Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Eaton Fire Survivors’ Nonprofit Opens Zero-Interest Rebuild Financing to More Altadena Homeowners

Founders of Altadena Land Initiatives will take questions Tuesday at The Collaboratory as the Gap Rebuild Program widens beyond its pilot families

Altadena Land Initiatives will host a launch mixer for its Gap Rebuild Program, a zero-interest financing program for homeowners rebuilding after the Eaton Fire, at 4 p.m. Tuesday at The Collaboratory, 540 W. Woodbury Road, according to a media advisory from the nonprofit.

Co-founders Ursula Hyman and Manny Abascal, Eaton Fire survivors and longtime Altadena residents, are scheduled to speak, followed by media interviews.

The program is aimed at a shortfall that has kept many families from breaking ground: after insurance proceeds, many homeowners still face a gap of 40% to 50% of their rebuild costs, often hundreds of thousands of dollars, that FEMA assistance, SBA loans and other recovery resources cannot close, ALI said in materials announcing the program.

Without affordable financing, families are left choosing between high-interest debt, selling, or walking away from the community, the nonprofit said.

“Altadena is our home,” Hyman said in the materials. “We founded ALI because homeowners deserve a clear, community-driven solution to rebuild and stay. Preserving homeownership is essential to protecting the character and stability of our neighborhoods.”

The program pairs zero-interest construction gap financing provided by Cathay Bank with a network of pre-selected builders chosen for their availability, experience, pricing, reputation and commitment to Altadena’s recovery, according to ALI. The nonprofit purchases each loan when it is issued and also reviews participants’ insurance coverage to help maximize the resources already available to them.

Loans are issued through a designated lending partner, and ALI funds the program but is not a licensed lender, according to its website. Repayment is structured to come from future recovery funds, such as proceeds from the anticipated Southern California Edison settlement, or upon a sale or refinance of the property, and is secured by a lien. As homeowners repay, ALI said, that capital is recycled into financing for the next family ready to rebuild.

Eligibility is based on wildfire impact, homeowner occupancy and the availability of future recovery funds, and assistance is provided based on available funding, according to ALI. The nonprofit lists The Change Reaction, the Altadena Builds Back Foundation, FireAid, Advancing Lives in Pasadena and The Resnick Foundation as anchor investors. The Altadena Builds Back Foundation, a supporting organization of the Pasadena Community Foundation, issued a separate announcement about its investment in the program.

“At Cathay Bank, we believe community investment goes beyond traditional lending,” said Chang Liu, president and CEO of Cathay Bank. “It means taking the initiative to create something new when the situation demands it. We are proud to have developed the financing infrastructure that makes this program possible, and we stand with Altadena families as they rebuild their homes and their futures.”

A fifth quarterly survey of Eaton and Palisades fire survivors, released in May by the fire recovery nonprofit Department of Angels, found that more than two in three respondents were still not home and that roughly 40% had exhausted their temporary housing insurance payments or expected to soon.

“Two out of three survivors are still not home, and this is no longer about short-term disruption,” said Miguel A. Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation and a co-founder of the Department of Angels. “This is actually prolonged displacement.”

Altadena Land Initiatives was formed in 2025 and received its 501(c)(3) determination from the Internal Revenue Service in October 2025, according to the organization. Hyman is a retired Latham & Watkins partner who chaired the firm’s municipal and tax-exempt finance group and served as president of the Eaton Canyon Recovery Alliance after the 1993 Eaton Canyon fire. Abascal is a partner in the firm’s litigation and trial practice and a former assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.

The mixer begins at 4 p.m. Tuesday at The Collaboratory, 540 W. Woodbury Road, Altadena. The founders will be available to answer media inquiries from 4 to 6 p.m. The media contact is Bree Jensen at 626-787-4774. Program information is posted at alirebuilds.org.

“People assume that if you have insurance, you can rebuild,” Nate and Molly Perkins, homeowners and Gap Rebuild Program participants, said in a testimonial provided by ALI. “That is just not the case for us or for many families we know. There is a staggering gap between what it costs to rebuild and what families have. ALI gave us a path forward with the confidence that we can rebuild our lives when we thought we had run out of options.”