Help 80yr Richard Grise Find Peace After Fire

For 52 years, my father called our house in West Altadena home. He built it with his own hands, paid it off 35 years ago, and filled it with memories. But in just 24 hours, everything was gone. The LA wildfires swept through our neighborhood, leaving us with nothing but the clothes on our backs and our cat. We had no insurance—our rates nearly doubled last year, making it impossible to keep up. My dad, now almost 80, is disabled and retired. He can barely walk and relies on a scooter to get around. Starting over at his age is impossible.

The Red Cross has put us in a homeless shelter with hundreds of other unfortunate victims of the same fire. Both my father and I caught Covid, and I caught pneumonia three weeks later. My father, who has no cartilage in his lower spine, was given a recliner to sleep in because a cot left him in unbearable pain. Our old home was modified with bars and supports to help him move around—now, none of that exists. We never got the midnight evacuation alerts—the power was out, and the cell towers were burning. We left at 4 a.m., choking on smoke, as flames were literally on the block next to us. Getting the car out was a nightmare; you couldn’t see 20 feet in front of you. At one point we drove into a double driveway thinking it’s a street, as flames were burning houses adjacent from us, and the trees overhead engulfed in flames.

This is not how my father’s story should end. He worked hard his whole life and gave everything to our home and community. Please, if you can, help us find stability again. Your kindness will help my dad spend his final years with dignity, not in fear and struggle. Thank you for being part of our fight.