Support Brenda and Randall’s Recovery After Eaton Fire

Hello and thank you for reading this. I’m raising money for my parents to help them cover unexpected expenses after surviving the Eaton Fire in Altadena.

Last summer, my parents Brenda Solorzano and Randall Caudle along with my aunt Johanna Solorzano and my grandma Olivia Solorzano moved to beautiful Altadena, a thriving and diverse unincorporated area at the base of the mountains north of LA, so my mother could start her new job at The California Endowment. Less than a year later, Altadena was ravaged by a devestating fire that destroyed nearly the entire community and made national headlines.

Anyone who knows them knows that they are joyful, giving, friendly, outgoing, and kind people. Randall became friends with all of their new neighbors on Laurel Drive within weeks. Little did he know, their Christmas Eve parties and New Year’s gumbo gatherings would shift to WhatsApp group chats strategizing disaster recovery, as they share information from insurance adjusters and contacts for lawyers.

My parents are truly blessed: by some miracle, the structure of their home survived the worst of the destruction and is still standing. But they were surrounded by flames. Homes in every direction around theirs are gone. The recovery process will be measured in years, not months. They will need their property to be inspected by adjusters. Then they’ll need to wait for the federal government to come in and do the hazardous materials clean up. Altadena has no functioning infrastructure anymore. They’ll need to wait until they build new phone lines and power lines, until the water is safe to drink again. Then they’ll need to repair and rebuild the exterior and interior of the home to address the fire damage and hopefully rebuild to newer building code to make the property more fire resistant in the future.

While my parents are blessed to have somewhere to live right now thanks to the generosity of one of my mother’s board members, and they have stable jobs that will allow them to recover in time, right now they could use a bit of help.

My parents aren’t people who like to ask for help, so when Brenda said it would be helpful to ask people to get them gift cards, I knew they really needed help. She is so strong, and dealing with this from a three-pronged approach — as a community leader, as a boss whose employees are affected, and as a human who lost her home. The home she shared with her husband, her sister and her own mom.

Right now they need money to buy clothing — Randall, Brenda, Johanna and Olivia all lost their entire wardrobes. Turns out buying new sets of underwear for four people gets expensive quick. Brenda would also appreciate some jewelry. She quipped to a coworker who complimented her earrings, “I’m glad you like them, since they’re the only pair I have!” Their dogs, Kenzie and Avo, need new crates and food and other dog care supplies. They need home supplies, kitchen supplies. They’re missing the most basic things right now, from their pillows to their vitamins and bathroom supplies.

And while they are struggling to purchase all of the small things they need, they are sitting on the phone with me and my younger brother Kian, promising us while fighting tears that they will figure out how to keep paying our college tuition. Both my parents came from very little and worked their entire lives to be able to purchase a home and have any kind of equity. This is a tragedy — and they are some of the lucky ones.

Any funds donated will go directly to Brenda and Randall to cover all of the costs, small and large, associated with recovering from the fire in both the immediate aftermath and the long run. It will support Brenda, Randall, Johanna and Olivia as they pick up the pieces and navigate this next chapter of rebuilding.

I know Brenda and Randall have touched a lot of people who would be happy to support them in their time of need. They also hope that you support their many neighbors, friends and colleagues who are suffering more. We appreciate your generosity.