CRCC on Faith Response to LA Wildfires
When wildfires destroyed much of Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, faith leaders and organizations responded throughout the Los Angeles region.
CRCC Affiliate Ken Chitwood covered these efforts and the push for a just response and recovery process in Sojourners Magazine, referencing a list that CRCC compiled of 20+ congregations and faith organizations damaged or destroyed by the fires and others that are responding with relief efforts.
CRCC’s Najuma Smith also provided her perspective on the formal and informal networks within the faith community activated by the fires to Religion News Service.
Read an Excerpt:
The Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard, pastor of Word of Encouragement Community Church and assistant director of public and community engagement at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, said her phone has been ringing off the hook since the fires began.
Most of those phone calls have been focused on connecting people who want to donate resources to faith communities who get relief supplies to people in need.
She said faith communities in Los Angeles tend to fall into two categories — those directly affected by the fires and those outside the regions affected by the fire but who want to help. Those faith groups in areas affected by the fire can deliver direct aid to people in need, but other churches still have a role to play.
“We have a mandate not to leave our brothers and sisters out there hanging,” she said.
She said almost every faith leader she knows is involved in some way. Many are collecting aid, others are helping church or community members find housing, while still others are using their social media to highlight fundraising requests from those in need.
Smith-Pollard also said there are a number of formal networks of clergy and faith groups who are working together to respond to the wildfires, such as LA Voice and the Clergy Community Coalition in Pasadena, as well as more informal networks and friendships among faith leaders.
“I don’t know of any churches that are operating as Lone Rangers,” she said. “We’re experiencing a moment where everyone is working together.”
Smith-Pollard said clergy are also beginning to think about the long-term rebuilding after the fires, which will require billions in assistance and take years. For now, they are encouraging those in communities affected by the fires to not make any rash decisions about the future. She worries older residents or those in a crisis because of the fire will end up making decisions they will regret later.
“We want to support you, because we don’t want you to feel like you are on your own and nobody knows your story — and then you end up giving your property up,” she said. “Stay in your homes, maintain your property and we’re here to support you.”