a letter from joey pittman:
We have all seen the devastating fires in California, that destroyed 9,000 homes in the Altadena area alone. Block after block of charred remains is all that is left in many areas.
I started a series on Dream (dream again) at our church with the desire to get people dreaming again. Two days later, the fires hit in the Los Angeles area. Right after that I had a dream of our community coming together to rebuild a house.
The larger part of the dream is to let other churches, cities, and those that would like to adopt a family to be able to get connected so that many others affected by the Altadena fires can be adopted.
I set up a meeting with Robin (Colston) Owen, who I went to school with, and had worked with her dad a couple years earlier on a project. The Colston family has been in the construction business for years.
After many meetings, I had the opportunity to go down and visit with a family on February 6th with Santos from City Serve and get acquainted. City Serve found a family that was vetted by the local church in the area. This multi-generational family Michael, Crystal, Emma, Mikey, Carlos, Sonia, Melvyn, Verginia, Camila and Martha all lived in the two houses on this one lot, which they had recently remodeled with their own hands. (Using leftover or repurposed materials taken out of other projects.) During our visit we found out the temporary housing they had found was an Airbnb costing them $6,000 a month. Unfortunately in order to find more economical option for housing this past week we have been told the families have had to be separated. Santos asked the family what do you need, and Michael said nothing- we are doing ok. They have lost everything! Cars, tools, clothing, keep sakes, they had just finished remodeling their home in April and to hear Michael say nothing. I thought wow, I can get behind someone who is just thankful that they are alive. I have asked Michael and family to send me a list of everything that they need. Michael's response to me asking for this list was "We have God, so we have not lost everything."
This is the family that, we as a community of Taft, are adopting.
Our goal is to walk along side and to do all that we can possibly do, to see them get back into their home. I am sure the process will change week to week, month to month with what ever insurance will cover and what we as a community can do to help. We will continue to update this page with information with what they are needing and how things are going. Our goal for this time is to get them the tools so they can go back to work. Anything at all that you can do will be appreciated very much. They hate to ask for anything but are in need of so much.
We are a 501c organization and all of your donations are tax deductible.
I started a series on Dream (dream again) at our church with the desire to get people dreaming again. Two days later, the fires hit in the Los Angeles area. Right after that I had a dream of our community coming together to rebuild a house.
The larger part of the dream is to let other churches, cities, and those that would like to adopt a family to be able to get connected so that many others affected by the Altadena fires can be adopted.
I set up a meeting with Robin (Colston) Owen, who I went to school with, and had worked with her dad a couple years earlier on a project. The Colston family has been in the construction business for years.
After many meetings, I had the opportunity to go down and visit with a family on February 6th with Santos from City Serve and get acquainted. City Serve found a family that was vetted by the local church in the area. This multi-generational family Michael, Crystal, Emma, Mikey, Carlos, Sonia, Melvyn, Verginia, Camila and Martha all lived in the two houses on this one lot, which they had recently remodeled with their own hands. (Using leftover or repurposed materials taken out of other projects.) During our visit we found out the temporary housing they had found was an Airbnb costing them $6,000 a month. Unfortunately in order to find more economical option for housing this past week we have been told the families have had to be separated. Santos asked the family what do you need, and Michael said nothing- we are doing ok. They have lost everything! Cars, tools, clothing, keep sakes, they had just finished remodeling their home in April and to hear Michael say nothing. I thought wow, I can get behind someone who is just thankful that they are alive. I have asked Michael and family to send me a list of everything that they need. Michael's response to me asking for this list was "We have God, so we have not lost everything."
This is the family that, we as a community of Taft, are adopting.
Our goal is to walk along side and to do all that we can possibly do, to see them get back into their home. I am sure the process will change week to week, month to month with what ever insurance will cover and what we as a community can do to help. We will continue to update this page with information with what they are needing and how things are going. Our goal for this time is to get them the tools so they can go back to work. Anything at all that you can do will be appreciated very much. They hate to ask for anything but are in need of so much.
We are a 501c organization and all of your donations are tax deductible.
