For Alicia Albek, a home-based child care provider in Los Angeles, Jan. 7 began like a typical Tuesday. She opened her child care program, Alicia’s Place, at 8 a.m. as she had for almost 30 years. Six infants and toddlers arrived ready to play and learn.
Around 10:30 a.m., Albek received a call from a friend. “Alicia, there’s a fire behind your house,” Albek recalled hearing before looking out her window to see that the hill behind her home was on fire.
Within minutes, Albek started contacting the children’s parents. Due to road closures, two families could not get to Albek’s home to pick up their children, both 18 months old.
“I said I would drop them off on our way to evacuate,” said Albek. “It took me half an hour to drop off one baby a block away. It took me two hours to drop off the other less than two miles away.”
“We were stuck on Sunset [Boulevard]. There was a car in the middle of the road … and it had caught fire. I couldn’t help but think: We’re going to blow,” said Albek.
“My daughter was in a car in front of us. I had someone else’s baby in my backseat. All I could think is, I have to get them away from this fire.”
Albek succeeded in dropping off the two toddlers before evacuating with her daughter and husband to her son’s home in the San Fernando Valley. They stayed for three weeks before finding a rental home to live in temporarily.
Albek’s house was burned, along with her backyard. She’s still waiting for her home to be cleared of the ash and lead that entered through the vents and crevices so she can begin to rebuild. Since she evacuated, she hasn’t been able to provide child care for the 20 families she served.
Albek’s program was one of 47 child care facilities destroyed in the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires, according to The Child Care Alliance of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times reported in late January that at least 16 of them were home-based. Families who relied on these programs had to look for alternative arrangements, but finding, let alone affording, child care has become increasingly challenging.
Home-based child care providers faced overwhelming dilemmas. Many grieved as they lost their home and business in one fell swoop. And, they carried the weight of supporting children and families navigating loss. Months later, these challenges persist as providers continue to feel the consequences of the fires.
Below are the stories of eight providers who live in communities hit hard by the wildfires. (With support from Home Grown, a funders collaborative focused on home-based child care, the providers were given a small stipend for their time.) Five lost their homes and businesses, and three have been unable to reopen. Two have had to find a new location to reopen their child care facility, while figuring out a temporary housing solution for their own family. While each provider has their own story, all of them echoed a similar message: a commitment to their community and the children they serve.
Alana Lewis’ neighbor’s backyard in Altadena, California days after the Eaton Fire. (Alana Lewis)
These vignettes offer a small window into the experiences of home-based providers who lived through the fires — the emotional toll of the losses they faced, the responsibility they feel to get back to providing care, and the aid they need as they navigate the recovery process.
The vignettes below draw quotes from interviews, which have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Two interviews were conducted in Spanish and translated into English.
Alicia Albek
Neighborhood: Pacific Palisades, California
Number of children served: 20
Number of years providing child care: 30
Impacted by: Palisades Fire
Still providing child care? No
Alicia Albek immigrated from Argentina to the United States in 1976, and moved to Los Angeles in 1983. She settled down in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood with her husband and was inspired by her own children to open a home-based child care program. In 1995, she opened Alicia’s Place. This year would have been the 30th anniversary of her program.
Alicia Albek
When the fires broke out, Albek was serving around 20 children from 6 months to 4 years old, accommodating a variety of family schedules and preferences for the days and hours of care.
“[The Palisades] is a place [where] you know the clerks in your local markets, the post office people, the mail lady,” Albek reminisced. “It’s very horrible what is going on. Hopefully, we can rebuild.”
Albek’s family lost their home in the Palisades fire. She also lost her child care program. She has been living in a rental home while waiting for the debris to be cleared from her home, and for the necessary approvals to begin reconstruction. She isn’t sure if she’ll reopen Alicia’s Place. That depends on how the home repairs go, she said.
A property next to Alicia Albek’s home in the Pacific Palisades days after the Palisades Fire. (Alicia Albek)
The families Albek cared for moved out of the neighborhood, she said, but she saw some of them recently at a gathering she hosted at her rental.
“A few of the families showed up. People were crying. They were all displaced. Some were still looking for child care,” she explained. Others have found care, but she said: “I have people telling me that they’re finding new places, but nothing like ours — like home away from home. I had it set up so beautifully. The kids were so comfortable there, and the parents were comfortable to have a safe, clean, loving place for their kids.”
