The episode is a poignant reminder of the human spirit's resilience in the face of disaster, as Nikki and her sister Amanda, an LA resident, share their insights on rebuilding lives and communities after wildfires. They dive into the emotional complexity of losing a home (which Nikki and Michael experienced in 2017), the struggle to accept assistance, and the importance of connecting with others who have faced similar challenges in order to move forward and rebuild.

With a focus on actionable advice, from finding long-term rentals to organizing community support, the episode serves as a guide for those affected by the fires and those wishing to help.

Takeaways:

• In times of crisis, accepting help from others can be essential for recovery.
• Organizing your community and forming support groups can provide invaluable resources post-disaster.
• It's important to register with FEMA quickly to access available post-disaster assistance.
• Documenting your possessions with photos or videos can aid insurance claims after a disaster.
• Long-term support for victims of disasters is often needed well after the initial crisis.

Resources if you have lost your home:

• https://coffeystrong.com/wildfire-resources

Recommended organizations we know and trust:

• https://www.coreresponse.org/
• https://teamrubiconusa.org/
• https://dogoodbus.org
• https://wck.org/
• https://www.themalibufoundation.org/

Amanda's Recommended Orgs for Animal Welfare:

http://loveleorescue.org/

https://www.roadogs.org/

https://pawsforlifek9.org/pets-available-for-adoption/

https://bestfriends.org/los-angeles

https://www.deityanimalrescue.org/

https://www.wagsandwalks.org/adopt-la

https://www.caninerescue.club/

Instagram accounts of trusted advocates:

https://www.instagram.com/joeflaniganofficial/

https://www.instagram.com/rita_earl_blackwell/

https://www.instagram.com/debfeldbloom/

Other Podcast resources and links:

Curious about the reference to Nikki and Amanda drinking champagne in the closet? Listen to the episode Sipping With My Sisters.

Podcast website: www.sipwithnikki.com: Sign up there to be part of our SIP Community and receive my free Wine Tips download

Did you know I make my own wine here in Sonoma County? My 2021 Sollevato Sangiovese is available to be shipped to most US States. Use the code PODLISTENER for 10% off. It's a delicious, medium bodied, aromatic red wine that is perfect with pizza, pasta and your charcuterie spread!

You NEED some delicious California Olive Oil from our awesome sponsor American Olive Farmer. Use code SipWithNikki for $10 off your order!

If you'd like to Support the Podcast, you can buy me a glass of wine and get a shoutout on a future episode.

Please leave a RATING or a REVIEW (on your podcast listening platform), or thumbs up and subscribe (on YouTube!)

Questions? Comments? Know someone who needs recovery assistance? Please reach out: nikki@sipwithnikki.com

Follow Nikki on INSTAGRAM

Follow Amanda on INSTAGRAM

I remember our dad saying to me, shut up and say thank you.

And that was probably the best advice because people want to help and you need to let them help, even if you think you don't need it.

The trickiest thing is in the beginning, you don't really know what you need until you know what you need.

Hi there, welcome to Sip with Nikki.

It's Nikki Lamberti coming to you from Sonoma County, California.

And so at the time of this recording, which is January 19, we are still in the midst of the horrible LA area fires.

Currently the Palisades and the Eaton fires are still burning and so I needed to take a bit of a deviation from our normal light hearted, fun, joyful wine and food content.

Not to worry, we'll be back to that next week.

But I have been contacted by so many people and friends of people that I know who either have lost their homes in Southern California or are just looking for ways to help.

So because I have this wonderful platform that is the podcast with thousands of listeners, I couldn't not take a moment to share some tips, resources and guidance because I have gone through this directly.

My younger sister Amanda actually lives in the LA area and she is currently evacuated up here, staying with me in Sonoma county, going on her second week here.

Luckily her home is still standing, but she also knows people who have been directly impacted and suffered the loss of homes in the LA area.

Amanda is an avid animal rescuer and advocate of fostering and all different organizations.

You think I have a big heart?

She has a humongous heart and while not quite as outspoken as me, she is full of knowledge, resources and firsthand has worked with many organizations that are rooted in the Southern California area.

So so she and I poured ourselves some big cups of coffee this morning and sat down to record this episode with two goals in mind.

The first part, you'll hear me sharing some tips.

If you have lost your home recently or you have friends and family who are going through this, I'll be sharing some tips and resources as a fire Survivor.

And then Amanda will be sharing organizations that you can make an impact with.

We will, of course, have all of the links in the show notes to everything that we refer to.

And our hope is that you share this far and wide.

If you know anyone who needs assistance.

I am committing that for every download that this episode receives through the rest of the month of January, I'm going to donate a dollar of my own money to World Central Kitchen with Chef Jose Andreas, which is one of my favorite organizations who arrives on scene in the middle of natural disasters to feed people.

