Help Megan rebuild hope and home after California wildfire

My name is Liz, and I am writing to you about my dear friend Megan Handley Katerjian. Megan and her children, David and Lucine, lost their home on January 8 due to the spread of the Eaton wildfire in California.

Megan has been a long-time close friend. We grew up together in Evanston, Illinois, and attended 1st Presbyterian Church, where her father, Dr. David Handley, served as Senior Pastor and her mother, Andrea Handley, as Director of Worship. Megan’s entire adult career has been spent helping those in need, particularly the homeless. She has worked for non-profits that serve the disadvantaged, as a pastor in several churches in California (she is an ordained Presbyterian pastor), and for the past seven years, she has been the CEO of Door of Hope, a Christian non-profit organization that houses homeless families and provides them with support and skills to transition out of homelessness.

On a personal note, Megan is Godmother to my son Dominic and has been an active and present support in our lives. In 2022, when my husband Paul was diagnosed with terminal Glioblastoma brain cancer, Megan stood by our side with physical and prayerful support, took us to Maui for a deeply healing and memorable family trip, came to be with us for hospice in Chicago during Paul's final weeks, and led a beautiful and spirit-filled memorial service to honor Paul's life. She helped us navigate some of the hardest and lowest points in our life with humility and true love.

Without going into too many details, 2024 was a very challenging year for Megan. But the most encouraging time of the year was moving into this house in July, with the primary goal of providing much needed stability for her kids. Now, at the very start of 2025, they have lost their home and the security she has worked so hard to provide for her children, being left with only the few items in their suitcases.

I can only hope this GoFundMe shows even a fraction of gratitude for who she is and what she does. In the face of devastating loss, I pray you will join me in lifting Megan and her family prayerfully and financially from the ashes of their home into a hope-filled future.

Any money collected will be used to aid where insurance and FEMA is limited. Anything given to Megan will be amplified through her leadership in the ways she blesses her community.