Sunday, June 28, 2026

Altadena Homeowners to Showcase Eaton Fire Rebuilding Progress on Nonprofit-Led Recovery Tour Monday

Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County and partner organizations will lead a guided “Rebuilding & Recovery Tour” in Altadena on Monday, June 29, showcasing the progress of residents rebuilding homes lost in the January Eaton Fire.

The tour, timed to National Homeownership Month, comes as rebuilding in Altadena remains slow more than a year after the fire and as community organizations work to keep longtime residents — many of them underinsured or displaced — from being pushed out.

Organizers say the event is meant to spotlight equitable pathways to recovery in a historically diverse community where Black families have deep roots.

NHS, the Southern California chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA), and the Restore the Legacy LA (RLA) Coalition are hosting the tour, which runs from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and begins at the property of Roosevelt Pullem at 2840 Highview Avenue, according to an announcement from NHS.

A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. with NHS President and Chief Executive Lori Gay, the announcement said.

The tour features Altadena homeowners at different stages of rebuilding, NHS said. Among them is Pullem, an 89-year-old Army veteran, according to NHS, who is rebuilding the Highview Avenue home he lost in the fire with financial and technical support from NHS and a grant from the Black Freedom Fund.

Also featured is the Williams family, which NHS said lost four homes in the fire, displacing 17 relatives, and now has multiple members rebuilding on their properties. One of them, Eshelle Williams, a renter of nearly 17 years displaced by the fire, is on a path to homeownership after NHS acquired and is redeveloping her former residence so she can return as its owner.

“We survived through four fires here, never imagining that we wouldn’t be able to come back,” Williams told NBC Los Angeles last year after NHS stepped in to buy the lot where her rented cottage had stood.

Wildfire survivors sharing their story on the tour include:

• Roosevelt Pullem, an 89-year-old Army veteran, is rebuilding the home he lost in the fires with financial and technical support from NHS and a grant from the Black Freedom Fund. Determined to return, he shared his commitment to seeing the project through to completion.
• The Williams Family lost four homes in the fire, displacing 17 relatives. Today, multiple family members are rebuilding on their properties, demonstrating the restoration of both housing and family legacy.
• Matilda Williams, the family matriarch, faced severe underinsurance after a financial setback prior to the fires. Thanks to grant support and assistance from NHS, she is rebuilding her home with an ADU and space for her adopted children.
• Kim and Corie Gilliam, rebuilding “Flora’s Legacy,” are honoring a family home passed down from their grandmother. With combined funding sources—including insurance, an SBA loan, and NHS support—they are restoring a cornerstone of their family’s history that began in 1976.
• Dr. Eshelle Williams, a longtime renter displaced by the fires, is on a pathway to homeownership after NHS intervened, acquiring and redeveloping her former residence of 17 years so she can return, with her son, as the homeowner.
• Dr. Ellyn Williams emphasized the rebuilding of community connections alongside physical structures, noting that Altadena’s close-knit spirit is re-emerging through recovery efforts.
• Errol and Nina Adams, residents of 55 years, are rebuilding their historic cottage-style home with design support from NOMA partners, bringing modern improvements while preserving
• Howard and Vickie Rose purchased their Altadena home in 1980, where they spent 45 years raising multiple generations and building deep community ties before losing it in the Eaton Fire; with support from MASBuild, they are now rebuilding to create a new home and future memories while preserving their family’s legacy.
• Aldra and Herman Allison, beloved former NHS staff member, was insured for up to three years of rental coverage and was covered for the total replacement value of her rebuild. She also raised funds via GoFundMe and her rebuild is significantly underway.

NHS, a certified Community Development Financial Institution marking more than 40 years of work in affordable housing, says it provides low- or no-cost loans and grants, HUD-certified housing counseling, down payment assistance, construction project management and estate planning to fire survivors. The organization, which it calls the region’s largest affordable homeownership provider, says it offers fully funded estate plans through its Legacy Project to help low- and moderate-income families build intergenerational wealth.

SoCal NOMA provides design guidance and rebuilding plans; its architects completed roughly 200 free individualized rebuild plans for displaced Altadena homeowners as of last summer, according to published reports. The RLA Coalition, formed after the wildfires and comprising more than 80 community development organizations, financial institutions and others, offers financial counseling, disaster case management, affordable loans and grants, and free estate planning to survivors, NHS said.

More than a year after the Eaton Fire, which Cal Fire says burned 14,021 acres and destroyed at least 9,414 structures in and around Altadena, recovery has been uneven. A UCLA analysis released in October found that nearly seven in 10 severely damaged homes showed no visible progress toward rebuilding, and that investors had purchased about two-thirds of the homes that changed hands — raising concerns about displacement in a community where Black households were hit hardest.

Gay, who has led NHS since 1990, has said the nonprofit’s strategy is to help residents stay. “So what we’re saying to people is if you wanna sell, you can let us know,” she told NBC Los Angeles, describing the group’s effort to buy burned lots and resell them below market to people with Altadena ties.

NHS and the RLA Coalition hold regular Rebuilding & Recovery workshops offering survivors access to grants, lending and legal services as the community continues to rebuild.