Thomas. Skirball. Tubbs. Mendocino Complex.
To someone outside of California, it might sound like just another list of names that ring no bells. But for the people who experienced them firsthand, these fires are historical markers of an impending annual threat that destroys lives, businesses, and property.
In 2020 alone, over 4 million acres of this state burned. Over 10,000 structures were caught somewhere in the thousands of separate fires that colored California a speckled red. 31 people lost their lives.
The stories we hear are often of those who make it – the winery owners who are moving locations, the celebrities who are rebuilding their mansions.
What is less heard are the voices of those who lost some of the last affordable housing when an RV park burned to the ground in Santa Rosa, California. They are often the same people forced to work in the vineyards of those winery owners, enduring unhealthy air conditions for minimum wage. The stories of the 700 business owners who lost their livelihoods to the flames often go unspoken for as well.
These are the folks most impacted. Not only are they harmed each year by a climate crisis left unchecked, but they are left to face the consequences of a system with limited affordable housing and skyrocketing insurance.
Within months, we knew that COVID-19 was not the great equalizer. The same must be acknowledged for natural disasters in this state and beyond.
Financial resilience in the face of California’s fire season is two fold. It starts with stepping up the fight against climate change and the environmental racism that precedes it, and it requires that we invest in our communities to ensure resiliency in the meantime. And that investment must come in the best of times, so that those most impacted will make it through the worst.
At LISC, we are proud to serve as a capacity builder for the hundreds of organizations doing on the ground work to ensure community and financial resilience in the face of natural disasters. Through a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, our national branch worked to provide technical assistance in communities impacted by natural disasters to adopt sustainable financial management practices.
Donors like Annenberg Foundation ensure that we continue this work through our Financial Opportunity Centers and Bridges to Career Opportunities program. The FOCs that LISC supports through operating grants and capacity building strategies are at the forefront of preempting the negative impacts of natural disasters through equitable resource development for businesses, families, and individuals alike. Disasters do not impact everyone equally, but by ensuring access to capital in historically underserved communities, LISC and our FOC partners are empowering these communities to be financially prepared when facing the unexpected.
We are committed to equitable recovery, and we are hopeful that these ensuing action steps will be a turning point in committing to those goals – not only in Los Angeles, but nationally.
By helping communities and businesses prepare for climate emergencies, we can ensure a more equitable future and a stronger economy. By addressing environmental racism at its roots, we can fight the cycle of financial downfall that hits Black and brown communities the hardest in times of crisis. And by investing in financial development and education for historically underserved communities, we can help provide insurance for those who need it most when the next fire season strikes.
Natural disaster strikes on uneven ground, marred by a history of inequity. In order to ensure equitable recovery, it is paramount that we first acknowledge that reality.