And, you know, one of the reasons that I have a podcast about food and wine is that food is comfort, food is joy, food is love.

And so I'll be donating a dollar for every download in January of this episode to World Central.

Kitch, pour yourself a big cup of whatever and listen in as Amanda and I share our fire resources.

Here we go.

This is only your second ever vocal appearance on Sip with Nikki.

The last time we were in a closet.

Yes.

That was fun and silly, and we were drinking champagne in the closet, weren't we?

This is a little more serious, but I'm happy that you're here and that you're safe and that you're willing to do this with me because I think people need it.

So thanks for being here.

Cheers with our coffee mugs.

Cheers with our coffee mugs.

Yes.

I'm not in a closet.

I'm in an Airbnb.

And we're not drinking champagne.

We're drinking coffee because it's Sunday morning.

I think you and I are similar in the respect that we feel like we want to and need to help me because I've been through the loss from fire firsthand.

You were pretty much firsthand because you came up immediately and were there for all of it.

And then also because your wonderful work that you've done with all these nonprofits over the years, I know that you are a great resource for people because I know you and I have both been getting a ton of messages from people that want to help.

So let's give people some quick resources and advice so they can, if they've been impacted, get settled and have a plan.

And if they just want to help, they can make an impact quickly.

So I think you've talked on one of your episodes, I believe, actually.

Have you.

Not in great detail, but I have.

It's come up in a few episodes Especially the one who is this Nikki person.

Anyway, when Steve was interviewing me, it did come up that we've been through this, but I've never gone into great detail about it.

I live in a pretty densely populated neighborhood with a lot of cul de sacs and a park and it's called Coffey park.

And there are many other neighborhoods around us.

We rebuilt and we were back in about a year and a half.

But Michael and I were some of the first people back, which was actually really nice.

Cause we were on a cul de sac and we got to welcome our neighbors as they came back in subsequent months.

I would say by three years the majority had rebuilt and were back in.

And here we are seven and a half years later and there's still a handful of houses under construction because everyone's situations were different.

But we were lucky enough to be back and rebuilt in a brand new home on the same site in less than two years.

And I think a good amount of people are going to want to rebuild, but that's a whole other topic.

Yeah.

And I think that is a good reminder that the tips and the resources we're going to give right now, and I'm sorry if I repeat myself on this multiple times, but this is my experience, our experience, our situation.

And it's different for everyone.

Right.

Michael and I have still currently a mortgage on a house that when your house burns down, the mortgage doesn't go away.

That's something you never think about.

Right.

So most of our neighbors who had mortgages, the best way for them to maximize insurance money was to rebuild in the same spot.

Our next door neighborhood, older gentleman Chris house was paid for, chose to take the money and go buy something else.

Right.

So I am not the financial person to talk about these things, but it's just an example that everyone's situations are different.

Right.

But the majority of our middle aged working families community that we live in had mortgages and chose to rebuild on the same site.

We were so lucky.

The builder of our community, very quickly after this happened, made the plans available to the residents and our neighborhood had, you know, I don't know, six different models.

You had like A, B, C, D or E.

You're like, oh, I had the A model ranch, two story, whatever.

And they made the Plans available right away, a lot of people to quicken the process and minimize the cost, rebuilt the exact same house.

And they already had the plans to do that.

Right.

We chose to make a couple of adjustments and get a little bit more square footage and come out over the garage.

So I think we added about 500 square feet in the rebuild.

But it also depended on your insurance because the cost of living in California and cost of materials and labor and all of that, for many of us, even if we were built the same exact house with no changes, our insurance did not cover it.

What we were under insured.

And didn't you also say at the time that the less you changed, the quicker the rebuild was going to go?

Yeah.

Because if you're making changes to the original plans now, you have to go through engineering permitting and all of those things do slow the process.

So just something to be aware of if you're going to plan to rebuild.

Let's go back a minute.

And just in terms of the timing.

So you guys lost your house or the neighborhood was hit the very first night, that all of this started in the middle of the night and in two hours the neighborhood was gone.

You guys knew for better or worse, very early on in this, the fires went on for what, two, three weeks.

Yeah.

Not unlike what we're seeing down south right now.

Yeah.

Because it started as one and another one and there were six or seven and at some point some of them merged into one.

Yeah.

So you and Michael knew the very first morning what your situation was.

It was confirmed that your home was gone.

There was nothing left.

Yep.

So you were not in a state of waiting where some people still are.

They haven't been let back in yet.

They're still in a zone that may or may not be hit because that.

Fire, Palisades especially, is not fully contained yet at the time of this recording.

Yeah.

The only reason I say maybe it was a good thing in a very strange way was there was no more waiting.

There was no more anxiety about what.

We could move into action mode.

It was, here's what it is.

