{"id":502752,"date":"2026-01-09T02:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T02:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/502752\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T02:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T02:40:17","slug":"a-teens-plea-after-the-eaton-fire-redefined-disaster-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/502752\/","title":{"rendered":"A teen’s plea after the Eaton Fire redefined disaster recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Published<\/p>\n

2026-01-08 12:38<\/p>\n

12:38<\/p>\n

January 8, 2026<\/p>\n

pm<\/p>\n

America\/Chicago<\/p>\n

Avery Colvert was an eighth-grader when the Eaton Fire tore through Altadena, California, a year ago this month, reddening the sky and destroying nearly 10,000 structures. It was the second natural disaster she\u2019d survived; she was just 14 years old. Her family had lost their home in Nashville, Tennessee, to a flash flood in 2021, before they moved west.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This time, the catastrophe spared her house, but consumed her school. Familiar with the psychological toll such devastation can take, Avery posted an Instagram call for help tailored for peers who had been left homeless by the wildfire<\/a>, which burned for over three weeks. She asked for items to help her \u201cfriends feel confident and like themselves again!\u201d \u2014 \u201cclothes, personal items, beauty and hair care \u2014 stuff WE need.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plea, posted just three days after the fire broke out on January 7, 2025, quickly went viral. It has since garnered over 28,000 likes; earned support from celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Charli XCX and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex; and led to the creation of the Altadena Girls<\/a> nonprofit, an organization that, Avery said, gives girls permission to ask for what they need without apology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI always hear teenage girls say, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m sorry,\u2019 like they feel they need to apologize for asking for too much,\u201d Avery, 15, now a ninth grader, said. \u201cAt the beginning [of recovery], there was a lot of stigma around asking for help. Girls, after they lost their homes, they felt like it was embarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But they don\u2019t need to apologize or feel embarrassed \u2014 for asking for help or stating their preferences, Avery said. \u201cIt\u2019s OK to say, \u2018I like this sweater instead of that one.\u2019 Girls are allowed to have opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AAvery Colvert gathers and distributes donations for teen girls who lost their homes in the Eaton fire in Los Angeles on January 14, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Avery founded Altadena Girls with her mother, Lauren Sandidge. Sandidge said that no one seemed to be focusing on the teen girl experience in the wake of the wildfire, which occurred in tandem with the massive Palisades Fire 30 miles away in Los Angeles. Through a pop-up boutique, Altadena Girls has supplied clothing, shoes, beauty products and hair care to more than 5,000 girls and their families. The organization has distributed more than a million items in total. Last year, it hosted a prom for over 300 girls, and it also provided back-to-school supplies and social-emotional support for 500 more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In October, Altadena Girls celebrated a major milestone: It opened an 11,000-square-foot community center offering free programming in nearby Old Town Pasadena.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What began as a social media request for donations turned into a movement that revealed how inclusive disaster recovery can be when girls are centered rather than marginalized.<\/p>\n

Avery didn\u2019t write her viral post with an endgame in mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even know what I was thinking,\u201d she said. \u201cI was going through so many emotions at the time that my body just kind of went into fight-or-flight mode. It was like, \u2018I\u2019m just going to do this, and this needs to be done right now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty-four hours after her post appeared on Instagram, donations began pouring in, as well as offers for help from stylists, makeup artists and fashion designers. Many of these professionals didn\u2019t just give away products. They also volunteered their time and labor to the fire-impacted girls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sandidge recalled kneeling over, sorting through boxes of donations. \u201cEvery time I looked up, there was someone with more donations,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then they would stay. They could tell I was overwhelmed, and they would just stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woven through Altadena Girls is this sense of community. The organization is more than just about distributing goods to teen girls in need. It\u2019s about creating a space where they feel supported. Sandidge said her own family \u2014 she also has a son \u2014 felt stabilized by this as the wildfire left them uncertain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got us through those moments where we didn\u2019t know what was going to happen,\u201d she said. \u201cThe fires were still burning. Everyone felt that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through its permanent brick-and-mortar space, which opened on October 11, 2025 \u2014 International Day of the Girl \u2014 the hope is that Altadena Girls can continue bringing the community together.\u00a0<\/p>\n