Article correction: The grant amount has been edited to $8 million to more accurately reflect the partnership funding.
Pasadena Community Foundation (PCF), together with the California Community Foundation (CCF) and other partners announces the Community Healing and Restoration Grant Initiative, with $8 million in grants to more than 60 programs supporting the emotional, spiritual, and social needs of Eaton and Palisades fire survivors.
PCF’s $1 million contribution to the grant partnership will be directed to 11 fire relief programs designed to support survivors in the Greater Pasadena area. The grants represent the latest round of financial aid from PCF’s Eaton Fire Relief & Recovery Fund, which was launched on January 8, 2025. To date, PCF and its supporting organization, the Altadena Builds Back Foundation, have distributed more than $20 million in fire response grants.
Recovery after a disaster is not only about bricks and mortar but also about restoring the bonds that make impacted neighborhoods thrive. National research shows that strong social networks are vital for resilience, emotional well-being, and long-term rebuilding.
Locally, the need for community healing was documented in CCF’s LA Wildfires Recovery Needs Assessment, which surveyed more than 630 community-based organizations across L.A. County in April 2025. The survey found that survivors continued to face significant hurdles, including challenges around housing, job loss, mental health and trauma, financial need, and a sense of community connectedness. Moreover, a Department of Angels survey of more than 2,000 survivors found that three in four reported their mental health had worsened since the fires.
The Community Healing and Restoration Grant Initiative prioritizes investments in community restoration activities such as neighborhood block parties to share recovery information; trauma-informed activities to promote family wellness; arts classes to express grief, joy, and connection; and opportunities for youth to build leadership skills through nature and ecological recovery. A 2023 report from the National Institutes of Health emphasized that these gatherings are not “extras” but rather the foundation of healing.
“PCF joined with our partners to make these grants because we believe that it is critical to ensure our neighbors get the support they need to feel healthy, hopeful, safe, and stable. By supporting programs that strengthen well-being and reconnect communities, we can make sure that those affected by this disaster not only can rebuild, but also recover and thrive.”
khanh duy russo, PCF president & CEO
The Community Healing and Restoration Initiative was funded by the Eaton Fire Relief & Recovery Fund in partnership with a consortium of foundations and donors that pooled and aligned funds in support of fire survivors’ wellbeing.
See CCF’s media announcement here and list of grantees here.
Pasadena Community Foundation contributed $1 million to this grant initiative, supporting eight programs in their entirety and an additional four with joint funding from the California Community Foundation.
Altadena Girls was established in response to the Eaton Fire, transforming one teen’s call to action into a trusted space where girls of color can heal, express themselves, and rebuild belonging. The project will expand a creative wellness hub with year-round programs—art therapy, cultural storytelling, dance, journaling, wellness rituals, and peer mentoring—all co-designed with the girls themselves.
Altadena Girls creates a trusted space where girls and teens can heal, express themselves, and rebuild belonging.
Brotherhood Crusade will support 40 fire-impacted students from McKinley School of Arts with its nationally recognized Trauma-Informed Youth Development Program. This Whole-Person Care initiative, spanning 24 months, will bring practitioners and supportive services, including mental health care, to help youth heal from devastation and trauma. The flagship program equips young people with life and vocational skills, leadership capacity, and resilience to thrive in school, work, and community recovery.
Community Clergy Coalition will hire a Community Wellness Coordinator to focus on central coordination, knowing that survivors—especially renters, immigrants, elders, and displaced families—fall through the cracks. By linking neighborhood captains, case managers, and a living public calendar, helps reduce social isolation, equip leaders, and ensure the community recovers as one.
Eaton Fire Collaborative* will strengthen its role as a central force in community recovery, offering survivors a trusted hub—The Collaboratory—for resources, connection, and healing. By uniting more than 200 local groups, the Eaton Fire Collaborative provides long-term recovery support through counseling, case management, community events, and leadership councils that prioritize the needs of vulnerable survivors.
