The many ways wildfires can burn
On the final day of its solidarity journey to Southern California, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance staff visit several partners in San Fernando Presbytery
PRESBYTERY OF SAN FERNANDO, California — In halting words, a woman recounted being awakened at 4 a.m. to evacuate her home as her neighborhood was engulfed in an inferno propelled by 90 miles-per-hour winds, explosions happening all around her.
She and her family went to a 24-hour Denny’s to wait, and when they tried to return a few hours later, they were told by the fire department, “‘It’s too dangerous. Let it burn,’ which is a hard thing to hear about your own neighborhood.”
Another speaker recalled a neighbor returning to their neighborhood the next day. When the neighbor’s husband made a turn, she asked why, and he said, “We’re on our street.”
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) personnel ended their solidarity visit to Southern California following the January wildfires the way they began: hearing from people directly impacted by the fires and talking about the path forward and how PDA might be involved.
At La Cañada Presbyterian Church in La Cañada Flintridge they also heard about a church that immediately went into action as the fires blazed, providing financial and material support and care for people impacted, and that has continued to evolve its response.
“Before disaster recovery was set up, this church was taking care of us,” one person said.
The Rev. Dr. Ross Purdy, the church’s pastor, and the Rev. Dr. Cindy Frost, associate pastor of Outreach and Spiritual Formation, talked about programs the church has put in place including time the church is open so people can come hang out in a safe and comfortable space to teams leveraging professional expertise in the church to help people navigate their path forward. There is also a team committed to keeping the community together as people are displaced across Southern California.
PDA Associate for National Disaster Response the Rev. Dr. Jim Kirk talked to a group of church staff and members about what the road ahead looked like and potential involvement such as being a host site for volunteers, an initiative that is run by the church in cooperation with PDA.
Earlier in the final day of their solidarity journey, PDA leadership heard from communities impacted in different ways by the fires. Though the North San Fernando Valley did not experience the fires, many residents worked in the communities that were burned and have lost those jobs from full-time to per-service occupations.
“If you don’t have money to pay rent, you’re impacted,” said Presbytery of San Fernando Executive Presbyter the Rev. Dr. Juan Sarmiento.
PDA leadership visited the Refugee Children Center and North Valley Caring Services, which have responded to immediate needs presented by the wildfires through its status as a donation hub and programs like its weekly drive-thru food pantry. They are separate groups and serve different needs, though they share several things in common, including a campus in the San Fernando Valley.
Both organizations are also led by people who come from the communities they serve.
Refugee Children Center Executive Director Mayra Medina-Núñez is a native of Oaxaca, Mexico who came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor and “went through everything,” people with that status endure, she said. Now a naturalized citizen, she found faith through a Bible study, attended UCLA and went to work in legal, social and humanitarian services.
“I see this as God’s plan,” she said of the work she now does, serving families who are refugees, particularly children, at the center. “What would have happened if I had a support system when I first arrived.”
North Valley Caring Services Executive Director Manny Flores grew up in the area he says is regarded as the worst place in the country for an adolescent to grow up. Though he was raised in a family of faith, he said as a teenager, “I became a stereotype,” his interest in the gang life surrounding him piqued.
After a long-term prison sentence, he applied at the community center, and “despite my background, got a job.” Now he focuses on giving children in the area options he didn’t have, including the Teen Tech Center, a creative hub that includes a variety of endeavors from screen printing to a recording studio and video lab.
“This is not an academic program. It’s an entrepreneurial program,” Flores says. “But it turns back to academics because you can’t run a business if you don’t know how to review the financials or read a contract.”
Previously, North Valley Caring Services has been the recipient of a grant from the Presbyterian Committee on the Self Development of People as well as the Presbytery of San Fernando. Flores was open about the desire to forge new partnerships to help grow its work, as is the Refugee Children’s Center.
Among the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Interim Unified Agency staff in the PDA delegation was the Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, Associate Director of Compassion, Peace, and Justice, who oversees PDA, SDOP, and the Presbyterian Hunger Program — the three ministries supported by the One Great Hour of Sharing Special Offering. Part of Kraus’ role on the journey was to look at potential partnerships in wildfire recovery and response to other needs.
A need Medina-Núñez highlighted is operational support, something that is often not covered by grants and other donations. She noted the Center recently had to let a staffer who handled legal issues go because of financial challenges.
“If we don’t have staff, how do you expect us to do this work?” she said. “Volunteers are great, but there are certain responsibilities you can’t assign to volunteers.”
The Center has been adding features and programs, including a new community garden to help better serve clients who are learning the basics of living in the United States. The last couple months have been marked by growing fear as Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities have been increased under the Trump administration.
In the face of myriad, ever-shifting challenges, Medina-Núñez says part of her and the Center’s work is “redefining success.”
“It’s important to remember you are impacting people in a positive way,” she said. “It may not be as much as you want, but a lot of this is out of our control. We’re OK with impacting people to the extent that we can.”
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