Mission
Altadena Brick by Brick provides direct grants to Altadena homeowners who were uninsured or under-insured during the 2025 LA Fires, so they can rebuild their homes and remain in the neighborhood they’ve called home for decades.
In short: we help longtime residents rebuild instead of being forced to sell and leave.
Vision
We believe Altadena’s future should include the people who built it.
Our vision is a neighborhood where families who have lived in Altadena for generations are not displaced by disaster, rising insurance costs, or lack of access to recovery funds. We aim to raise:
$10 million dollars in order to fund $300,000 grants for 30 families.
After our goal is accomplished, we will transition to creating a disaster-relief model that can be replicated in other communities facing similar crises.
Why This Work Matters
Between January 7 and 8, 2025, the Eaton Fire (one of the many LA Fires) destroyed more than 4,600 homes west of Lake Avenue in Altadena, California. In the years leading up to the fire, insurance premiums had increased by more than 400%, and many homeowners had been dropped entirely.
When the fire hit, thousands of residents had little or no insurance. This left them with no financially realistic way to rebuild.
Without funds to close that gap, families are forced to sell their land, accelerating displacement and gentrification. Altadena Brick by Brick exists to interrupt that outcome. We are rebuilding one home, one family, one grant at a time.
Our Founder & Executive Director
Altadena Brick by Brick was founded by a Los Angeles neighbor.
After the Eaton Fire, our founder, Erica Warnock, and her husband were evacuated from their home for six months. Their house sat just four homes from the burn zone. They experienced the full weight of displacement, health concerns, and insurance denial.
They applied everywhere: FEMA, Los Angeles County, the Red Cross.... Each time, they were DENIED. Again and again, the same message surfaced, “There isn’t help available for this gap.”
Talking with neighbors who lost everything, Erica heard the same story repeated:
“It’s impossible to get money.”
“Where did all the money raised actually go?”
On long walks through what had once been a familiar neighborhood, she kept thinking about her neighbors…the hearing-impaired man with the fluffy white poodle, the neighbor who grew sunflowers and once warned her about a coyote following her dog. Now their homes were gone, and no one seemed to know if they’d ever be able to come back.
That’s when she realized what was missing: direct, no-nonsense cash assistance that goes straight to rebuilding homes.
Rooted in her Buddhist practice—which emphasizes responsibility, interconnectedness, and action—she decided that if Altadena was going to come back, it would be because neighbors stepped in for neighbors. Altadena Brick by Brick was created to do exactly that.
Who We Serve
Our grants are specifically for:
Families who were uninsured or under-insured at the time of the Eaton Fire
Residents who have lived in Altadena 30 years or more
Altadena homeowners west of Lake Avenue
These are the people most at risk of being permanently displaced—and the people we are committed to helping remain.