Alicia Albek’s backyard at her home in the Pacific Palisades days after the Palisades Fire. (Alicia Albek)
Marcia Colasanti
Neighborhood: Santa Monica, California
Number of children served: 6
Number of years providing child care: 18
Impacted by: Palisades Fire
Still providing child care? Yes
Marcia Colasanti
Marcia Colasanti immigrated to Los Angeles from Brazil to study at a local university. After navigating the child care system for her own children, and volunteering at her son’s day care, she decided to open her own program. “I saw the great impact I could have in my community,” said Colasanti. “I looked into it, and decided to open my own business.”
Colasanti has been running her program since 2007. Her home wasn’t damaged by the fires, but her community was impacted and she said she’s been trying to support them as best she can.
When the fires began, Colasanti closed her doors for three days. Her only employee, who had an infant son, had evacuated and she couldn’t open alone. “She did not feel good about us closing,” said Colasanti. “I told her not to worry, it’s a natural disaster.” After evacuating to a relative’s home, her employee came back, Colasanti said. “She commuted from the [San Fernando] Valley.”
Two children playing in Marcia Colasanti’s backyard at her home in Santa Monica, California, where she runs her child care program. (Marcia Colasanti
Shortly after she reopened, Colasanti learned that one of the families she provided care for had lost their home. “The family was traumatized. I offered them child care after hours, whatever I could do to help,” she said.
Colasanti’s costs increased during the fires. She installed air purifiers in every room and her electric bill “skyrocketed,” she said. Meanwhile, two of the six families she provided care for could not pay because their jobs were located in an evacuation zone. Colasanti provided free care for two weeks. With the increased electric bill and interruption of payments, she worried about her own economic security.
View from Marcia Colasanti’s car of a fallen tree in Santa Monica, California during a drive she took through her neighborhood. (Credit: Marcia Colasanti)
Colasanti hopes that in the future, providers are given the resources they need to survive a disaster. “I was very fortunate I did not have to close my doors for good. I know many child care providers who did, who are struggling to reopen,” she said.
Aurys Hernandez Carillo
Neighborhood: Altadena, California
Number of children served: 12
Number of years providing child care: 19
Impacted by: Eaton Fire
Still providing child care? No
Aurys Hernandez Carillo
Aurys Hernandez Carillo immigrated from El Salvador to Los Angeles when she was a teenager. While attending college, she worked part-time at a local child care center. She fell in love with the work, and shared her dream of owning her own child care center with her mother. The two decided to open a home-based child care program of their own. Her mother retired in 2021, making Hernandez Carillo the sole owner of the business.
In the early hours of Jan. 8, Hernandez Carillo evacuated her home with her husband, their children (then 5 and 8 years old) and her parents who lived with her. They only had time to grab two changes of clothes and their documents.
Their home was gone by the morning.
Aurys Hernandez Carillo’s home-based child care program in Altadena, California, before the Eaton Fire destroyed her home in January. (Aurys Hernandez Carillo)
“In the morning, the families [of the children I cared for] started to call me. They did not want to tell me what happened to my home, only that it was bad in our zone,” said Hernandez Carillo through tears. “I felt terrible. How could I tell my kids we had nothing?”
Aurys Hernandez Carillo’s home in Altadena, California before and after the Eaton Fire. (Aurys Hernandez Carillo)
Hernandez Carillo and her family moved between short-term Airbnb rentals and friends’ couches for months. She eventually received a check from her home insurance to cover temporary housing, but it could not be used on short-term lodging like hotels or Airbnb. Hernandez Carillo searched for weeks for an affordable space that she could use the housing support from her insurer on, but the search proved difficult with the price gouging in the area.
The outside area of Hernandez Carillo’s home after the Eaton Fire. (Aurys Hernandez Carillo)
While she wanted to rent a home that was suitable for reopening her business, property managers gave her a cold shoulder, she said. “When I tell them that I would like to have a day care there, they tell me they are not renting for that,” said Hernandez Carillo. “There are some realtors who have said they’ll discuss with the owner, but they later declined because they do not want to go through inspections.” Ultimately, the families of the children she cared for had to find other options.
