Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Altadena Couple to Break Ground on Eaton Fire Rebuild With Lakers Champion A.C. Green

Laker great A.C. Green [From photo by Gage Skidmore]

HPP Cares says the family’s insurance had lapsed before the January 2025 fire, leaving them without coverage

An Altadena couple who lost their Taos Road home of more than five decades during the Eaton Fire are scheduled to break ground on a rebuilt house Tuesday, August 18, according to HPP Cares, the nonprofit housing counseling agency supporting the project.

HPP Cares announced the ceremony for 10:00 a.m. and said former Los Angeles Lakers forward A.C. Green will attend. Green played key roles in three NBA championships with the Lakers, in 1987, 1988 and 2000.

Emmanuel and Emma Alvarado have been married 65 years and raised five children in the Altadena house, according to the organization. HPP Cares said the couple married at 19 and 20, and that their family now includes grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The organization said the Alvarados’ insurance policy had been canceled before the fire over a roofing repair they were saving to complete, leaving them without coverage when the house burned. HPP Cares said it helped close the resulting financial gap.

HPP Cares also said that after the fire, Emmanuel Alvarado played “You Are My Sunshine” for his wife on guitar, and described the moment as one that drew national attention.

“Every family deserves the chance to come home again,” Katherine Peoples of HPP Cares said in a statement. “This moment is about more than one family — it’s a symbol of hope for the many Altadena residents still working to rebuild their lives.”

Green said in a statement that rebuilding a home involves more than construction materials, describing it as a matter of restoring hope, dignity and belonging.

HPP Cares, a HUD-approved nonprofit housing counseling agency, operates The ReBuild Center and marked a similar Altadena groundbreaking in June for Linda and Gary Zeigler. The Eaton Fire destroyed 9,414 structures and killed 19 people in January 2025.