California Wildfires Devastate Working-Class Families, Destroying Homes and Livelihoods

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Along with mansions and wealthy enclaves, California’s still raging wildfires have charred and turned to ash communities of working-class families. The merciless flames left gardeners, caregivers, domestic workers, child care providers and others without the tools needed to do their jobs. The conflagration wiped out the businesses where they worked and the homes of many employers and clients.

“You have a tremendous number of Latinos who are the housekeepers,” said Julián Castro, CEO of Latino Community Foundation, a San Francisco-based philanthropic organization. “They are the gardeners. They are day laborers. They are street vendors, and their lives have been turned upside down. Their livelihoods have been cut off.”

The workers are a key part of the state’s economy, vital to homeowners and consumers. Now, many are out of work and face finding temporary shelter or rentals in an expensive housing market.

The League of United Latin American Citizens has compiled and vetted a list of Latino families in need of help, and the list has grown from 54 to 500 families, said Juan Proaño, chief financial officer of LULAC, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.

“Clearly there are a lot of Latinos that have been impacted, and folks don’t know about it,” Proaño said. “We are trying to uplift their stories and raise money to support them.”

Castro’s organization, the Latino Community Foundation, is releasing $1 million from its California Wildfire Relief Fund to community-based organizations focused on helping Latino workers and families. Groups that get the grants will provide cash assistance to fire victims as well as other needs, the organization said.

“We want to make sure the most vulnerable residents have their needs met,” Castro, who was housing secretary under President Barack Obama, said of philanthropic efforts. “But at the same time, only government has the resources to provide longer term housing needs that exist.”

Wildfires Disproportionately Impact Latino and Other Underserved L.A. Communities, Data Shows