In just a week in January 2025, wildfires fueled by strong Santa Ana winds in Los Angeles County, California, caused evacuations of 130,000 people, burned down 12,000 homes and businesses, and killed 24 people. While some famous Hollywood celebrities were reported to have lost mansions, thousands more working class and low-income Angelinos lost their homes and properties in the fires.
LA residents who earn low wages already struggled to make ends meet living in one of the most expensive cities in the country. Many of these everyday folk are underinsured or have dropped their homeowner’s policies, often to meet more immediate needs like food, mortgages, medical costs, and gasoline. In addition, some insurance companies are reported to have recently dropped coverage on residences in fire-prone locations because of high risk. Recovery for LA fire survivors in these situations will be long, stressful, and sometimes impossible without assistance.
“It’s going to take time to sort out who was uninsured, underinsured, and who thought they were well insured in this disaster,” said Chris Gibson, World Renew DRS Groups Program Manager. “We often run into situations where people’s insurance coverage helps them a lot less than they thought it would for a variety of reasons. Even people who have funds available and great insurance have trouble finding contractors available to do repairs when so many homes are destroyed all at once.”
World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) ministers to survivors who are struggling to recover from a disaster. DRS volunteer teams and managers collaborate with local and government officials and other voluntary organizations to coordinate our assistance to people who may otherwise get overlooked because of limited mobility, insufficient income, age, lack of insurance, or isolation.
“World Renew is connecting with other response organizations and local recovery groups in the LA area,” Gibson said. “One of the services we offer is Unmet Needs Assessments that help community organizations attract disaster funding and plan for long-term recovery in the most impacted areas.”
World Renew DRS specializes in long-term disaster recovery and rebuilding in the US and Canada since 1972. We work with our faith and non-profit partners to lay a foundation on which to build subsequent recovery efforts in California and at disaster sites across North America. Our skilled volunteers complete property clean up, assess survivors’ unmet needs, make home repairs, and rebuild homes.
At World Renew DRS, we know that every disaster is different, and fires often require long and complex responses because of hazardous and toxic substances released by heat that need to be removed or contained before recovery efforts can begin. However, as communities are cleared for homeowners to return to their properties in Los Angeles, we will be there to offer help and hope in the crisis and beyond.
