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The Pasadena Star-News | Mon 04/14 04:07pm PST | Gladys B Vargas
Sofia Vidal considers herself lucky to have found a rental home very soon after the Eaton fire. But she was devastated every day anew by the loss of her former home, and doubly stressed by the task of furnishing an empty rental – a reminder of all that the blaze consumed.
But slowly but surely, she’s building her life back together, including with the help of some repurposed furniture from a vintage hotel and a relief organization founded by late actor Paul Walker.
Walker, best known for his work in the Fast & Furious movie franchise, died in 2013. But by then, he had started Reach Out Worldwide in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, to help bring first responders to disaster areas and supplement local relief efforts. This January, the organization responded locally to the Eaton fire, helping to provide and distribute personalized care packages and free furniture to survivors.
Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo spoke at at a Thursday news conference on the donations, and said he and his wife have been supports of the ROWW organization, which has been deployed over 90 times.
Cody Walker, Paul Walker’s brother, said he and his siblings grew up in the Altadena area, attending La Cañada High School and shopping at the exact former Bed Bath and Beyond Pasadena location that ROWW is now using as a distribution center.
“ I’ve traveled internationally after natural disasters with Reach Out Worldwide,” Walker said. “I’ve experienced everything from wildfires to earthquakes, to tsunamis, to hurricanes. It all hits in a different way, but of course when it happens in your backyard, it feels very, very different. So this is something that’s very near and dear to my heart.”
Gordo said the Eaton Fire Collaborative, a collective of organizations working together to provide resources to Eaton fire survivors that includes ROWW, was started in an Elks Club. The effort to provide free furniture to survivors came out of the offerings of the Langham Hotel, which was looking to re-home furniture from their remodel, as well as ROWW stepping in to help with distribution.
Vidal is one of the Eaton fire survivors who received free furniture from the Langham Hotel through ROWW services.
“It was beautiful…it’s like all my dreams had come true in that house, and then all of a sudden I’m homeless,” Vidal said. “I only have one change of clothes. All my pets are gone. All my furniture, my family memorabilia, paintings, everything is gone and I have to start from scratch. If that’s not a humbling experience, I don’t know what is.”
Vidal said her family had initially been split up after the fire, with her son evacuating to a friend’s home while she and her husband stayed with a relative. Because they were collectively grieving so much loss, it was important for her to find housing soon to reunite them, even if it meant eating meals together standing up.
“ So here I am starting over. I still cry just about every other day because I still can’t believe it happened,” Vidal said. “I keep wanting to wake up hoping that this is a nightmare, that I’m really back in my old bed, and after three months I’m beginning to realize that’s not happening.”
Vidal signed up to receive furniture from ROWW after seeing the service on an Altadena resource website. She said compared to other donated resource drives, the ability to take her time and really pick out what she needed was a welcome experience. She didn’t feel rushed to grab something quality as soon as possible in case someone else did before her.
John Brotherton, an actor who also is an ambassador for the organization, said one of the organization’s main goals was to create a dignified experience for survivors, to not only pick out their own furniture, but to also receive a personalized care package at their appointment.
“You’re facing this mound of someone else’s old dirty clothes…there was definitely a lack of a human touch and dignity,” Brotherton said of the experience at other donation centers. “Our curated care packages came out of that in the moment, seeing that there was a definite disconnect.”
Now, as she navigates permits and paperwork for rebuilding her Altadena home, Vidal uses her new desk to do so.
“The furniture is great quality. I managed to make it work to make a decent house for ourselves again. And like I said, we will always grieve our home, but at least we have a home in the meantime to carry us through this journey of rebuilding.”
Eaton fire survivors are encouraged to solicit resources from ROWW and other local organizations online: https://www.eatonfirecollaborative.org/trustedcommunityresources.