What do we do next?

And probably the very first thing you did other than finding an immediate place to stay in someone's home with, you know, you stayed with some friends that.

Was well descended upon our friends with two dogs and a 20 year old cat.

Thank you, Jen and Erin, for taking us in.

Yeah.

Which a lot of people are probably still in that.

Just crashing with friends or family.

Yes.

Because they haven't found anything or they don't know what state their home is in or when they'll be allowed in.

Cause all the evacuations are not lifted.

Lifted because the fire's still burning.

Once you had a place to be in the immediate, your next step was what?

There's probably a few things.

Yeah, the next step was looking for longer term temporary housing because I think we knew pretty early on that we were planning to rebuild.

We didn't know the logistics of how or how much or when, whatever, but I think we knew that was the plan.

But we needed a more long term place to stay.

So that was a process.

And you were there for that.

How many people?

We had literally looking at every website from realtor.com to Zillow to Airbnb to Vrbo.

And the crazy thing was I remember we called like over 40 different rentals.

We reached out about, do you remember?

Three of them got back to us and one panned out and that's where we wound up living.

But the rental that we wound up in for almost a full year and a half during rebuilding had been listed and set up as a vacation rental.

I don't remember if it was Airbnb or vrbo, but then the owner, once we reached out to her and let her know the situation, quickly pivoted and changed it to a long term rental.

And so that's my first tip for people is look on those sites too, especially in Southern California with I think the last thing I saw on the Cal Fire website was over 12,000 structures gone.

Some of those are commercial and businesses, but many of those are residents.

There will be a shortage of rentals.

So I would encourage people just like you and I did last week for you to come up for a week or two to be evacuated.

We reached out to Airbnb and VRB owners who were all wonderful and extremely responsive and responded and said we will absolutely do a special price because Amanda is evacuated.

I think that we need to look to those same people to agree to maybe do longer term rentals.

The beautiful thing about that was then when we finally walked in the door of this place where we were going to wind up being for a year and a half, there was TVs on the wall, there was Internet in place, there were dishes in the cabinet and sheets on the bed.

And when you are starting with nothing, that is really amazing that we didn't have to now start furnishing.

So that is my first tip is ask these vacation rental owners if they're open to longer term and Obviously there will be benefit for them because if you're insured, there is.

I think it's ale alternate living expense, which I think was up to two years that from most insurance companies we had.

State Farm will pay the owner directly that rent each month.

So there's benefit for them too, with that guaranteed monthly rent coming in.

Right.

So I think it's a win.

Yeah.

And I think there, especially because of Southern California being Southern California, I'm sure there is a huge amount of vacation rentals that can hopefully become long term.

Meaning me, your family, not close to you, meaning geographically close to my heart.

Yeah.

It didn't seem like there were as many wildfires.

Obviously there are always disasters, hurricanes, tornadoes, things this that happened.

But I don't remember wildfires like this happening as often.

Where are we about to talk about climate change?

No, no, no, no.

That's a whole nother.

That's a whole other podcast.

No, what I'm getting at is there was no handbook.

Yes.

Now you've got the Napa Sonoma fires, you've got paradise, you've got Mbalibu that's burned, you've got several that we could list.

My point is that there are now more and more resources.

They've been shared, they've been refined.

And so I think, especially because it's LA and it's so big, we, you, Michael, your community, you were really just figuring it out as you go.

I don't think there was really anyone that you were able to reach out to and say, how did you guys do this?

Now there are resources and we're going to share some of those.

Again, not to say that's a good thing, but it will benefit a lot of people that are going through it now because even the website that you're going to share has been vetted, if that's the word, or refined.

Through what, three major fires over the last couple of years.

That's a really good point.

So glad we could be the guinea pigs.

Thanks for that.

Yeah.

But no, that's a really good point.

Our job today in recording this, you and I don't have to create the information.

We're Just going to send people to the information because it's already there from all of this, right?

Starting with our neighborhood.

Coffee Park, AKA Coffee Strong is the name that we took on very quickly.

And this is my tip for people, is to organize, is to reach out to your people in your community, especially people that are super motivated and ready to lead the charge.

I was not a part of the board or the directors or anything of this Coffee Strong organization that formed very quickly.

However, as a resident, I was very much a recipient and a benefactor of it.

But it was started by.

And I'm just going to shout out a couple names.

So it was Jeff, it was Steve and Michelle and Trish and Pamela and Cara, Bill, just to name a few.

And you can see all their names on the coffee strong.com website.

Spell it though.

Coffee C O, F, F, E, Y.

So it's not coffee E E.

It's E Y because it's Coffee Park.

Cafe.

Cafe.

So coffee strong.com you'll see the wonderful team of my neighbors who really rallied.

We were a little out of pocket because our rental wound up being in Napa, which you think, oh, Napa Sonoma.

