Rebuilding and Resilience of LA

If you guys do not know, or if you guys are not from LA, I don't know who would not know, but we have been in a crisis apocalypse. LA was burning down. Thank god that for our first responders and everybody in the front line helping to turn it off and their support. Luckily it has been contained. But if you guys didn't know, now you know. And I was also. I wasn't affected, but I did have two weeks without power.

So my power company turns it off the power when winds are coming in and it could be a potential threat to the fires because you know La. But I cannot complain. I'm lucky and blessed enough to be able to live or know people that have you know, entered me into their home and the dog and everything, And for that reason, I wasn't able to record an episode, and I didn't think it was also the right timing due to the fact of everything that was going on. Not only did we have fires, but there was also

ice raids in Bakersfield, Fresno. I want to say Riverside as well, but they're kind of going around everywhere, and I kind of want to talk about my sperience and share with you guys how these last two weeks have been. I have also been donating and volunteering my time and it is a very humbling experience to be able to see everything that is actually going on right in front of your face, and you can't just turn a blind eye. So, like I said, obviously there has been an insane amount

of fires. There was like five at one point I believe in my house was like in the middle of it. It was honestly super scary. And again I'm not going to be one to complain if anything this, I want this episode, this podcast to just bring awareness. I'm also going to be sharing links with you guys that you can help and support the families that are displaced, that have lost their homes completely. You guys, there is some insensitivity going on in this world that it's beyond me.

I can't believe. Maybe I'm just a person that loves everybody too much and that just wants to be able to help. But maybe that's a bad part on me. But I just see like people even hating on, you know, the people that are more fortunate to be able to rebuild and restart, and then there's some that aren't. I think either way, no matter who it is, we have to treat people with kindness and treat them the same way. At the end of the day, these people have lost

their homes completely. They've lost it, could you could even say part of their identity. This is hard work and money that they have put into their whole lives to be able to buy this home or to be able to support their families and have nowhere to go. And a big f you to the people that started these fires. I if you guys are not on the sentence of app watch duty the reapp you guys, would, you guys need to get on there because I'm going to snitch

these people out. There's people arseners, people that intentionally wanted to start these fires for what reason. I do not know. I do know that there's looters that took advantage of the fact that people evacuated their homes and went in and literally stole from these people. You know, I'm just gonna let God handle that, and you know, do my part as a human and support and be there for people the way that I can and show love and

be kind. And then there's the ice raids. It is so sad, and I feel like it wasn't shed light as much, but I want to be able to bring it up right now. And I also want to shout out to all the creators and my fellow community. What's the word? What is the words? Colleagues, acquaintances that have also supported. There's also people doing protests. I saw Benji, I saw I saw everybody that's from the from I want to say, up north going against the raids. People

were just knocking on doors. And if you guys don't know, Bakersfield is a prominently is a Latino dominant community. Especially our farm workers, the people that bring food to our table that helps apply our needs are just getting deportated and I don't know why, and it makes me so sad because not only do we have the LA fires and people losing their homes, but we also have families losing people that they love. I'm not for it. I'm definitely like we can't all just get along and just

be here and love each other. But it is also affecting our Latino communities. I've had conversations even with people close to me, and I'm when it speaks prominently on our Latino community because this is where my heart is at. And you know, no, not anything to anybody else, but this is my personal experience. My cleaning lady is also losing jobs because all of the houses that she would

work for and the Pacific palisades have burnt down. So I want you guys to put into perspective and to kind of understand, like, you know, it's not just also people that lost their homes or whatever. It's also people that are losing their jobs, and I think it is important to help and stand up as a community to help them provide. Once she told me that, I went ahead and shared her number like before I have. She even asked me, She's like, can you please do it again?

Like I need I need work. Everybody you know has lost their homes and lost whatever. And I went and shared everything. I went and reposted what I could repost. I let everybody know that I that I knew that was in Bakersfield. Are people that I that I knew that new people were close, like, hey, this is what's going on. Riverside raids weren't that big of like talked about as much. But I made sure, like to anybody that knew, anybody, please please just be safe, stay home.

During the last week, I also went to donate and volunteer time at the base camp in the Pacific Palisades. This is where everybody goes and eats. They go take their break and then they you know whatever, the food truck. Let's call it their food court. It was a very humbling experience. You just look at these firefighters and these cops and the National Guards and the people working in LEDWP.

So Coyle Edison not me naming all the companies, no, but again big shout out to the Los Angeles Fire Department and our police department and our countries soldiers and army. And I don't know if I'm even saying you're right, but you guys know what I mean. We're very grateful. I'm very grateful. A lot of the rebuilding and the repopulating wouldn't have been done without obviously them. People are

going back into their homes because of them. But once the moment that I got there, I could just see the tiredness of the devastation in their face, like they're ready to be home. And I'm sure, you know, like anybody else who has lost their home wants to be home as well. But these are people that have been there. Let's we're about to go on two weeks. They haven't been home in two weeks, and they're in the same clothes, sleeping in cold, ass tense fire engines. I believe the

fire trucks, their cars. They're unable to, you know, leave because of the work that they're doing for our community. Again, so thank you guys. But you could just see their tiredness and their devastation on their face. And honestly, if I were them, I'd be tired of eating that same stuff too, that that's there. Because I was there for about two three days in a row. I did a

breakfast run and then I did two dinner runs. But it is you could just tell and you know when they would say thank you, thank you so much for being out here, and I'm like, I'm not doing the hard work you guys are, and it is so honorable and admirable because you could just see their faces light up, like seeing fresh new faces. We were giving them. I was friscas, which is what they wanted, or they like Lesian falta, I'll go like fresh homemade like they needed.

