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The Koreatown YMCA in Los Angeles became a bustling distribution hub for food, water, and other essentials, including Direct Relief-donated N95 respirators and personal care products for evacuees. (Sean Collier for Direct Relief)
The Palisades fire had reached Via De La Paz and decimated the structures along the stretch of road dividing Temescal Canyon Park. The Palisades-Malibu YMCA, which had been in the community for over 100 years, was destroyed. It was one of a few multigenerational community centers within the 90272 zip code.
“It’s been very emotional,” said Celina Santiago, Chief Mission Officer at the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles. “This (area) is very much a small-town feel. Everyone is going through it together,” she said.
The YMCA, or Young Men’s Christian Association, has been a feature of Los Angeles life for 142 years, serving the area as a “third space” (somewhere that’s neither home nor work) for people to seek support and belonging. Staff say their focus changed after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic: A traditional emphasis on health and wellness — the “gym and swim” model — gave way to addressing the social and economic factors, such as education, employment, and food security, that determine a person’s health.
Now, as wildfires continue to burn across Los Angeles county, the YMCA is shifting again — this time, into emergency response. More than 6,000 volunteers are working to ensure those affected by the devastation have what they need to move forward.
The Koreatown YMCA in Los Angeles became a bustling distribution hub for food, water, and other essentials, including Direct Relief-donated N95 respirators and personal care products for evacuees. (Sean Collier for Direct Relief)
Two other local YMCA locations experienced smoke damage, but all are open and operating. Volunteers are organizing donations and conducting case management work to help displaced residents find food, medical assistance, and temporary shelter. Twelve YMCA locations are distribution centers for food, clothing, and other emergency supplies.
Two of the locations offer free childcare while the local school district is closed. Direct Relief distributed N95 respirators to multiple YMCA Los Angeles locations for distribution to the community, as well as personal care products including soap and shampoo for evacuees displaced from their homes. Direct Relief has worked with the YMCA as a distribution point for masks during past fires in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties as well.
Direct Relief and YMCA staff work to unload personal care products and respirators for distribution at the Anderson Munger YMCA location in Los Angeles. (Lara Cooper/Direct Relief)
During the recent fires, Santiago said the Palisades building was evacuated before the fires reached the structure and no one was hurt. However, she explained that many staff members grew up in the area and worry that the loss of the YMCA will impact their community bond.
Over 20,000 people live in the tight-knit and predominantly homeowner-occupied 90272 zip code. Less than 10 percent lived in a different neighborhood the previous year; those who did relocated from just a few miles away, according to Census data.
The organization has a longstanding history of community support by way of a “safe haven” for residents.
Mario Valenzuela joined the local YMCA at age 14. Other gyms weren’t open to kids and teenagers, he recalled. He joined a leadership program and by the time he turned 18 became a YMCA employee. Twenty-two years later, he remains at the organization as the senior vice president of social impact.
“For me, it was all about just paying it forward,” Valenzuela said. The YMCA “made such a tremendous impact in my life and I wanted to do the same for others.”
He says the organization has transitioned from a health and wellness model to social impact to better address the area’s health landscape. Preventive care services, legal services for immigrants, and routine food distribution — much of which is supported through volunteer efforts — are urgently needed.
Valenzuela said there’s a misconception that these services are just for residents living under the poverty line. In reality, having accessible support is helpful to everyone. Los Angeles YMCA staff anticipate that some services, like mental health interventions, will be more widely needed after the fires.
However, they said, they will look to the Palisades community to figure out the best way to rebuild the destroyed location.
Direct Relief and YMCA staff meet at the bustling YMCA Koreatown location, where many community members could seek support during the fires. (Tony Morain/Direct Relief)
“In order to do this work effectively, we need to understand the communities that we’re working with, and that’s why social impact is so important,” said Valenzuela. “All of the work that we do is data-driven, and all of the programs and services are driven by the voice of our community stakeholders.”
Christina Bragg, senior director of marketing and communications for the Los Angeles YMCA, said local branches set up a few tables in a parking lot as a drop-off station for donations. They received a “massive response” and needed an Amazon truck to make drop-offs at distribution centers.
Even people displaced by the fires have shown up to volunteer and help others, Bragg said.
“It’s been incredibly emotional for everyone,” she explained. “Everyone was impacted in some way because if it wasn’t you that lost your home, you know someone who did. And I think that’s also why people are so quick to find a way to help. They are looking for a way that, if you can go home and be safe, then you want to make sure that you can do anything possible to make everybody else’s experience easier.”
In coordination with the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, Direct Relief delivered N95 respirators and personal care items for evacuees to the Koreatown YMCA Center for Community Well-Being and Anderson Munger Family YMCA, both of which are serving as distribution hubs for critical relief items and support services for affected community members.
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