Support Christina & Bowie After Losing Their Home

On January 8th, after hoping and praying for 24 hours straight, I finally heard from my dear friend Christina. Her home in Altadena had burned to the ground, along with her entire neighborhood, and most of her cherished city. She had enough time to grab her dog, Bowie, her passport, computer, and a few items of clothing and jewelry. In her recounting of events, she lamented repeatedly, “I didn’t know what to do, I just thought I’d be back.”

Christina had only owned her home for two years, a labor of love that she had poured herself into after working so hard and so diligently for years to be able to purchase and create the sanctuary of her dreams. Throughout the dreaming, the buying process, and during all of the work she put into her home, she had one goal: To create a space for community, where all of us could gather to be together and to rest.

Since losing her home, those of us who love Christina have offered whatever we could to help — but Christina has been focused on how to help her neighbors, her community, and true to her greatest love, the animals that were affected by this tragedy. She insisted her insurance was good, that she would be okay financially.

When we spoke last week, the dire reality of what has happened had set in. While insurance covers the rent on her temporary rental for at least 24 months, there is a lot that Christina needs help with. She is in the long, arduous process of getting the rebuild estimate from her insurance company, as well as going through the painstaking process of itemizing her entire life so she can replace her personal property. Although her insurance *might* cover everything for her in the end, unfortunately it doesn’t help with living expenses. J.P. Morgan is only allowing homeowners to forbear their mortgage payments for 90 days as opposed to defer like other lenders, meaning that even if she got a break in needing to pay, she would need to make the lump sum of missed payments by June.

Christina does not have work right now, not only due to the fall out from the strike, but because of how the fires effected her industry. Between losing her home, being out of work, and spending the last of her savings care taking her father before Medicaid kicked in for assisted living (he is thriving, by the way!), her basic living expenses are creating a massive amount of financial and emotional strain as she navigates this new normal.

If you’re able to help our girl cover her bills so she can focus on healing and rebuilding, it would be the biggest gift.