They were. You know, a lot of these places are donating trays of food, but they're unable to serve themselves. So it's like obviously burritos, handheld things that are quick and grabbed to go are that much better and faster. So if you guys are thinking of donating or yeah, donating food or whatever it may be, please donate things that are like grab and go and that can stay warm,

because realistically they're not going to eat it anyways. The second day that I went, I made cookies and they were just oh my gosh, like this is amazing, like homemade, and you could just tell that they are just ready to be home and they would come all dirty and just tired, and it was very humbling because there's so many things that we can complain about in this world. We can complain about losing TikTok, which is another thing that is just the first world problem that I personally

do not care about. There's so much bigger things to be worrying about, and it was so sad to see that much more attention was brought up about TikTok than about everything else that's going on anyways. But yes, being there was also just something that also brought healing to me, and I want to keep doing it, to do it again, but I also hope that they're able to go home. I had personal conversations with firefighters and police officers as

I was serving them food. Shout out to go to Hibachi, Shout out to Lupita's Taco, Shout out to everybody that has been able to just donate their time and their selfless money, not even money for themselves, like this is coming out straight out of pocket to be able to support them. And they're the firefighters, and they're looking to be there for like a month or two to help rebuild the population and to bring back the community and

make sure that there's no more fires. But I think more than anything, we're gonna want a quick break and we'll be right back. Welcome back you guys, I think more than anything, that stood out to me is also how the community came together faster than the government, and that is the sad reality of where our world is. I love that we were able to be there to support and the resilience and the solidarity within the Latino community, and how even in the face of displacement, fear, and uncertainty,

we could come together to rise above everything. And I think that it's still super important. It wasn't just physical flames that our families feared. It was the devastation, the loss of homes, the difficulty in securing emergency assistance, the anxiety over their immigration status. People always living on edge without the resources to rebuild, and obviously with now that ICE is targeting undocumented individuals during this process, it's even

more it's more anxious. It's it's just we're always on edge. So I love that Latinos we can come together and support each other. And I always say that I feel like we're a family no matter what you look at somebody who's Latino, and even with our whoever else. I don't want to just target this super to the Latinos. But if you guys can understand me and obviously not take it out of context. I do feel like unis mass as my sister says, and there is places to donate.

I know that the Altadena location people are no longer taking clothes. They need more hygienic products. They need tooth based underwear, deorderant socks, things like that. Not so much clothes like actual like shirts and pants and stuff like that. I think I think they are overflooded. That is the word. They are overflooded with clothes, which is a good thing. I know that in the Pacific Palisades or wherever our

firefighters the fire stations are at there. From what I seen, they have a lot of waters, a lot of gatorades, a lot of monsters. If you can provide hot food and something fresh, that is ten times better. They need sunscreen because they're in the sun all day, Chapstick. The winds have been insane. Me being out there for two to three days, my lips where the dryas that they have ever been. As far as supporting and bringing awareness to the ice raids, you guys just talk about it.

Be there. If you know somebody that knows somebody, share the word. Obviously they have gotten worse, and I do feel like it has to do with a lot about politics, but we're not going to get into that. We're just here to support and to bring awareness to our families and who we know. Whether it's donating to organizations on the front lines, advocating for immigration rights, or simply showing up for those in need, we all have a role

to play. So make sure you guys stand, stand with the Latino communities, stand with the families displaced by the fires and ice rates, and together we can build a world where no one has to face these battles alone. And I feel like when we are when we feel alone, like we feel we do, we fear for our lives. So let's let's not make people feel that we don't have a community. We cannot forget that these are human beings, mothers, fathers, children who has been unpended by the force of nature

and man made their struggles. Their struggles are my struggles, their struggles are your struggles, and our resilience is a reminder of what it's meant to come together. I'm gonna leave links here on the description you guys, there's people that have lost their dogs. Also, if you guys have lost a dog or know somebody that lost a dog because of the fire. There's links that are lost dogs that are waiting to be claimed, animals in general, there's

like ducks and bunnies. I saw on there again, hot food for the firefighters and the frontline workers, chapsticks, all that. I'm gonna share that information. And if you guys are affected by the fires or know somebody that is is in need of help and support, please please please do not hesitate to reach out to the Overcome for podcast on Instagram my personal instagram, Jenica Underscore Lopez, and remember

to always be kind to one another. We do not know what one is going through and the struggles that they face, so always always always speak light and be kind and don't forget to just spread love today, you guys, spread love and yeah, shout oh and again, shout out to all the creators, you guys. Shout out to Lata, shout out to Leave It Lashes, Rebel Management, Louis Yowatzi, who else, Adam Ray, Candy Lover, everybody from the IE. I saw people doing donation centers. You guys, this is

what it is about being community. Let's do it again. Let's do it for our people. And yeah, make sure you guys like, comment, subscribe, leave a review, and I will see you guys next week. Please stay safe and which what we see those by. Overcome For podcast is a production of IHEARTM podcast Network