Los Angeles is slowly rebuilding six months after the deadly wildfires burned through Southern California. But, only about a thousand rebuilding permit applications have been filed so far. Community members are stepping up to help make the process less complicated – and get residents closer to home.
“I remember, you know, just opening the email and crying. And I told my sister, she started crying,” said Marisol Espino, who lost her home in the Eaton Fire.
The Espino family broke down in tears – this time – in relief after finding out they have a chance to start over.
“Definitely giving us hope in this, you know, chaos that’s been in the last six months for our family…we knew that we were going to do everything in our power, whatever we could, to keep our property,” said Espino.
Marisol Espino’s childhood home of 29 years was burned in the Eaton Fire.
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“The fire destroyed everything and wiped out not just our home, but all of our family’s belongings for generations and everything we owned,” said Espino.
Right after, the family explored their options to rebuild. But, they didn’t quite know how to go about it, until they found Habitat for Humanity.
“We knew instantly that this would be a very big and great opportunity for us to make that, you know, dream a reality of getting our father back into his home,” said Espino.
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Habitat for Humanity is collaborating with The Foothill Catalog Foundation to help families like the Espinos rebuild.
“We developed this pre-approval process to permit homes with a specific lot in place…and essentially skip and fast forward through as much of the permitting process and plan check process to obtain a building permit as quickly as possible,” said The Foothill Catalog Foundation Co-Founder Alex Athenson.
Victims can pick a design they like from a catalog of pre-approved homes.
“Then, all they would have to do is provide a site plan and make sure that that home fits on their site, fits with their budget and then work with a contractor and a builder to actually execute that design,” said Athenson.
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This process is meant to save victims both time and money.
“It’s a very good opportunity to help reduce the cost of construction significantly through design fees and engineering fees,” said San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity Construction Director Brian Stanley. “Last time I did one in Altadena, it was about nine months, so hopefully we’ll bring that down to a matter of weeks and going,” said Stanley.
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The Foothill Catalog Foundation plans to have 10 designs by the end of the month, with a goal of 50. Habitat for Humanity says the timeline all comes down to volunteers.
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