It's not that far.

It's over an hour away because there's a mountain range in the middle.

But these people did an amazing job.

So my tip is get people together, get organized, give yourself a name, create some directors.

You will be amazed to find within your neighbors in your community, the experience and the industries that people come from, whether they've worked in the school system or they're engineers or they're business owners, like, that all lends itself to to this group.

So Coffee Strong was formed very quickly.

And on the website, if you click on the wildfire resources, the first link says, organize your community after a wildfire.

And I'm not gonna go through it step by step.

It's there to read, but it's the importance of gathering together, having regular meetings and also having meetings be both in person and also remote because a lot of people will be dismissed, placed, and will not necessarily be in the area anymore, but want to be a part.

Of it for the future.

So organize.

And you, did you guys create a Facebook group or how did you all communicate once you figured out who wanted to join and how to make it easy to join?

That's the other tip and that is listed on this page is pick whatever communication platforms you're going to use.

If you can start collecting everyone's emails, that's great.

But we have a Coffee Strong Facebook group.

We have multiple Facebook groups now that were very active from day one and are still active today create a platform for you to gather.

Facebook groups are usually the most accessible.

For most people, unless you're of a certain age and you're not on Facebook anymore.

But we'll.

Yeah, but we being 45 and 48 sitting here, we are literally Facebook age.

Exactly.

Yes.

That very first day or two afterwards was looking for property.

Obviously there were insurance things that I know you and Michael were working on in the background and making lists and those things.

I mean, obviously there was so many people reaching out from afar and wide.

What was that feeling?

Was it overwhelming?

Yeah.

I mean, it's both comforting and wonderful and weird and awkward all at the same time.

Right.

Especially if you've never been through a trauma or something with your health, where you've really had to depend on people, which thankfully, Michael and I had not until this point.

It takes a minute to get used to people reaching out and asking what they could do, because if you're like us, our instinct was to be like, we're fine.

We got it.

We're good.

We got it.

We had a big network of friends and family, whether it was financial support, emotional support, just day to day, you being there, going with me to Target to shop for underwear, which is one of my favorite memories of that shitstorm.

We were very lucky to be very supported.

I know that's not always the case for everyone, but then to have people offering to help, whether they wanted to give money in a GoFundMe or gift cards or things or drop off items, it took a minute to get comfortable.

And I remember our dad saying to me, shut up and say thank you.

And that was probably the best advice, because people want to help and you need to let them help, even if you think you don't need it.

The trickiest thing is in the beginning, you don't really know what you need until you know what you need, whether I'm talking about things or money or resources.

So you just say thank you, and you figure out when you need what you need as you go.

So I think in terms of helping people, it was nice to have the GoFundMe, of course, which I think is a very popular thing now.

But also gift cards.

Gift cards were huge.

A lot of Target gift cards came our way, which we were so, so grateful for, because we used them for immediate needs, like underwear and things in the rental that we needed.

But then even when we got into the new home, rebuild itself.

Yeah.

So I think when people are thinking about what to give that is always a nice thing.

Gift cards are really versatile and easy.

I have to give a shout out to Trish, my neighbor, who was one of the founders and organizers of Coffee Strong.

She just had a get together in the neighborhood this week where all the neighbors came and donated gift cards and someone is actually driving them down to the area.

Wow.

Trish will be sending them down directly with people who are working at recovery centers both after the fire and United Policyholders will be receiving gift cards.

So I also have to give a shout out to my neighbor Trish, because very quickly after the fires, she started something called Wine Wednesday.

We are here in Sonoma county and in our cul de sac, even though we were not there and none of us were actually there, people would come and bring their lawn chair and their bottle of whatever and started small and meet and talk about recovery.

And then eventually that recovery conversation and venting and crying turned into let's find builders and who are you using and what insurance company do you have?

And let's swap stories and how's your process been to then actually sitting in the middle of this cul de sac every Wednesday as the house has started going up around them.

So that was hugely therapeutic.

And I encourage everyone to pull together A regular meeting like that.

Yep.

Because we still do that now, not weekly, but periodically.

And that was huge.

Just to be able to be with, like, people who were going through the same situations.

Yeah.

We're going to link to a couple different organizations and one of them is the Malibu Foundation.

And I can talk more about it at a different time.

And we were doing volunteering pretty often and trying to do it in the area.

So I reached out to them.

The Malibu foundation, very similar to Coffee Strong.

They are still around.

It's been years now.

They've continued to work in the area and share resources.

And there's a gentleman, his name is Joe Flanagan.

He's a board member and he has put out two videos on Instagram.

Very experienced and has been working with them since the beginning.

And so in his videos, he talks about a lot of things.

But one of the things just going back to what you were saying is strength in numbers, especially when it comes to.

