November 25, 2025
3 min read
How Wells Fargo is supporting Los Angeles-area families and businesses recovering from wildfires
People are returning home. Small businesses are reopening their storefronts. Wells Fargo is committed to helping the
Los Angeles-area community rebuild following devastating wildfires.
Key takeaways
- Boosting immediate relief efforts: Wildfires devasted the Los Angeles area in January 2025, destroying thousands of homes and businesses. The Wells Fargo Foundation has supported relief efforts serving, locals, businesses, and employees in the aftermath.
- Timely housing options: Wildfire survivors have new prefabricated and modular housing options to move into thanks to local organizations offering financing help and LA4LA, a nonprofit whose recent housing showcase was made possible in part by a Wells Fargo Foundation grant.
- Small business recovery: The commercial corridor Mariposa Junction in Altadena has officially reopened with five small businesses after several storefronts were destroyed. Wells Fargo Foundation support is connecting many local business owners with the resources they need to rebuild and become more resilient.
Families and businesses have been rebuilding since severe wildfires devasted the Greater Los Angeles area in January 2025.
Immediately following the disaster, Wells Fargo supported organizations on the ground. However, more needs to be done. Customers, employees, and communities still need more resources to support their long-term recovery and to help them become more resilient to future disruptions.
That’s why the Wells Fargo Foundation has upped its initial $2 million in grants to relief organizations to $5 million, broadening support to homeowners and the small business community. These additional grants are helping families return home, and they’ve helped businesses reopen so they can continue to serve their communities.
“The Wells Fargo Foundation has been there from day one, immediately asking how they could help and what more they could do,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose district includes communities like Altadena that were impacted by the recent Los Angeles Wildfires. “This is what community looks like — showing up and standing with us when we need it most.”
[Video overview: Wells Fargo employees Jennifer Langan, Justine Gonzales, and Jay Hong share their thoughts on volunteering to support those impacted by the Los Angles-area wildfires.]
[Music]
[Jennifer Langan, Wells Fargo Volunteer]
Today we’ve got quite a few volunteers out here in Altadena preparing meals for the local community. It’s been a really fun experience, working with employees from across the greater L.A. area for Wells Fargo. It’s just been a really heartwarming community event, and I’m so happy to be, and proud to be part of it.
[Justine Gonzales, Wells Fargo Volunteer]
I myself am a resident of the Pasadena/Altadena area and was evacuated from my home. It’s really personal to be able to be here today and helping the community.
[Jay Hong, Wells Fargo Volunteer]
Wells has always been community-oriented. And honestly, it’s a privilege to work for a company that allows us to spend our time giving back to the community and volunteering. I’m just glad I can be part of it.
[Langan]
I live here in the greater Pasadena community. Like many people, many employees, I was displaced during the fires. Fortunately, my home was fine. But frankly, I know dozens and dozens of families, who, you know, unfortunately lost their home in this tragedy. So we need to do all we can to support the Altadena community now and going forward.
[On-screen text]
© 2025 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved.
Watch: More than a million meals have been served by World Central Kitchen’s Rapid Response Mobile Kitchen as of March 2025, thanks in part to Wells Fargo employee volunteers. Its fleet of mobile kitchens includes HOPE 1, a 43-foot-long truck made possible by a $500,000 grant from Wells Fargo. (0:59)
Helping Los Angeles families return home
Thousands of wildfire survivors lost their homes during the Eaton and Palisades wildfires. For the past year, these families have planned their next steps to return home, but interim housing resources are set to end for many people.
The nonprofit LA4LA recently unveiled a housing showcase of modular and prefab homes to give much-needed and timely paths forward to wildfire survivors, many of whom are dependent on rental assistance via their homeowner’s insurance that may expire soon.
“Having access to an affordable place to live is a priority for Wells Fargo because every community needs housing to thrive,” said Darlene Goins, president of the Wells Fargo Foundation. “We’re proud to support this showcase to bring together innovative housing solutions and critical recovery resources to help give wildfire survivors more options to return home.”
Homeowners can use LA4LA’s prefabricated and modular housing options as a replacement for their single-family home or as an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, on their property while rebuilding their house. The showcase also featured financing options, also supported with Wells Fargo Foundation grants, and onsite case management.
[Video overview: Roger Castle, Chief Development Officer of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Wells Fargo volunteers Robin Choi, Alice Juarez, Erica Tejada, and Allison Niewenhuis discuss packing food kits and other efforts to support those impacted by the Los Angeles-area wildfires.]
