Mai Pham has owned Nails 3000 in Altadena for 35 years. She has outlived three landlords at the same building, on Lake Ave near Altadena Drive. We think the building survived the fire, but Mai doesn’t know when she’ll be able to reopen. The area around the salon is completely devastated.

I found Mai shortly after I moved to Altadena from Chicago 3 1/2 years ago, and she has been such a core part of the community for me. She has been here longer than so many, commuting to her salon every day from more than an hour away. My daughter Eliza (4 1/2) started coming to get her nails done too, and loves seeing Mai and her sister Trang. I know so many from Altadena have come to Mai for decades (often across generations).

This fund is to help Mai bridge the gap until she can hopefully reopen.