Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Pasadena Community Foundation Gives $1 Million to Eaton Fire Recovery Group, Split Between Survivors and Coordination

Half the grant funds direct aid through the Unmet Needs Table; half keeps the Long-Term Recovery Group operating

The Pasadena Community Foundation announced Tuesday a $1 million grant to the Eaton Fire Collaborative’s Long-Term Recovery Group, with half the money going directly to fire survivors and the other half funding the coordination structure that connects them to aid.

The grant, announced June 9, gives the Long-Term Recovery Group $500,000 to distribute to survivors through its Unmet Needs Table and $500,000 to operate the recovery coordination structure itself. It comes as a Department of Angels survey released in April 2026 reported nearly half of survivors have depleted significant portions of their savings and over four in 10 have taken on debt, according to the foundation. The Eaton Fire alone destroyed more than 9,000 structures in Altadena, the foundation said.

The Unmet Needs Table is the mechanism the Long-Term Recovery Group uses to match survivors with resources. According to the foundation’s press release, it is composed of funders and service providers who review cases referred by disaster case managers. The foundation said the Table has a pipeline of referred individuals ready and will begin reviewing those cases to connect them with available resources.

The Long-Term Recovery Group brings together nonprofits, faith-based groups, government agencies, community organizations and businesses, the foundation said. Examples of the services and resources it coordinates include essential home repairs, critical household expenses tied to recovery, and connections to volunteer rebuilding programs.

“Today’s announcement jumpstarts the work of the Unmet Needs Table to support fire survivors rebuild and recover,” Khanh Russo, president and chief executive of the Pasadena Community Foundation, said in the statement released by the foundation. “The scale of need across our community is huge and no single agency or nonprofit can address it alone, which is why continued investment in the Unmet Needs Table is essential to ensuring fire survivors are connected to the resources they need.”

Michael Ocon, executive director of the Eaton Fire Collaborative, said the Long-Term Recovery Group and Unmet Needs Table will “walk alongside survivors every step of the way as they seek resources needed to rebuild their lives,” according to the foundation’s release. He said the work would include helping families remain housed, addressing rebuilding and recovery-related expenses, supporting health and wellness needs, and closing critical gaps that cannot be met through traditional assistance programs.

The Eaton Fire Collaborative coordinates a recovery ecosystem serving Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and surrounding impacted communities, the foundation said. It named the American Red Cross, California Community Foundation and Catholic Charities of Los Angeles among partner funders who have invested in the work, and said it is seeking additional partners and funders to support the Unmet Needs Table.

Fire survivors seeking a disaster case management agency can call 833-775-DCMP or visit cccdcmp.org. The cost to rebuild the affected communities is in the tens of billions of dollars, according to the foundation. The foundation said it welcomes donations to both the Unmet Needs Table and its broader Eaton Fire Relief & Recovery Fund.

“Every case is different,” Ocon said, “but our commitment is the same: ensuring survivors are not left to navigate recovery alone.”