To it could be getting taken advantage of by builders.

It could be fraud.

It could be the gouging and calling people out, holding people responsible as A group, because there's strength in numbers there.

Absolutely.

Great advice.

That's a great point.

Yeah.

So we'll link to his page and I know he's got two videos up and he's shared a lot of very honest information.

If people who have lost their homes or are going to be out of the area for a while or are not sure if their homes are still, get a P.O.

box.

That was really helpful.

When you think about it, after the fact, you're like, well, yeah, duh, that makes sense.

Our mailbox is not there.

Actually, I've seen people post that on Nextdoor.

Yeah.

What are you doing about your.

How do we get our mailbox?

You get a P.O.

box and then you can forward from your lost home address to that.

Cancel your utilities, if you haven't already.

That's another one where after the fact, you're like, duh, of course we're going to cancel the cable and the power and the.

Oh, yeah, cancel your utilities.

Call them and tell them.

I remember at the time we had cable and, you know, like the cable boxes that you're leasing and can't bring them back, they literally were like, okay, so you could.

We said, we lost our home in the fire.

We need to cancel service immediately.

Okay.

The drop off center for the remotes.

And we're like, you're not hearing us.

There are no remotes.

Step away from.

There are no boxes.

Customer service rep and hear me.

Yeah, there is nothing left.

Cancel the utilities.

Get a full copy of your insurance policy if you were insured, immediately.

Put it in a binder.

Start a fire binder because there's going to be a lot of information coming your way.

But get a full copy of your policy.

Read it.

Get your friends and family to sit and read it with you if they're better at that stuff.

But really get familiar with it and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Find people with the same insurance as you because it really varies.

Again, we had State Farm, but we had neighbors that had Farmers and United and all these different ones.

So especially once you start to go through claiming the contents, where you have to list what item was it, what room was it in?

When did you buy it?

How much did it cost?

What condition was it in the contents spreadsheet?

Just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.

I remember you guys.

Oh, I think you told me what Michael, like, how's today?

What are you guys doing?

Michael's inventorying everything that was under the sink in terms of cleaning supplies, Brillo.

Pads, sponges, Dawn Soap, Glad.

Trash bags.

I mean, everything.

And there are again more resources now and tips on sites of how to go about that.

But my main tip about that is find neighbors with the same insurance.

Because some would make you list everything and then decide if they were going to pay you out.

Some would say, take your best guess and we'll make periodic payments like it really did vary.

So to keep from pulling your hair out, find neighbors with the same insurance and then you can work through the process together.

I've also heard people recommend looking at or asking for photographs from when you were in the house.

Just looking in the background, what was on the bookshelves, what was in that room to help you.

And it's sucky and it's painful to do that because then you're like, oh.

I forgot about that.

Right?

But yes, absolutely.

But the tip that I have learned from that is right now, press pause on this podcast, go through your house with your iPhone video, walk through every room, open every drawer, open the closet.

Hopefully you never have to use it.

And that video sits in your photos album forever.

But God forbid a hurricane, a flood, a fire, all the things.

Because mother Nature's really pissed off with all of us.

Yeah.

That I wish we had that.

We did not have that.

So that you're doing it from memory and it's painful and it's not fun, but they do make you for the most part work to get that content.

Payout as you guys got settled and people wanted to send you things.

Yes.

You know, I remember you saying to me, it was when you were in the rental home and you just kept saying, everything is new.

Everything is new.

Hashtag, everything is new.

Everything was.

We were peeling labels off of every cheese grater and spoon and plate and cup.

And it's nice to have new things.

Of course, but some of the things that really were impactful that people who knew us literally sent to us.

And this happened when we were in the long term rental.

I remember I have some girlfriends who, their kids made us Christmas ornaments, Popsicle stick and yarn, Christmas trees, balls filled with glitter that still to this day I'm like, please don't break because it's going to be glitter all over the place.

Those were amazing.

And that's something you don't think about if you celebrate Christmas and you're like, I don't have a single ornament.

Yeah, you can go to Target and buy silver balls.

Silver balls.

But it was really special to have some handmade things on that first tree.

And I will tell you seven Years later those things were on my tree again this year, even though I've added to it now with our own ornaments, homemade things, things with that love and touch and special myths.

Pre loved.

Things that pre loved had history to them.

Even if it wasn't your history, it was someone had loved on them before and shared that.

My favorite earrings came from one of your closest friends, Megan, who sent me a box of purses and scarves and jewelry and I was grateful for them and I kept some and then passed on the rest.

And I think if people like the idea of sharing some loved items directly with people rather than going into some of these big warehouses where then things are being sorted through and picked over, just reach out to me.

Nikkiipwithnikki.com and between Amanda and I, we know directly people who have lost their homes and we know people who know people and there is a whole network.

