On the evening of January 9th, amidst torrential rain, we heard a faint rumble which quickly grew in intensity until it shook the entire house with a thunderous roar. The power went out; we scrambled to find a flashlight and rushed upstairs, where we could see a ravine behind our neighborhood dissolving into a rushing landslide, carrying boulders and water careening down the hillside into our neighbor’s Jane and John’s yard and house.

Our initial thought was that they were severely injured or possibly dead. We rushed to their house to see if they were alive. Luckily they were, but had sustained severe property damage and losses.

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My name is Melanie. My boyfriend Mike is a photographer and I work for Fender (the guitar company). We moved up to Ojai in 2021. We are setting up this fundraiser for our neighbors, Jane and John, whose house and property have been severely impacted and parts devastated by a debris slide that occurred at approximately 5:30 pm PST on Monday, January 9th just north of Ojai, CA.

About Jane and John:

Jane and John have lived in Ojai for 12 years. They are the sweetest people and have become family since we moved up here.

Jane and John married when they were 50 years old. They had each been married before but were divorced and widowed when they found each other. They are proof of soulmates and that it is never too late to find true love. They've been married for 30 years. Jane is retired and John still works but has chronic leukemia.

About the Slide:

On Monday, we received 25 inches of rain in 12 hours, which is unheard of for this neighborhood. The rain caused a debris slide of rocks and mud to fall behind their house. The slide had formed a river that flowed through their entire first story.

The road was impassable and there was no possibility of evacuating. The power in the neighborhood went out, but their generator kicked in, which provided heat, electricity and internet. We couldn’t make a phone call but were able to text my family in Kansas City. They called 911 on our behalves and unfortunately found out that no one was coming because highway 33 was impassable as well. We were told to shelter in place. That’s terrifying news when you don’t know if the hillsides around you are going to continue giving out.

Despite everything that they’ve lost, they’ve been feeding everyone, providing places to sleep and a space to convene, talk, and process what’s been happening.

We know this is a large amount of money to ask for. I don’t know if we’ll even raise a fraction of this, but we feel powerless and this is the only thing we feel we can do to show them our gratitude as they try to move forward.

This Money Will Cover:

• Most importantly, John’s leukemia medication

• Weeks/Months of backhoe work that’s needed to clear the property of boulders and debris

• New flooring, paint, and furniture for the first floor