mark the one-year anniversary and to keep the focus where it belongs: on responsibility, power, and who profits from delay.
If you’re able to support recovery directly, donations through rebuild.us go toward rebuilding.
This story isn’t over.
