In January 2025, the Eaton Fire forever changed Altadena, Pasadena, and surrounding communities. In the weeks that followed, Black Freedom Fund and the California Community Foundation came together around a shared commitment: to stand with the communities most impacted by the disaster; not only in the immediate aftermath, but throughout the long road to recovery.
The Black LA Relief & Recovery Fund, was created to resource a community-led and centered approach to equitable recovery and invest in the local organizations and leaders who know their communities best.
Today, we are continuing that commitment with $3.5 million in grants to 37 organizations. Thirty-four are returning grantee partners, allowing critical work to continue and deepen, while three new organizations expand the network of community-rooted organizations advancing recovery.
Since its launch, the Black LA Relief & Recovery Fund has invested $7.1 million in 40 community organizations working to ensure Black communities can recover, rebuild, and remain rooted in the places they call home.
Because while the fires are no longer burning, recovery is far from over.
Recovery Doesn’t End When the Headlines Fade
Across Altadena and Pasadena, families are still navigating the consequences of the Fire. Housing costs have risen dramatically. Insurance claims remain unresolved. Long-term health impacts continue to emerge. Displacement has separated neighbors and families, while predatory land purchases threaten the ability of longtime residents to remain in their communities.
The needs of communities don’t end when the immediate crisis does. Neither should the support they receive.
Community-rooted organizations showed up in the immediate aftermath and they continue to show up every day. Our grantee partners are helping families remain housed and resist displacement. They are creating culturally grounded spaces for healing. They are organizing residents to advocate for accountability and the resources their neighborhoods need. They are supporting young people and elders. And they are protecting the history, culture, and legacy of communities determined not only to rebuild, but to shape what comes next.
Meet Our 2026 Black LA Relief & Recovery Fund Grantee Partners
These 37 organizations are helping communities across Altadena and Pasadena recover, remain rooted, build power, and shape what comes next.
- A Sisterhood for Fatherless Daughters
- Abolitionist Sanctuary
- Alkebulan Cultural Center
- Altadena Historical Society
- Altadena NAACP
- Altadena Rising
- Altadena Talks Foundation
- The Center for Restorative Justice
- Community Women Vital Voices
- End Child Poverty California powered by GRACE
- Essie Justice Group
- First African Methodist Episcopal Church – Pasadena
- Greenline Housing Foundation
- Hands in the Soil
- Harambee
- Hillside Tabernacle City of Faith
- Home of Kings and Queens
- Hope Now Community Resource Center
- HPP CARES | The Rebuild Center | Experience Lab
- The Juicy Little Society
- The Legacy Land Project
- Lifeline Fellowship Christian Center
- Lift International
- Mentoring and Partnership for Youth Development
- My Tribe Rise
- Neighborhood Housing Services
- Neighborhood Survants
- New Revelation Church – Faith Beyond the Flames
- Outward Bound Adventures (OBA)
- Pasadena Church
- Pasadena Friendship Community Development Corporation
- Pasadena Senior Center
- Project Passion
- Rockwood Leadership Institute
- Shepherd’s Door Domestic Violence Resource Center
- Stars: Illuminate, Educate, Advocate
- Xtremeathletics
Together, these partners reflect what community-rooted recovery looks like in practice. Across both rounds of investment, 40% of our grantee partners are organizing for community-led recovery – meeting urgent needs today while building the power residents need to influence the decisions that will shape their neighborhoods for years to come.
More than half of our grantee partners are focused on supporting young people, because recovery is not only about restoring what was lost. It is also about ensuring the next generation can remain, thrive, and imagine a future in these communities.
Rebuilding Together, Long-Term
One year of funding cannot meet the scale or timeline of what recovery requires. That is why 34 of 37 organizations receiving funding in this round are returning grantee partners. Continuing these investments means organizations can build on work already underway rather than starting over. It means deepening relationships with organizations whose work we know, whose leadership we trust, and whose roots in community run deep.
Most importantly, it reflects something fundamental to how Black Freedom Fund approaches recovery: communities need partners willing to stay.
Recovery requires more than emergency relief. It requires sustained investment in the people and organizations who will be here for the long haul.
Our communities need flexible support as the work of recovery evolves. They need capacity-building resources as new challenges and opportunities emerge. They need visibility and amplification so funders, policymakers, and the broader public hear directly from the organizations and leaders doing this work. And they need opportunities to learn from and connect with one another so recovery efforts can be coordinated and strengthened.
That is the kind of partnership we are committed to building.
This latest grant round is not a conclusion. It is a continuation of a promise: to keep showing up, keep listening, and keep investing in the power, healing, and vision of Black communities across Altadena and Pasadena.
Join Us
The work of recovery continues and there is a role for all of us in sustaining it. Join us in ensuring Black communities have the resources to recover, rebuild, and remain rooted for generations to come.
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