So we will get your loved items to people.

Send us an email and we'll get you an address.

Also on the CoffeeStrong.com website I talked about the page Wildfire Resources.

We talked about organizing your community after Wildfire and the importance of doing that.

The other page I want to call out is the Post disaster First steps after a fire is really helpful and that goes into more like step by step, especially things like register with fema.

We did that very quickly and it's not always easy.

And sometimes the forms and the paperwork, you feel like they are meant to dissuade you from trying to get whatever help might be available and you just have to stay with it and follow the steps.

But in the end there was some help that came from there.

Not only short term, but FEMA works with the sba, the Small Business association.

And we were able to secure a loan in rebuilding to cover the deficit that the insurance didn't cover.

And it was a very low income interest loan, almost like a second mortgage.

So that was through FEMA and the sba.

So bottom line, just register with FEMA and then you can figure out how exactly it will help you after the fact.

Right.

I've heard it talked about a few times that if you have a GoFundMe, you might receive less from FEMA.

But regardless, do the paperwork, get all the things.

Yes.

And then you can, like you said, you can decide how or if you want to use it.

Yeah.

So that post disaster First Steps after the fire under Wildfire resources on Coffee Strong.com is very helpful.

Again, a huge thank you to the Coffee Strong members who not only stepped up and formed, but Then took the time to create this website and pull together all the resources.

It's amazing work, and I'm just happy to be a sharer of their work.

So thank you guys for our last few minutes.

I want to change gears because there are people that are listening that maybe did not lose their home or have not been directly impacted, or maybe they're in Indiana or Virginia and they're like.

But I want to help.

Right?

And everybody knows the big organizations that are there that you can donate to.

Of course, American Red Cross and all of those.

But I know a lot of people like to feel like their impact is going directly, you know, to maybe a smaller organization.

So you having lived in Southern California for how many years now, are you, like, at least 15 living in the area?

I think so.

And the work that you've done with multiple nonprofits and organizations, I know you have some that you've worked directly with.

So do you want to share a couple of those?

Yeah.

And some of them are on the bigger side also.

And part of the reason that I picked some of these is because they will be around for a while.

So they're not just the right here, right now.

I mean, everyone knows WC Kitchen.

Chef Jose.

Chef Jose Andreas.

You know, it's amazing.

Yes.

It's huge.

And he's huge.

This is also his hometown.

He's from here.

Place from Spain.

Exactly.

But I think he calls us his hometown.

And one thing I like about that organization is they're not in and out.

They stay.

They stay for the long haul, and this is going to be a long haul.

I think a lot of people feel like, I want to do something now.

I want to do something now.

And what we need to remember is there's going to be several iterations of this, several chapters, and it will go on for years.

And even in the next two weeks, as the fires are out and we're not the only thing on the news anymore, people will go back to their lives and no one will remember.

And the people who have suffered such loss will start to feel less supported.

Yeah, I like some of these organizations, like WC Kitchen, the other one that I like.

You're talking about World Central Kitchen.

Yes.

You call it wc.

The people in the know call it wck.

World Central Kitchen.

World Central Kitchen Core is another one.

Community organized relief effort.

C O R E Core.

It was started years ago by Sean Penn.

He was on the ground in Haiti.

He started it because he felt like he needed to do something and wanted to do something and has continued since that time.

To do something.

And they are also based here.

Again, not that matters, but it's just really interesting to have some of these large nonprofits that have worked globally to help in disasters like this now be working on their home turf.

And what I like about CORE is you can read about them on their website.

It says who do you support?

Marginalized and vulnerable communities impacted by natural and man made humanitarian disasters worldwide.

So not everybody that lost their home in these fires has insurance.

Insurance money to rebuild or we all see the Malibu coast and we assume.

Everyone'S thinking it's all celebrity mansions that burned and there's a lot of that, but there's a lot of, quote, normal people, whatever that is, non celebrities.

And a lot of, I would say the majority of low income marginalized parts of the community that have also suffered a huge loss.

Yeah.

So I like CORE a lot.

I also love Team Rubicon.

I met them Aw Rubicon.

I love them.

I got to work with them and meet their team during my time at One Hope and then got to see them and their work firsthand when you guys lost your home and they were finally allowed into the area.

So they are disaster relief response.

They come in after the fact once they're allowed in and they partner with other organizations that are already on the ground.

Are they veterans?

Yes, and they are veterans and love to be helping and at work and protecting.

And so they come in and they help.

They'll help sift at sites, which is.

What they did with us.

Yes.

Team Rubicon did come to Coffey park and it was a team of, I don't know, at least 10 people and hazmat that came with shovels and buckets and sifters to help us sift through our rubble to try to recover anything valuable or just sentimental value recognizable.

We found some little trinkety things that we are so grateful to have.

