The Eaton Fire devastated Altadena, California, leaving families displaced and disproportionately impacting Black and Brown households, low-income, immigrant, elderly, and undocumented residents, many of whom were left out of traditional emergency response efforts. This was both a natural disaster and a cultural one: Altadena has long been a historic haven for the Black community, a place where generations built belonging, safety, and home.
DENA Heals was created to meet this moment with urgency, care, and cultural understanding. Launched by Revolve Impact in partnership with local leaders, DENA Heals was designed not as a one-time relief effort, but as a living system of healing and resilience. Our mission was simple but bold: build a trusted, healing-centered space that puts community, not bureaucracy, at the center of recovery.
We set out to:
Our objective was to move from immediate aid to long-term recovery that holds grief, joy, and connection together. We wanted families to feel seen, neighbors to feel held, and the community to know they are the medicine we need to heal.
DENA Heals launched in the immediate aftermath of the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, when thousands were displaced and emergency systems were overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster. Our goal was to provide urgent, culturally responsive care rooted in mutual aid and community resilience.
Step 1: Rapid Relief with Dignity
We activated the Mutual Aid Marketplace, a free distribution hub operated by our community partner, Colibrí Collective. Families were provided access to brand new clothing, shoes, home goods, hygiene products, and food staples – all offered in a dignified relational experience. Brand partners included, Fabletics, Savage x Fenty, Nike, Fear of God, Dagne Dover, and more. Volunteers were trained to create a free, dignified shopping experience where every family felt welcomed, supported, and truly heard – without the extractive or transactional dynamics of standard retail stores.
Step 2: Community Healing Infrastructure
At the same time, we opened the Wellness Center, providing weekly, trauma-informed services that addressed both urgent and ongoing needs. Partnerships expanded our capacity: AltaMed offered preventative health screenings; Hands in the Soil led yoga and somatic healing; the David Lynch Foundation provided meditation classes; and Angel City FChosted a family community day with free resources. Through generous donations from Fabletics, families also received new, high-quality clothing at no cost.
Practitioners were drawn from trusted local networks – neighbors, elders, and healers rooted in culturally relevant traditions. We also host wellness retreats for the grassroots volunteers who have spent months shouldering the labor of recovery.
Step 3: Storytelling as Resistance
We built a storytelling series to ensure that Altadena will not be forgotten. Videos, narratives, and social content reframed residents as carriers of memory, resilience, and joy. Storytelling became both advocacy, pushing for visibility, and healing, allowing grief and celebration to co-exist.
Step 4: Sustainable Transition
When the Mutual Aid Marketplace reached sunset, we ensured continuity by transitioning operations to Jazzy Jams for Empowerment, an organization that provides wellness resources for youth. This safeguarded ongoing access to essentials while embedding ownership locally, and to those directly impacted leading the charge.
Challenges & Innovation
One of our greatest challenges was funding. Sustaining this work required more than volunteer energy. We needed resources to compensate practitioners, many of whom were also fire-impacted residents, to cover basic operations from coordinating healing sessions to cleaning services, in order to keep relief flowing week after week.
Rather than pause, we innovated within these constraints. We secured in-kind donations, brand partnerships, and grants to supply thousands of dollars’ worth of essential items and services at no cost to families. In a system that too often leaves communities to fend for themselves, DENA Heals became proof that even with limited resources, we can drive powerful, lasting recovery.
DENA Heals transformed an urgent disaster response into a trusted hub for recovery. In just months, we built systems of care that met immediate needs while laying the groundwork for long-term healing.
Our measurable impact thus far:
We distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in clothing, shoes, food, hygiene supplies, home goods, and more through in-kind donations and brand partnerships. At the same time, we created a healing infrastructure that extended beyond survival: mental health support, healing circles, wellness services, preventative screenings, legal aid, and more, that continue to sustain families months after the fire.
Equally important was the trust we built. Families returned not only for essentials, but because DENA Heals was where they felt seen and cared for. Volunteers described our wellness retreats as essential to their own recovery, proving that hel[ing the helpers is critical to community resilience. Partner organizations called DENA Heals a model for collaboration, showing what’s possible when local leaders are resourced to lead.
While recovery is ongoing, our results demonstrate success beyond numbers. DENA Heals is proof that even with limited funding, a community-led, culturally grounded response can deliver both immediate relief and long-term transformation.
