Help the Williams Family Rebuild After the Eaton Fire

The Williams Family, Allison, Kevin, Austin, and Kelley are people who give back to the community. The Williams' home was badly damaged in the Eaton Fire, and they need to rebuild their Altadena home. Their home is still standing; however, it is currently uninhabitable and needs repairs that may take 12 months. Read more to get an idea of why this family means so much to me and others.

On the night of January 7, 2025, Kevin and Austin worked with their neighbors to put out the fires at their house and worked to save five neighboring houses as well. They fought the next day, January 8, from 7:30am til 4:30pm.

Kevin and Allison are both retired, and are active members of their church, they look out for their neighbors, Kevin co-organizes a local Brothers and Books group, and they both volunteer as mental health advocates at NAMI. In fact, I met Allison and Kevin through NAMI, where they regularly volunteer, tabling at the mental health awareness booth for NAMI Glendale, teaching a 9-week mental health class and giving school presentations.

My name is Reg Clarkinia, and I work at NAMI Glendale, where just this past December, Allison collaborated with Ann Marie Smith to start the first-ever NAMI Glendale Sharing Hope program for people of Black and African Ancestry to discuss the mental and emotional wellness of Black families and communities.

Allison is a determined and generous volunteer - the type of volunteer a non-profit needs to be able to operate and successfully reach people in need. For example, Allison's volunteer work was essential to make the Sharing Hope program possible - a warm, inviting space for women of Black and African ancestry to share openly about wellness in their homes. And Kevin assisted (also as a volunteer) in a supporting role.

The Williams already applied for FEMA, but they were denied. Their insurance will only cover a portion of the costs to rebuild. They are currently looking for an apartment to stay in for the next several months while their home is repaired. As I write this, they are looking at yet another location to temporarily reside. Allison is organized, efficient, caring, and reliable - and she always delivers results.

As the operations manager of a small non-profit, we need reliable volunteers in order to exist. The Williams consistently respond with positive attitude, ready to give their time and energy to help others. Now it's time for all of us to come together to help the Williams repair their Altadena home.

Every cent of your donation will go to fix the significant structural damage and to help offset the costs of practical necessities while they are displaced for the next 12 months. Knowing Allison, the Williams will handle this financial support in a responsible, practical manner. And knowing the Williams family, they would give to any of us in the same predicament.

FROM ALLISON (via text):

My husband Kevin, son Austin and I along with our two dogs evacuated our home on January 8 at 4:00am, with a few items we were able to grab, amidst a cloud of black smoke and falling embers, down trees, housing and cars up in flames, no electricity on the roads and people walking in the street with the clothes on their backs.

We caravaned to our daughter’s Kelley’s place which was not safe so we continued to the Pasadena Civic Center to find my 96 year old mother who was evacuated from her senior living facility and transported to the evacuation center.

We had to mandatorily evacuate from our home in Altadena which has no gas, electricity, smoke damaged poor air quality and polluted water. We went to a hotel in DTLA and have to pay $60 a day for hotel parking We applied for FEMA and were denied.

A temporary housing company sent us to a very seedy extended stay location. It was too dirty to stay the night so we went back to our DTLA hotel where we are currently in the process of securing long term housing for the next 12 months.

Our dogs, Zeke and Bella, are very anxious. We took Bella to the vet because she was coughing due to smoke inhalation. She was prescribed cough medication. Since the fires, we have had to renew our prescriptions, picked a couple of donated outfits to wear, some toiletries that volunteers were giving away and snacks to keep in our hotel refrigerator.

This has been humbling to be in a vulnerable position. And stressful. We have shed tears with people, out of gratitude for peoples' generosity. It's heartwarming to see the show of support - you know you hate to ask for help. But we are asking for help. And we want to give back, to help others, to work with our neighbors to preserve the historic community. All the support is so greatly appreciated - we are overwhelmed by the love and support that has been shown.