1/10: The Friday Five
resources & mutual aid requests from Los Angeles ❤️🩹
Hello from my hospital bed in Beverly Hills, where I’ve been for the last 34 days, and the entirety of the current wildfire disaster that’s blazing its way through the hills, canyons, beaches, and neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and the countless communities of people who live here.
Despite the grave stressors of living through compounded personal and collective traumas, I am greatly relieved to share that I am safe, as is my mom, my wife, my dog, and the home we rent in the valley. All of our beloveds, and their homes, are safe as well. But beyond our inner circle, we know so many who have lost homes, businesses, and livelihoods, and everyone here has lost cherished landmarks, schools, safe and sacred spaces, priceless pieces of history, and any sense of safety or security.
A huge thank you to the ever-growing number of firefighters putting everything on the line to battle these devastating fires, including the companies of incarcerated men, whose efforts are barely rewarded monetarily, and who will not be allowed to keep their heroic careers going after being released. The speed and precision at which they’ve been able to respond to quickly spreading and multiplying blazes, while contending with truly unimagineable dry, windy conditions, is nothing short of miraculous.
Whether you’re in Los Angeles, been here once, or couldn’t even find it on a map, I’m sure you’ve heard about this ongoing tragedy by now from various viewpoints: class, colonialism, capitalism and collective economics, race and identity, politics and city budgets, ecology, land stewardship and the climate crisis, apathy, inhumanity, and much, much more. While not every tragedy needs to be met with immediate analysis—especially when lives are still at risk and it’s nowhere near being over—these conversations are important, galvanizing and activating.
The truth is: It’s all of the above. Do not overlook the intersectionality at play here on the largest scale. We are attempting to survive the results of hundreds of years of corruption, greed, exploitation, theft, and violence. And the only way we’re going to get through it is together.
While we’re helping each other out, please be aware and discerning on the internet, especially when sharing resources and taking in triggering or rage-inducing details. Misinformation is a dangerous beast, and these fires starting on the same day that Meta announced an end to their fact-checking efforts and collaborations feels ominous in a way I’m not able to process or make meaning of yet. A few widely spread stories regarding LAFD budget cuts and dwindling water supplies have already been corrected or debunked, so use caution when reposting or regurgitating sensitive, yet urgent, information!
OKAY LET’S TALK ABOUT AID, BAYYBEEE—
THE FRIDAY FIVE 🖐️
Today’s Friday Five is a list of resources and mutual aid efforts for the people of Los Angeles, who are affected by the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Sunset, Kenneth, and other fires both named and unnamed, as well as anyone who would like to lend a helping hand to folks in need.
May these missions be fruitful, supportive, and free from the failings of the Empire.
MALAN Fire & Wind Storm Resources — This extensive list of shelters, donation hubs, animal boarding locations, sites with free stuff, and more, spans all of Los Angeles County and the Greater LA Area. The spreadsheet includes the location, name, aid type and address for each site, as well as information on volunteer and donation needs, and additional notes on hours of operations, applicable capacity counts, services provided, potential costs, sign-up forms, contact information for on-the-ground team leaders, and more. You can also follow @/mutualaidla for further updates.
Resource List for Disabled Angelenos — Writer, artist, advocate, and LA resident Kam Redlawsk, shared the information from @mutualaidla, with additions and special attentions paid to disabled folks who may be displaced or in need.
“Disabled people & chronically ill have a list of extra crises on top of any crisis, like lack of access to crucial medications or mobility devices, and power resources needed for mobility or staying alive, caregiving access interrupted, inaccessibility to relief centers or escape routes, and more. With 1 in 4 people having a disability or illness, more needs to be done to include the disabled community, because our ability to escape & seek care matters too.”
— Call/text Disability & Disaster Hotline at 800.626.4959 or email at hotline@diasterstrategies.org
— @unitedspinal opened a disaster relief grant for affected wheelchair users.
— Someone in the comments also suggested reaching out to The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies (@disastersrat) for additional resources.
ALL IMAGES FROM @KAMREDLAWSK Watch Duty — Perhaps a bit late in the game to share this resource, but the fires are still blazing and climate change seems here to stay, so may this interactive and regularly updated map keep you sane and safe, amen. Aside from sharing real-time news alerts and messages from local authorities, Watch Duty also shows evacuation zones, with orders ranging from “set” to “go,” and area flag warnings from white, to pink, to red.
SCREENSHOT FROM WATCHDUTY.ORG 2025 Wildfires GoFundMe List : Main Directory — If you’re looking to directly support a family in this time of great crisis and personal loss, there’s a growing directory list of GoFundMe campaigns. Information includes the name of the family (some with locations), their goal amount, how much they’ve raised so far, what percentage of their goal has been reached, and the link to the campaign.
L.A. restaurants offering shelter, discounts and food to fire evacuees and first responders, LA TIMES — This list from the LA Times’s Assistant Food Editor, Danielle Dorsey, shares all of the restaurants and chefs opening their doors and kitchens to feed Angelenos throughout this major disaster. To be updated as more restaurants join the efforts, this article shares the location, contact information, and any pertinent food details, alongside an interactive map of Los Angeles.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, so if you know of additional resources or funds that could use a boost or shout-out, drop them in the comments and I will vet them to include in the free portion of Sunday’s Week #3 Forecast!
Additional resources:
LAFD Website for alerts, resources, up-to-date info
Follow on social @LosAngelesFireDepartment
Follow on social @LAFDfoundation
Red Cross LA for local actions across the region and finding shelter for those displaced
Follow on social @RedCrossLA
Canine Rescue Club Website for donations and to foster displaced pets & animals
Follow on social @Caninerescueclub
California Department of Social Service’s Disaster Help Center for access to relief funds
ICYMI:
🌀: Welcome to 2025, a Nine Collective Year
💍: Marriage By the Numbers: Planning Your Wedding Using Numerology
📆: DAILY DIGITS: A 2025 Agenda for Magical Makers
🎧: Call Your Coven is back! Listen to January 2025: Shedding Season
Until next time, just keep swimming!
xx, bee