Hands in the Soil* will launch a two-year initiative to provide survivors with consistent, culturally grounded mental, emotional, spiritual, and land-based care. Community Care Training Clinics will equip residents to lead peer-based circles, ensuring healing practices remain sustainable and community-driven. Weekly offerings will include trauma-informed yoga, mindfulness, and healing circles.
Hands in the Soil wellness event at Arlington Garden
Jericho Road will bolster its Nonprofit Staff Healing & Resilience Program, which supports frontline staff engaged in Eaton Fire recovery, many of whom also lost homes or access. In partnership with four nonprofits, the initiative offers culturally affirming healing through storytelling, artmaking, therapeutic horticulture, and trauma-informed practices. By centering staff who face secondary trauma and burnout, the program restores social bonds, strengthens coping skills, and advances long-term resilience for the entire community.
Lineage Performing Arts Center will host storytelling, music, and dance workshops for survivors, culminating in a benefit concert where participants share their stories alongside professional artists. A documentary will capture the process, offering survivors a lasting record of resilience and community strength. By creating culturally affirming spaces for grief, joy, and connection, Lineage uses the arts as powerful pathways for healing that transcend cultural and language barriers.
Live Above the Hype* will grow its leadership program, launch the Rising Phoenix Wellness Series, and expand community healing workshops. These efforts will support justice-impacted residents, youth, and reentry populations by building leadership skills, offering training for educators and frontline staff, and creating safe spaces for recovery in fire-impacted neighborhoods.
Live Above the Hype’s Rising Phoenix Wellness Conference for fire survivors.
LOV Olive Branches will launch Trans4mation, a community-based program that offers workshops, mentorship, creative arts, and outreach for individuals. It strengthens youth empowerment, family healing, community engagement, and personal renewal.
The Neighborhood Survants will support fire-impacted families with wrap-around support that includes transitional housing assistance, mental health services, financial literacy workshops, and disaster case management. Families can also take part in creative wellness offerings, including art-based storytelling, community murals, recovery festivals, and youth art labs.
Team members from Neighborhood Survants at a supply drive in Pasadena, July 2025.
Outward Bound Adventures* will engage 40 fire-impacted youth from Altadena and Northwest Pasadena in a two-year recovery program. Students will design and implement Community Action Plan Projects, while the Youth Environmental Restoration Team (YERT) participates in paid ecological recovery work such as soil remediation and trail restoration. Families will join Teach Me to Camp trips, and select youth will embark on a transformative nine-day High Sierra Expedition to build leadership, confidence, and ecological knowledge.
Outward Bound Adventures will work with 40 fire-impacted youth in an ecological recovery program.
Pasadena Senior Center is launching a two-year initiative to restore connection, resilience, and well-being among older adults impacted by the Eaton Fire. Building on its role as a trusted hub for 11,000+ seniors annually, PSC will expand enrichment workshops, wellness classes, care coordination, and nutrition programs while introducing new counseling and support groups.
Pasadena Village will engage more than 450 older adults impacted by the Eaton Fire, with a focus on LGBTQ+, African American, Latino/a/x, caregivers, and those living with disabilities. Over 15 new free programs—ranging from resilience workshops to community-building activities with transportation provided—will strengthen mental health, social networks, and recovery.
*PCF and California Community Foundation joint funding
We believe strong communities thrive when philanthropy tackles real needs. To create lasting impact in Greater Pasadena, we focus on six key areas that that drive opportunity, build resilience, and improve well-being.
Pasadena Community Foundation’s is proud to announce this year’s Pasadena Child Health Foundation (PCHF) grants, which total $464,000 and will support 19 nonprofits serving children and youth in Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre. PCHF has been a fund of PCF since 2016. Unprecedented mental and physical health struggles The PCHF grant program awards funding annually, […]
Pasadena Community Foundation’s is proud to announce this year’s Pasadena Child Health Foundation (PCHF) grants, which total $464,000 and will support 19 nonprofits serving children and youth in Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre. PCHF has been a fund of PCF since 2016. Unprecedented mental and physical health struggles The PCHF grant program awards funding annually, […]
