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A Crowdsourced List of Families Displaced by L.A. Fires
Instagram post from trusted voices is making the rounds in the Latino social space
Julio Ricardo Varela
January 13, 2025
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This will be the 31st week of The Latino Newsletter. We are now in Month 9. Last week, I published a 2025 vision for where we will go next. Like I wrote, “I can’t think of any other daily, nonprofit Latino-centric newsletter producing premium journalism, commentary, and audio that is accessible to anyone with no paywalls.” Our funding goals to expand this outlet are ambitious but attainable. If you are interested in learning more, feel free to reply to this newsletter or just email me here: [email protected].
In the meantime, we will continue to publish one daily post from Monday to Friday, along with occasional podcast interviews. Here is today’s edition.
On Saturday, a “Support Latine Families Displaced by the LA Fires” Instagram post (via Pete Corona, Curly Velasquez, Jess Morales Rocketto, and Mishel Prada) features the link to a growing spreadsheet of families who need support and help to rebuild. The post has been shared by many other profiles in our feeds.
As of Sunday night around 10:30 pm ET, the list has at least 169 families along with their corresponding GoFundMe links. Names will keep getting added and verified though a submission link. There is also a tab for businesses who need support.
Update, January 13, 9:00am ET: The list is now at 187 families and growing. There is also one business listed.
“This effort is not affiliated with GoFundMe or any other entity,” the top of the spreadsheet says. “It is for informational purposes only. The facts and details presented have been written by the individual creators of each GoFundMe campaign. All questions should be directed to the individual campaign organizers.”
The last part of the spreadsheet has a running tally of the total money raised, the funding goal, and the funding gap. This was the amount listed on Sunday night.
“Pls have patience as we are not affiliated with any entity and just aggregating information,” the end of the Instagram post read.
My Career Update
As promised, here is my latest professional news: I’m starting a new position as Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at Free Press.
I am really excited to be part of this team!
I am also seeking out people who are interested in helping The Latino Newsletter during this time. If you want to connect, you can reply to me here or send me an email.
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What We’re Reading
Wildfires and Latino Communities: On Friday afternoon, our friends at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute shared a new data brief on Latinos and wildfires it co-published with the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge.
“The brief reveals a stark truth about Latinos who work in outdoor occupations like construction, delivery, transportation, and agriculture: 17% of residents in Latino neighborhoods are employed in these sectors compared to just 6% in white neighborhoods,” a media release said. “Wildfire smoke puts these workers at risk of respiratory illness and income loss due to work disruptions. Many outdoor workers may also experience income disruptions as their places of employment are destroyed or closed, and air quality plummets across the county.”
Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder and publisher of The Latino Newsletter.
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