Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Altadena Nonprofit Says It Put More Than $60,000 in Direct Cash Into Fire Survivors’ Hands

Heavenly Hughes [photo credit: Heavenly Hughes Instagram]

My TRIBE Rise’s grassroots grant programs provide bridge financing to residents facing displacement more than a year after the Eaton Fire

The money arrives where the need is sharpest — in rent payments, in mortgage checks, in the emergency costs that pile up when a home burns and the insurance doesn’t cover it all.

My TRIBE Rise, a grassroots nonprofit co-founded in West Altadena in 2019, says it has distributed more than $60,000 in direct cash grants to Altadena residents who lost homes or face displacement from the Eaton Fire, according to a report by the Pasadena Black Pages.

The grants, distributed through the organization’s Eaton Fire Relief Grants and Adopt A Survivor Bridge Financing Program, provide funding to cover rent, mortgage payments, and emergency costs for working-class, elderly, and disabled residents, according to the organization’s website.

More than 15 months after the Eaton Fire, My TRIBE Rise co-founder and executive director Heavenly Hughes says the recovery is far from over.

“We feel like we’re being forced out because of this fire and not really getting the support that we need from our elected officials to be sure to preserve and protect our Black and Brown community,” Hughes said in a January 2026 interview with Democracy Now.

The organization has served more than 4,100 people through its Survivors Power Luncheons, according to the My TRIBE Rise website. The luncheons, held at Morning Star Christian Church at 980 East Rio Grande, provide survivors with individual disaster recovery plans, food and housing assistance, home and business essentials, and direct cash grants. At one luncheon, the organization provided a $5,000 Adopt A Survivor relief grant to Altadena resident Gwendolyn McMullins, according to the organization’s Threads account.

“We have luncheons where we invite Altadenans throughout the community who have been impacted by the fire,” Hughes said. “We call them our power luncheons.”

Hughes and co-founder Victor Hodgson started My TRIBE Rise seven years ago to address gang violence in Altadena, working to bring rival groups together through shared meals and community gatherings. After the Eaton Fire, the organization shifted to full-time disaster relief.

“Our city where we were raised, everything is gone,” Hughes said in a February interview with Spectrum News 1. “It feels like not only have our homes been leveled, but also our hope has been leveled when it comes to thinking about rebuilding. So there’s a lot of grieving, a lot of loss.”

The organization describes itself as the only Black-led, boots-on-the-ground mutual aid organization in Altadena, according to its website. It has received a Congressional Certificate of Recognition from Rep. Judy Chu and a California Senate Certificate of Recognition from Sen. Anthony Portantino.

My TRIBE Rise has also drawn attention beyond the local community. The organization was featured in the Oscar-shortlisted documentary “All the Walls Came Down,” directed by filmmaker Ondi Timoner, which follows Hughes as she organizes Altadena residents in the fire’s aftermath. The group was also among four beneficiaries of the 2026 Altadena-to-Palisades Relay organized by the Silver Lake Track Club.

Hughes has been blunt about the stakes. At an Edison accountability protest in February 2026, she told a crowd she had lived in Altadena for 50 years.

“I was raised in a thriving working-class community and they have destroyed that community,” Hughes said, referring to Edison, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Altadena fire survivors seeking assistance from My TRIBE Rise can complete an intake form at tinyurl.com/2CareForm or contact the organization at Peace@MyTribeRise.com. More information is available at MyTribeRise.org.