She helped the homeless, then became one of them

It’s fine to mark anniversaries and assess progress. So, a year after the Eaton fire calamity, say it proudly and boldly: “#AltadenaStrong!”

But long before the fire destroyed a broad section of the San Gabriel Valley community, a small but fierce army of people devoted themselves to others who were without a home. Those advocates of the slow burn we call homelessness now have marked a year of double duty — tending to the ranks of those chronically without homes along with those forced into it by the Eaton fire.

In the case of Megan Katerjian, chief executive of the Door of Hope homeless services agency, make that triple duty. That’s because Katerjian works to help those made homeless by the fires and those whose housing dilemma predate the fires while also absorbing the loss of her own Altadena home to the fire.

“That home was my place of safety and sanctuary and rest,” Katerjian said in an interview, “and then it was just gone.” At a fundraising gala for her organization last year she said: “In an instant, I became one of the families I was trying to help. I wasn’t the CEO with a plan. I was a mom with no home and no idea where my kids were going to live.”

The Eaton fire bounced Katerjian and her elementary-school-age son and daughter from place to place. First she stayed with a friend, then rented a pair of Airbnbs, before crashing with another friend and then finding a temporary home.

Understanding firsthand what it means to be displaced

Even as Katerjian’s family reestablished a permanent home in northwest Altadena, she said she feels she better understands “what so many of our clients live every single day: displacement, uncertainty and relentless stress.”

Fire losses never come at a good time. But Katerjian’s seemed especially ill-timed. Following a divorce she had tested her financial limits to squeeze into a home on Wappello Street, near the top of Lake Avenue. She and her son and daughter had been there only about half a year when the firestorm blasted through their neighborhood.

“The darkness of losing my home has changed me forever,” said Katerjian, a Christian minister, “because it made the pain of homelessness deeply personal.”

Pasadena-based Door of Hope operates four shelters in the San Gabriel Valley and Glendale. Construction crews have begun work on a fifth home in Pasadena that will house 20 more families. The agency hired three new case managers to assist the 150 clients who lost housing in the Eaton fire. That makes a total of 662 families the agency now serves.

“What we’ve seen is that our fire-impacted clients are not that much different than our clients before the fire,” Katerjian said. “When you are low-income and living one step away from crisis, it’s the same, whether it’s a fire or an insurmountable medical bill that gets you. The stories aren’t that different. The barriers aren’t that different.”

Recognizing the benefits of privilege

She has seen how those with less money also tend to have friends and relatives with less. Their GoFundMe pages don’t bring in as much money. Their friends don’t have as many spare rooms. “There’s a difference in access to resources based on privilege, whether it’s racial privilege or financial privilege or class privilege or education privilege,” Katerjian said. “The folks who don’t have those networks are falling into homelessness.”

Katerjian, 47, sold her lot on Wappello and bought a new place farther west in Altadena. Her children have been able to maintain friendships, though the fire forced many friends to move on. “We’re getting back to as normal as possible,” she said.

Jon Primuth, a South Pasadena city councilman and Door of Hope supporter, said he has seen in Katerjian “a steely determination to persevere and grow,” following the disaster, saying she has been “resilient in the way genuine heroes are resilient.”

There’s a lot of work left to be done, Katerjian said, “but there’s going to be this unstoppable grit and community that comes out of it. And I’m really, really excited to be a part of that.”

Today’s top stories

At a protest in June, police and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent face off with a protester in Santa Ana. On Friday, a protest in the Orange County city left one protester blind, his family says.

(Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)

A protester was blinded by a DHS agent during a Santa Ana demonstration

• A young protester was left permanently blind after a Department of Homeland Security agent fired a nonlethal round at close range during a Santa Ana protest last week, according to family of the victim.
• The 21 year old underwent six hours of surgery where doctors found shards of plastic, glass and metal embedded in his eyes and around his face, including a metal piece lodged 7 mm from a carotid artery.
• The violent clash occurred just two days after a federal immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good, a Minnesota mother of three.

Paramount sues Warner Bros. Discovery over its deal with Netflix

• Paramount Skydance sued Warner Bros. Discovery over its Netflix merger, claiming the board lacked transparency throughout the auction process.
• Chief Executive David Ellison said Paramount’s $30-per-share offer is more financially advantageous than Netflix’s competing $27.75-a-share bid. Netflix is interested only in Warner’s television and movie studio, HBO and HBO Max while Paramount is bidding for all of Warner Bros. Discovery.
• Ellison said Paramount would nominate its own slate of directors, waging a proxy fight against its larger rival.

FEMA to pay for lead testing at 100 homes destroyed in Eaton fire, after months of saying it was unnecessary

• The change in policy follows the discovery of inspection reports alleging that federal cleanup workers violated protocols, potentially leaving toxic contaminants on properties.
• But environmental experts question the efficacy of the Environmental Protection Agency’s testing approach, which does not align with the standards used after past California wildfires.

What else is going on

• The ex-CEO of a Paul Newman-founded nonprofit for sick kids embezzled over $5 million, prosecutors say.
• Defiant independence from the Federal Reserve catches Trump off guard.
• Record high heat and gusty Santa Ana winds are forecast for parts of Southern California.
• L.A. County women’s jail inmates allege sexual abuse by guards: “We’re all broken.”
• As Timothy Busfield’s child sex abuse allegations come to light, wife Melissa Gilbert goes dark on Instagram.
• An ex-Navy SEAL planned to fire explosives at police at a San Diego “No Kings” rally.

Commentary and opinions

• Gov. Gavin Newsom overcomes unease and dyslexia to deliver a sterling State of the State address, columnist George Skelton writes.
• Trump’s Venezuelan oil adventure is coming apart at the seams, columnist Michael Hiltzik argues.
• Deadly rat poisons are pushing L.A.’s mountain lion population to the edge, guest contributor Tony Tucci writes.

This morning’s must read

World & Nation

‘We just want our lives back.’ Maduro’s gone, but what’s next for 8 million Venezuelans who fled?

Nicolás Maduro’s downfall has stirred a mix of relief, fear and uncertainty among Venezuela’s vast diaspora, many of whom were forced into exile by repression and hardship and now face the question of whether they could ever return.

Jan. 12, 2026

Other must reads

• At 89, he’s heard six decades of L.A.’s secrets and is ready to talk about what he’s learned.
• Too many L.A. restaurants are closing. Which is why the reopening of this Little Tokyo gem matters.

For your downtime

Highline Adventures in Buellton is an adventure park where you can ride the fastest ziplines in California.

(Highline Adventures)

Going out

• The Times’ Jaclyn Cosgrove zoomed down California’s longest and fastest zip lines. Here are 6 things to know.
• Dining: Noma chef René Redzepi is bringing his world-famous Copenhagen restaurant to Los Angeles from March 11 through June 26. It will cost $1,500 to eat there.
• Shopping: Five statement pieces that belong in every woman’s wardrobe, according to WNBA stylist Brittany Hampton.

Staying in

• Books: “Saying Yes,” a new memoir by Natalie Davis, offers a raw, honest look at her transition from a conventional marriage to a life of “ethical nonmonogamy.”
• Recipe: Here’s a recipe for sweet potato chili.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.

A question for you: Are you optimistic for the new year? If so, why?

Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally ... your photo of the day

Cecil B. DeMille’s hat is displayed in his office at the Hollywood Heritage Museum.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Christina House at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, a little-known L.A. museum that has preserved the birthplace of the American film industry.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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