{"id":73527,"date":"2025-06-16T14:07:40","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T21:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=73527"},"modified":"2025-06-16T14:07:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T21:07:40","slug":"barger-celebrates-launch-of-rebuild-partnership-for-eaton-fire-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=73527","title":{"rendered":"Barger Celebrates Launch of Rebuild Partnership for Eaton Fire Survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Members of the Wood family pose with supporters holding a model and rendering of their home design from The Foothill Catalog.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Named from left to right: Jenine Wood, Carol Wood, Ken Wood Sr., Bryan Wong (SGV Habitat for Humanity), Alex Athenson and Cynthia Sigler (The Foothill Catalog Foundation), Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Lara Wood, Ken Wood Jr. and their children (Photo credit: David Franco\/LA County)<\/em><\/p>\n

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger on Friday unveiled a new collaboration between\u00a0The Foothill Catalog Foundation<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity<\/a>\u2014an initiative aimed at expediting and easing the home rebuilding process for families impacted by the Eaton Fire.<\/p>\n

The partnership pairs The Foothill Catalog Foundation\u2019s\u00a0collection of pre-approved home designs<\/a>\u2014which is being scaled to up to 100 designs by a partnership with\u00a0Autodesk<\/a>\u2014with Habitat for Humanity\u2019s commitment to construct homes for qualifying fire survivors. One of the first homes to be built through this initiative will rise on the very lot where the press conference took place.<\/p>\n

Barger commented on the significance of this partnership. \u201cThis effort represents the very best of what can happen when public, private, and nonprofit sectors unite behind a common purpose,\u201d said\u00a0Supervisor Kathryn Barger<\/strong>. \u201cThat purpose is a lot bigger than simply rebuilding houses. Altadena\u2019s recovery is about restoring the sense of belonging and hope for a community that has endured unimaginable loss\u2013and that is on full display today.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Eaton Fire survivor Ken Wood Sr., SGV Habitat for Humanity CEO Bryan Wong, and The Foothill Catalog Foundation President Alex Athenson exchange smiles, stand on lot where model house will be built.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(Photo credit: David Franco\/LA County)<\/em><\/h2>\n

Alex Athenson<\/strong>, President of The Foothill Catalog Foundation, highlighted the purpose behind the design effort.\u00a0 “Our mission has always been about preserving the heart and soul of Altadena while creating practical, permit-ready, and regionally sensitive designs that reduce costs and time for families eager to return,\u201d\u00a0Athenson\u00a0<\/strong>said. \u201cThese are not just blueprints\u2014they are tools for healing, rooted in community character and compassion.”<\/p>\n

Bryan Wong<\/strong>, CEO of San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity, emphasized the organization\u2019s readiness to meet the moment.\u00a0\u00a0“<\/em>When disaster strikes, so many families are left with uncertainty,\u201d\u00a0Wong\u00a0<\/strong>stated. \u201cOur partnership with the Foothill Catalog allows us to remove those uncertainties\u2014by pairing beautiful, approved designs with real action on the ground. We have 25 families who have already applied for assistance. We\u2019re honored to help families rebuild their lives, and we\u2019re ready to get to work.”<\/p>\n

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Eaton Fire survivor Ken Wood Sr. proudly holds a rendering of his future house design from The Foothill Catalog Foundation, “The Lewis.”\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(Photo credit: David Franco\/LA County)<\/em><\/h2>\n

Mr. Kenneth Wood<\/strong>, the 85-year-old Eaton Fire survivor whose property is the future home site said a few words.\u00a0 “At my age, I never thought I\u2019d be starting over,\u201d Wood remarked. \u201cBut today, standing on this land I\u2019ve known for decades, I feel something I didn\u2019t expect\u2014hope.”<\/p>\n

The press conference featured a scale model of Mr. Wood\u2019s future home, a floorplan display, and renderings of several pre-approved designs from the Foothill Catalog Foundation and designed with\u00a0Autodesk\u2019s Design and Make platform<\/a>\u2014all illustrating the vision of a resilient, community-centered rebuild.<\/p>\n

Through support from Los Angeles County\u2019s Altadena One-Stop Permitting Center, the pre-approved plans offered by The Foothill Catalog Foundation allow for a simplified path through permitting. Combined with Habitat for Humanity\u2019s proven ability to deliver quality, affordable homes, the effort provides a hopeful, practical roadmap for fire-impacted families to return and rebuild.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of the Wood family pose...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73528,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73527\/revisions\/73528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}