Wednesday, July 1, 2026

The People Rebuilding Altadena Need Rebuilding, Too — New Program Aims to Help

[photo credit: Jericho Road Pasadena]

Jericho Road Pasadena launches a free wellness series for nonprofit workers worn down by 18 months of wildfire recovery

The nonprofit workers who rushed in after the Eaton Fire — the grant writers, the case managers, the volunteer coordinators, the people who staffed the aid centers and answered the phones — have been at it for a year and a half. Now someone is asking how they are doing.

Jericho Road Pasadena, a nonprofit that has spent 16 years matching skilled volunteers with local organizations, is launching a long-term wellness initiative aimed at the people who have been carrying the community’s recovery. The effort centers on a free 10-session series called Practicing Joy in Times of Crisis, developed in partnership with A Thousand Joys, a California-based nonprofit that trains service providers in resilience and trauma-informed care.

The Eaton Fire, which ignited on January 7, 2025, destroyed more than 9,000 structures in Altadena and killed 19 people, according to Cal Fire data reported by PBS. In the months that followed, nonprofits across Pasadena and Altadena mobilized to provide housing assistance, mental health support, and community rebuilding programs. According to JRP’s announcement, the organization is now directing its attention to the wellbeing of the workers staffing those efforts.

The series is part of a broader wellness effort launched in response to the ongoing emotional toll of the wildfires and collective crises, according to JRP’s announcement, and is planned to run for two years with multiple wellness-based offerings each month. The Practicing Joy sessions, which include five virtual and five in-person gatherings, are scheduled monthly through February 2027. Each session stands alone, so participants can attend one or many.

The next in-person gathering, titled “Choosing Joy,” will be facilitated by Felina Danalis and Hala Khouri, a trauma-informed somatic educator who serves as A Thousand Joys’ lead trainer and co-founder of Off the Mat, Into the World. The session will include movement practices, intentional conversation, and community connection, according to the event description. All movements can be done from a chair, seated on the floor, or standing. Attendees are invited to wear bright colors and bring an instrument, a drum, or something meaningful that sparks joy.

Also announced is a forthcoming partnership with David Washington, a licensed clinical social worker and UC-certified Master Gardener who founded The Planted Brain, a nonprofit mental health agency. Washington will lead a program called Horticulture for Healing, also for nonprofit staff working in wildfire relief. He previously worked as a school and community-based psychotherapist in the Pasadena Unified School District and has more than 12 years of experience in mental health and more than eight years leading therapy groups, according to JRP’s announcement. Dates and details for the horticulture program have not yet been released.

JRP and The Planted Brain have an existing relationship. Washington, in a statement published on JRP’s website about an earlier volunteer collaboration, said, “Jericho Road was very organized and matched us with a qualified volunteer, and we are now using them for another need.”

Jericho Road Pasadena, led by Executive Director Kim Olpin, has been connecting professional volunteers with nonprofits in the greater Pasadena area since 2010.

Practicing Joy in Times of Crisis: Choosing Joy takes place on Wednesday, July 22, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at DENA Heals Wellness Center, 300 East Colorado Boulevard, Suite 150, Pasadena. DENA Heals is a recovery initiative rooted in Altadena and Pasadena that has served as a hub for community-led relief since launching in January 2025 in response to the Eaton Fire. The session is free, according to JRP, thanks to community foundation support. Registration is available at app.betterunite.com/jrpasadena-practicingjoyintimesofcrisischoosingjoyjuly. Additional information is available at www.jrpasadena.org/workshops or by contacting workshops@jrpasadena.org, 626-680-1269, or @jrpasadena on social media.

When the fires came in January 2025, the helpers came, too. They have not left. And 18 months later, someone is finally asking: who helps the helpers?