With Help from the California Community Foundation, the YMCA Continues to Provide Relief as it Rebuilds after the Wildfire

During workdays, he often took "brain breaks" to sit on one of the wrought iron benches in front of the vintage building on Via de la Paz. The location, across from an elementary school, and a block from Palisades High School, always had plenty of pedestrians.  He'd explain to folks about what was going on at the Y, often surprising them with the fact that its food distribution program served 120 local families each week.

Kirtley, who has worked at the Y for 19 years, including nine years as the executive director in the Palisades, said: "I didn't lose my home, but I lost my home as far as where I work. I had years of dreaming of things, creating programs, meeting people, saying good-bye to people and meeting new people. It's been hard."

However, as soon as the building, which began life in 1949 as a playhouse, burned, the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles rushed into action with immediate relief for Palisades-Malibu members, those affected by the Eaton fire, and anyone else who was displaced by the tragedy. The YMCA rolled out a multi-pronged campaign to provide services and aid community healing that continues to this day.

For starters, it provided emergency childcare for children of first responders and families displaced by both fires. Essential goods such as hygiene kits, clothes, laptops and furniture followed, along with distributing more than a million pounds of food and about 750,000 pounds of clothing.

Free access to YMCA programs came next. More than 3,000 emergency facility access passes were given out. Palisades-Malibu Y members fanned out to move their memberships to other area Y's. Memberships also became free for Y members also displaced in the Eaton fire. For youth in displaced families in the Palisades, Malibu and Altadena, the Y waived fees for its day camp at its Simon Meadow site in the Palisades, and its two sleepaway camps in the Big Bear Lake area – whether the individuals were Y members or not.

Teens had always been a healthy percentage of the Palisades-Malibu Y demographic, due to its proximity to Palisades High School. The Y gym was the one most Pali High students used, and the Y's swimming pool was shared with the school. A big contingent of teens from the Palisades Y always participated in the California YMCA Youth & Government program, which included a trip to Sacramento to learn how bills were created. After the fire, the Y provided 715 scholarships for student delegates to participate in the program, including 70 for students from Palisades-Malibu.

One month after the fires, a reunion for Palisades Y members was held in the gymnasium at the Collins & Katz Family Y in Brentwood. There was a food truck, and attendees were given gift cards, stuffed animals, clothing, and toiletries. There was a sign-up for generators, and information about accessing free furniture and other resources. About 200 members showed up "for hugs, tears and smiles," said Kirtley.

Continuing efforts for displaced members at area Y's include food distribution sites, food delivery to individuals, art therapy, wellness programs, and having licensed social workers in the buildings to help with mental health checks.

A citywide Community Healing Dinner is being planned.

"Our goal is to make sure affected families feel supported," said Christina Bragg, senior director of marketing and communications for the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles.

She credited the Y's philanthropic partners, including the California Community Foundation, which quickly supplied two grants, with making such comprehensive aid possible.

In the six months since the fires, the LA Y organization has met urgent needs and supported recovery efforts for more than 90,000 individuals and families affected by both the Palisades and Eaton fires. It is planning to transform its existing facilities into permanent community resilience hubs that will serve as sites for disaster preparedness and resource distribution, as well as wellness activities and public health services.  

The Palisades-Malibu Y is definitely going to rebuild, although decisions are being considered as to location and the contours of new construction. The 4.4 acre Simon Meadow site, which received damage to wood timbers on a stairway and a walking path, will be where a new, "next generation" facility  will be built, following a capital campaign. The Via de la Paz site may also see rebuilding, depending on input from the community and available funds from insurance and FEMA.

In the meantime, all Palisades staffers who wanted to continue working have been placed in positions at other YMCAs. Even part-timers were helped with new jobs. Hamish Milne, 18, who worked part-time while attending Palisades High School, lost his home and high school, as well as the Y where he exercised, interacted with his friends, and worked behind the desk.

It was a lot to process, and he debated whether he wanted to keep working at a Y again. "The Y gym in the Palisades was our home. I was there every day for two years. I'd see all my friends there. It was like a second home." But when he walked into the Westchester Family YMCA and sat down behind the desk, "everything good ended up coming back to me. It was the exact same vibe."

After spending most of his last months of his senior year taking classes on Zoom, it was a relief for Milne and other Pali High students to move into the old Sears building in Santa Monica for the last month of the school year. "Everybody just came together instead of sticking in their old small friend groups," he said. "It was beautiful. The Senior Sunrise at the beach in Santa Monica had us all together."

Milne said that about 15 high schoolers from the Palisades Y have pivoted to Westchester. Even more moved to Collins & Katz Y. Others went to the Culver-Palms YMCA in Culver City.

Executive director Kirtley made sure everyone relocating to those three facilities would receive a visual welcome and a reminder of their lost home. He took flags with the Pacific Palisades dolphin logo and the words "Don't Quit" on them to those locations, where they greet Palisades-Malibu members who had relocated.

"The idea is when Palisades Y members come in, they have a little sense of home," said Kirtley.

CONTACT: Gilien Silsby, 213-500-8673

SOURCE California Community Foundation