Benji & Chris: Starting Over After Altadena Fire

Hello friends, this is Benji and Chris. We’re making this GoFundMe for us as we navigate this difficult time financially and mentally. We lived in Altadena, a beautiful small town under the mountains. It’s perfect in every way. We even have a license plate frame that says “Beautiful Altadena”. This is a town of some of the best people we’ve met, a true gem in LA county. The Eaton fire destroyed much of Altadena, completely leveling our entire neighborhood. The space is unrecognizable and nothing is retrievable.

We’re writing this with a heavy heart. We lost everything in the Eaton fire. The only thing left standing is the fireplace. All that we have left are our phones, documents, and three days' worth of clothes. We lost all of our plants and furniture, everything we worked for to make the house into our home. We lost our computers and filming equipment. Most of all though, we’ll miss our home and the life we had. It was magical.

My (Benji) income comes from YouTube where I film our house and plants, and now that that’s gone, I’m not sure what the future holds for us. I’m also not in the mental or emotional state to film videos at the moment.

We’re feeling a lot of anxiety about next steps, but we’ll be okay. The only way to move is forward. Funds raised will be used to recoup what we lost (camera, lenses, clothes, computers, furniture, etc.), find housing, and give us time to figure out next steps.

We are safe, along with our pets, Winnie and Theo. Thank you to everyone who checked in on us.