Her family is now living in a rental apartment. She is studying to earn her teaching license in order to work at a center-based child care facility. She intended to pursue the additional licensure before the fires, but losing her business fast-tracked that plan. Without her business, her husband’s salary is the sole source of income for the family.
Alana Lewis
Neighborhood: Altadena, California
Number of children served: 13
Number of years providing child care: 11
Impacted by: Eaton Fire
Still providing child care? No
Alana Lewis
Alana Lewis was born and raised in Altadena, California. She started her career in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) as a special education educator and worked in the district for 12 years before becoming a home-based child care provider in 2014.
“I’ve always had compassion for people. When I was at LAUSD, I was able to help children one-on-one,” said Lewis. “That’s why I opened up my own child care [center].”
Like Hernandez Carillo, Lewis evacuated her home in the early morning hours of Jan. 8. Later that day, she received news that her home was significantly damaged, with the backyard destroyed and inside filled with ash and debris. “One of my parents called and said, ‘Your house is gone. Don’t come up here, it’s devastating.’”
Lewis moved between hotels, short-term rentals, and family and friends’ couches until June. She had no source of income as she waited for her home to be cleared of debris, and relied on a patchwork of grants and community resources to sustain herself. Lewis looked for a temporary location in her community for her child care center. But, with many locations also partially or completely destroyed by the fires, she had no luck.
Photos of the outdoor space at Alana Lewis’ home-based child care program before and after the Eaton Fire. (Alana Lewis)
The families she served also endured loss. “I have two parents whose homes completely burned down. Some parents have had to find other child care, because they had to return to work. But I still keep in touch,” said Lewis.
Lewis was able to return home in June. She reopened her program later that month, and is currently providing care for seven children.
As she reflected on her experiences since the fires, she said she hopes policymakers and advocates recognize the important role child care providers play in the lives of children and families, especially during challenging times.
“Please remember us,” said Lewis. “Consider what we bring to the community, how we are effective in children’s lives.”
Elizabeth Reilly and Shea Morris
Neighborhood: Pacific Palisades, California
Number of children served: 8
Number of years providing child care: 4 (30 years in education)
Impacted by: Palisades Fire
Are they still providing care? Yes
Shea Morris (left) and Elizabeth Reilly (right) in front of a wall of artwork created by the children in their learning program, before the Palisades Fire. (Elizabeth Reilly)
Elizabeth Reilly moved to Los Angeles from Houston, Texas, and currently lives in Woodland Hills. She co-owns the Eclipse School, a home-based learning center, with Shea Morris. Both were classroom teachers for decades before opening their child care business. The center was located in Morris’ home, which was lost in the Palisades Fire
“I felt the stress of losing the business, relocating, [knowing] that we have families counting on us. I had to put it all together, and support everybody who lost more than I had,” said Reilly. “Shea had to help her family and find a new home. In the beginning, I felt the weight of the loss of income, and the responsibility of leading Eclipse to its new home.”
While Morris focused on supporting herself and her family through the devastation of losing their home, Reilly took the lead in reopening their business. They were connected to someone who had extra space in her home.
The Eclipse School’s new location in Santa Monica, California after the original location was destroyed in the Palisades Fire. (Elizabeth Reilly)
“The home and school burned Wednesday morning. We knew we were not going to be able to go back,” said Reilly. “We saw the [new] space that Friday.” By March, she said, they reopened the Eclipse School in Santa Monica, leveraging emergency waivers to expedite the opening.
“The hardest part was not only losing my home, but the loss that was so much more than a place to live. It brought the loss of a community that I lived in for close to 20 years,” said Morris.
Shea Morris in protective gear while going through the wreckage at her home after the Palisades Fire. (Elizabeth Reilly)
“I can have this sense of loss and I can be super grateful for all the people who reached out to help,” said Morris. “I have to give Beth credit. I was so focused on helping my family, and she was able to jump into action to help Eclipse.”
On Sept. 2, The Eclipse School started a new year at full capacity, with 12 children enrolled.
Anonymous provider
Neighborhood: South Los Angeles, California
Number of children served: 2
Number of years providing child care: 17
Impacted by: L.A. County Wildfires
Still providing child care? Yes
One provider, who asked not to be identified by name due to concerns about immigration raids in her community, moved to Los Angeles from Mexico in the early 2000s and she’s been caring for young children for nearly two decades.