I know that a lot of my neighbors because many people ran out in the middle of the night.

I remember hearing multiple stories of people sifting and finding wedding rings, grandma's ring jewelry.

And there are actually jewelers who then offered services to clean and restore these pieces.

Sifting is a thing.

Team Rubicon is great.

They aren't trained to do this.

You need to have special gear on and help sift.

So I know that they're around and they're a great organization to support for multiple reasons.

There is also the Do Good bus and the Healing bus.

I believe it's the same organization, the same bus.

They go out into the community for different reasons, but they Are constructing sifting kits for people that may want to go in themselves or be allowed to go in themselves.

I would just make sure that you read about what you should be wearing on your feet and your hands and your face.

Don't just get a sifting kit and.

Go in on the coffee strong site that I shared.

There's a whole section about this.

Make sure you have the right PPE.

Right so N95 mask, gloves, coveralls, boots, change them daily.

It is toxic, literally toxic.

While you are in there sifting through, think of everything that's burned from chemicals to electronics to tar to all of that.

So make sure you're protecting yourself.

Can we talk about the animals?

Oh, I could talk about them for.

So we're sitting here with one eyed Betty the bulldog who was a foster turned rescue and handsome flyer who is a current foster.

So you guys, Amanda is a huge advocate for this community.

Animal welfare, rescue, foster all the time.

But especially right now, we cannot forget the animals.

What do people need to know?

You don't have to only foster.

There are people that are not able to foster.

If you are able to.

Great.

Yes.

There are dogs, there are cats, there are bunnies, there are turtles, there's pigs.

There's probably horses as well.

So there's a vast variety of animals that that need care.

No, a lot of them are not the dogs and cats of the people that have lost their homes.

A lot of them are animals that were already in the shelters that need to be fostered to create space to temporarily house animals so that if families are not able to care for them right now or they don't know where they're ending up or they're still evacuated.

Or they're staying with their friend and the friend's landlord is a dick and won't let the animals be be there.

I don't know, we might need to bleep that part out.

No, we're not bleeping that out.

You know who you are.

That is true.

So that is some of it will be that they can no longer take their animals back.

I've already seen stories of I can't.

Like I can't even talk about.

Okay.

Because animals make me cry.

Well that's amazing.

And I'm so grateful that we had ours.

Yes.

After the fact that we could recover with them.

I mean that's a good big reason that I'm not home right now is because I didn't even want to leave the house for five minutes to run to the grocery store because I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to get back to them.

So I knew I had to get out of there for their safety as well.

I mean, they can't wear masks and it just was starting to feel like I couldn't go anywhere, couldn't take care of them.

So we were out of there.

But yes, I understand.

And there's so many people chatting about which organizations to foster with.

How can I get my foster quicker?

No one's getting back to me.

I haven't heard from them.

They don't have a need anymore.

They said they needed 300 fosters.

They already have them.

What I will say is a couple things.

One, be patient.

These organizations are small for the most part.

They were inundated and overwhelmed before the fires.

And a lot of the volunteers and or nonprofit employees who work at these organizations may have lost their own homes and or pets and are just trying to get their footing so that they can do their work.

Yes, my friend Ellen from Deity Animal Rescue is a perfect example of that.

She can't run her rescue right now as well as she could because she's trying to get her and her son and her dogs somewhere safe to live so she can.

So that is a very real statement.

But it was already a very tough time in rescue before this happened.

And so just be patient.

The need is not just now.

This need will continue and I've already seen it written on multiple sites for probably at least three to six months because their needs will change.

They don't know what they need right now and in a month that may change.

Or they might be in a rental right now that allows them to have their pets but they have to move rentals because they can't have it for a year or a year and a half and the next one doesn't allow them to have a rental and they need someone to foster their dog until they find somewhere else to be or their cat or whatnot.

So just remember that the need will continue.

It isn't going anywhere.

So if you're not getting an answer today, just hang in there and keep checking.

Offer to volunteer if you don't want to foster.

You can go and clean kennels, you can walk dogs, you can deliver supplies to different people that are fostering.

They're going to need different things.

So there's a lot of different ways to help these animal related organizations.

And I would just say keep in touch with them, create a relationship with them because you're going to be the one that they call to first because now they feel like they Know you.

What about for people who are not in the area or even out of state that want to help and support animal causes specifically related to these fires.

So many of these organizations really do need money.

There's money for supplies that they need.

Some of them have Amazon wish lists.

If you don't just want to send money, you can go on and buy beds or food and send them directly to the organization.

So that's always something worth checking.

Do you have a couple you are close to and have worked with that you would recommend?

Yeah, I do.

They're ones I can say.

I know.

And they are, we'll say, legit.

They're here.

I know the people.

People want to know that.

And you are a huge legitimizer.