“My passion has always been caring for others. I studied nursing in Mexico,” she said. “Then, I started taking care of my son and providing child care for my two nephews. I realized I liked it, and that I wanted to dedicate myself to it.”
Over the years, she continued working in child care — she is a Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) child care provider, meaning that she is a license-exempt provider caring for the children of her family members, friends or neighbors in her community.
She quickly learned she could not financially support herself on the income she earned from child care, so she picked up a second job. In the morning, she takes care of her niece and a neighbor’s daughter. In the afternoons, she works from home as a fabric trimmer for a clothing company.
Her home wasn’t in an evacuation zone, but she was impacted by the fires, and so were the families she supports. Her niece’s mother and her neighbor worked in the evacuation zone and experienced job interruptions, causing them to lose some of their income for weeks, so she watched the children while their parents went to seek work.
During and after the fires, the provider incurred extra costs. She said she had to buy an air purifier because her neighbor’s daughter had asthma. “Even though we were inside the apartment, it smelled burnt. The ash, the smoke, travelled inside… There were days I helped her use her inhaler.” She also bought more toys to entertain the children in her care while they were stuck indoors due to smoke.
Some of the materials the provider purchased during and after the L.A. County fires. Left, additional toys she purchased to entertain the children in her care while they remained indoors. Right, an air purifier purchased due to the poor air quality during the fires. (Courtesy of Source)
She has continued to care for her niece and her neighbor’s daughter. Reflecting back on the fires, she said, “I wish there had been more immediate supports, like air purifiers or helping bring groceries to those who could not leave their homes. The smoke was toxic — we were not going outside at all.”
Felisa Wright
Neighborhood: Altadena, California
Number of children served: 14
Years of child care provider experience: 16
Impacted by: Eaton Fire
Still providing child care? Yes
Felisa Wright
Felisa Wright was born and raised in Los Angeles. She said she’s always felt called to caregiving, and worked in a children’s hospital before opening her home-based child care center in 2009. At the start of this year, the center served 14 children, including six of Wright’s grandchildren.
Wright lived in her home with her five daughters and her grandchildren. The family evacuated in the early morning hours of Jan. 8 and haven’t been able to return to their home since.
Like Hernandez Carillo, Wright has struggled to find a new place to live because of her business, which isn’t uncommon for providers running a child care program out of their home. “Owners do not want to rent to me [when] I say I have an in-home day care. They say it’s too much responsibility, too much of a liability,” said Wright.
Felisa Wright’s home-based child care program in Altadena, California before the Eaton Fire. (Credit: Felisa Wright)
In August, Wright moved into a rental home with two of her daughters and three grandchildren, but her other three daughters and their kids have had to find lodging elsewhere. While she continues to provide child care for her six grandchildren, she has been unable to officially reopen her program to the public and enroll children from the community. She has gone without an income for months and, with no savings, she’s had to rely on credit cards for her expenses, small grants from organizations and a GoFundMe.
Felisa Wright’s home and neighborhood in Altadena, California after the Eaton Fire. (Felisa Wright)
Wright is hoping to reopen her child care program at her local church, using similar emergency waivers that Morris and Reilly used to streamline the Eclipse School’s opening. Her child care license was approved and she has set up the space, but she has been unable to obtain insurance and cannot operate the child care facility without it. But Wright said she’s committed.
“I love children. This is my purpose in life. This is what I’m supposed to be doing,” said Wright. “So I’m not going to stop.”
Felisa Wright caring for her grandchild and her friend’s child in the church space she has set up with hopes to officially reopen to the public. (Trinity Alicia/The 74)
Home-based care providers deliver critical care during emergencies and periods of crisis, even when they are living through the experiences themselves and are personally devastated by their impact.
The L.A. County fires inspired national conversations around disaster response and recovery. Yet, there are still reported gaps where institutional support is not reaching those who need it, and uncertainty around the progress that has been made. In recent months, there has been more investigation into understanding the consequences of the fires, including the economic loss and impact on K-12 education.
“Consider what we bring to the community, how we are effective in children’s lives. We do it out of love and compassion for children,” Lewis said. “Child care providers became first responders during the pandemic. We did our part in a time of disaster. We stepped up. … Remember us.” she added.
Albek, Hernandez Carillo, Lewis and Wright provided care during stay at home orders of the pandemic. But when the fires came to their communities and they needed aid, the system failed them.
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