You're a legitimizer.

Love Leo is one.

That's who I'm fostering with now.

So they're.

They're a good one.

Road Dogs is another.

A lot of bulldogs and Frenchies.

Paws for Life Canine, I think a lot of people have seen that one.

They're transporting a lot of dogs out of Los Angeles, getting them in cars and on airplanes to cities that can take them.

Best Friends is also a huge organization, but they do have small chapters and I know a lot of the people here in Los Angeles.

They're great because while they are big, they're also small and they also partner with a lot of the smaller ones to make sure that they're feeling supported.

D E I T Y I mentioned Alan, who is the co founder.

She did lose her home and is trying to get set up now so she can continue to do what they do.

They're great.

Stand up for Pits is another.

They're doing great work.

Wags and Walks, they're big, but also little.

We've got one here, a shelter just across the street from Flyers Daycare, actually.

So I drive by it every day, so there's certainly no shortage.

Those are a few that I've worked with and that I know.

I would also follow a couple people on Instagram because they will continue to post who may need help.

Yes.

Debbie Bloom Feldstein, she's ebfeldbloom.

We'll post that.

Rita Earl Blackwell, she's a former.

She still is a photographer, but she works a lot at a lot of the shelters and will also post who's pulling, who needs help with fosters.

And so it's good to follow some of these different organizations and people that are posting who else needs help.

And dog people.

They're a very.

We'll call it A bougie dog park in la, but they have a social impact arm and it's called K9 Rescue Club.

They've been very involved and they've really stepped up for the community again because they're getting a lot of attention.

I think they're also reaching out to some of the other organizations to say we're in good shape, we have plenty.

But this one needs and that one needs.

Because they all do partner together.

Yeah.

If they didn't before, a lot of the reasons for not are going away and hopefully will continue to go away because they all realize there's a lot of need.

Yeah.

Thank you for that list.

We'll put each of those websites that Amanda mentioned as well as the Instagram accounts that you should follow in the show Note.

So if you're local and you're looking on nextdoor, look on nextdoor a lot.

Cause that is the community.

But read comments because they may update in the comments.

This is an old post.

They've actually met this need, but this one isn't.

And so people are sharing a lot of information there, but it's maybe not in the direct post.

So go through and read a little.

Bit because just make sure you're getting the most current information.

Yes.

And I would say the same thing about some of these rescues.

Read the comments on some of their posts on Instagram because the same thing might be updating that their need is met by XYZ or I read that if you go to the shelter in person, they'll pick you quicker than.

So I would urge people to just read the comments.

I think the bottom line is this, as you hear with Amanda and I, having gone through this directly here in Northern California.

And then of course, Amanda being rooted in the LA and surrounding area, Cuba community and nonprofit work, we are here to be connectors.

Don't send us money.

We're not set up for that.

Send us an email.

I need money.

We don't want your money for this.

But we can be connectors and we can direct you to organizations, individuals, people that we have vetted, resources.

We are happy to be connectors in this situation.

That's how we can make our impact, right?

Absolutely.

I hope by having this conversation together from different perspectives, we've given you some insight, some resources, some helpful facts and checklists.

And obviously there's more.

I'm not going to cover it all in a podcast because it would be hours long.

Definitely feel free to reach out to the two of us.

And I will also reiterate, mark your calendar for A month from now, three months from now, six months from now, just put a note to check in, to reach out to donate because again, the cameras are gonna go away very soon and people are gonna feel like life has just gone back to normal and we're through this.

And yet there are so many people that are so far from that.

And it's you can speak to this.

Years to get to normalcy, but it's.

Also nice to have people remember in three or six months from now when maybe it's a holiday and they send you holiday decorations or that you're not forgotten and you're not now going through this by yourself or with just the community that had experienced so much loss that you are being held by people far away as well that care.

So I love you and I love that you're here safe and sound and thank you for weighing in and cheers with our cold coffee.

Thanks for doing this, Mander.

You're welcome.

So yeah, big sigh.

My heart goes out to anyone who is experiencing the loss of homes or worse.

And my advice being over seven years on the other side of it is you will get through it.

Find your people, organize one day at a time and shut up and say thank you.

I want to thank my sister for taking the time to pull together all of her best resources to share with you.

I want to thank you for listening through and then thinking about who needs to hear this.

And please share this information with them again.

Every resource we spoke about today, from the Coffee Strong website to all the nonprofits and even the Instagram accounts that Amanda recommends that you follow, look down in the show notes for this episode and they are there.

If you have someone that you need us to connect with an organization or resources, please send me an email.

Nikkiipwithnikki.com N I K K I@sipwithnikki.com we are here to help.

Join me next week as we return to our regularly scheduled joyful wine and food centric content.

And whatever you do between now and then, I hope that you sip well la.

Sa.