[Music]
[Roger Castle, Chief Development Officer, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank]
So today, we’re at our facility in the City of Industry where we’re packing food kits, either emergency food kits or food kits for seniors. We really heavily rely on volunteers to do this work. So you can imagine this cost savings that, companies like Wells Fargo coming in with 200 volunteers, really helps the food bank provide food to the community.
[On-screen text}
We’re packing food kits
We rely on volunteers
Wells Fargo
200 volunteers
[Robin Choi, Wells Fargo Volunteer]
Giving back to our community has always been a part of our DNA at Wells Fargo, as long as I can remember. But what’s special about today is a lot of the victims of the wildfires are actually counting on food banks. And so, given the impact of the fires that have happened over the last several weeks, we felt it necessary for us to come out and do our part to go ahead and support Los Angeles recovery.
[On-screen text]
Giving back
Impact of the fires
[Castle]
The food bank feeds about 900,000 people each month, before any type of disaster. But during the pandemic and now during disaster with the LA wildfires, we’ve seen a marked increase in the people that need food assistance.
[On-screen text]
Feeds about 900,000 people each month
Marked increase in the people that need food assistance
[Alice Juarez, Wells Fargo Volunteer]
My hope is really a couple of things. One, that we’re able to show our teams that it’s important to give back, and we spend that time out there because our company wants to make sure our community is successful.
The other thing is really to help others know the importance of coming to volunteer here in Los Angeles so that we are stronger together.
[On-screen text]
My hope
Coming to volunteer
Stronger together
[Erica Tejada, Wells Fargo Volunteer]
Being able to volunteer, and being able to give time is really important. And I’m afforded that opportunity through not only Wells Fargo, who gives us the chance to do this, but also because I’m able to do so. And I want my team to see that I can do this so that they can do the same thing.
[Allison Niewenhuis, Wells Fargo Volunteer]
There’s a lot of heartache in our communities right now. And so if we can take a little bit of that away by ensuring they have a nice, balanced meal to come home to and take care of their kids and their parents and their family, this takes a little bit off their plate, and we want to be a part of that.
[On-screen text]
© 2025 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved.
Watch: Wells Fargo employees packed emergency food kits at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, a resource that LA County residents increasingly relied on for meals after the recent wildfires. (1:55)
Supporting local businesses affected by wildfires
Nowhere is the resilience of Los Angeles entrepreneurs more visible than Mariposa Junction.
This commercial corridor in Altadena was devastated by the Eaton Fires, destroying the storefronts of small businesses like Café de Leche and Amara Kitchen. Now, part of the block is reopening with five businesses to kick off the holiday shopping season, a crucial time for affected small businesses, with the help of a Wells Fargo Foundation grant to Pasadena City College Small Business Development Center.
“Following the Eaton Fire, we saw incredible resilience from the business owners of Mariposa Junction, but we knew they would face a long road to recovery,” said Donald Loewel, director of the Pasadena City College Small Business Development Center.
Wells Fargo also hosted the Build to Thrive Summit, a free event in Pasadena that saw more than 100 small business owners and community leaders building connections and learning practical ways to grow their business. They gained access to entrepreneurial coaching, resilience planning resources, and support in securing financing to grow, repair, or relaunch their business.
Boosting wildfire relief in Los Angeles
The $5 million in support for wildfire rebuilding included these organizations:
- The American Red Cross
- The California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund
- The Pasadena Community Foundation’s Eaton Canyon Fire Relief and Recovery Fund
- The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation
- The Southern California Grantmakers’ LA Region Small Business and Worker Relief Funds
- LA4LA
- San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity
- Neighborhood Housing Services of LA County
- Pasadena City College Small Business Development Center
Wells Fargo also provides ongoing support to the American Red Cross’ Annual Disaster Program and Team Rubicon’s Ready Reserve Fund. Wells Fargo employees affected by the wildfires were able to get help via We Care Fund, which supports colleagues facing sudden, unforeseen financial hardships.
For Los Angeles-area residents and businesses in need of help rebuilding their finances following the wildfires, Wells Fargo also partnered with Operation HOPE to bring free disaster recovery credit and money management coaching to affected areas across the city. Business owners can work with a financial coach on FEMA applications, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, insurance claims, working with creditors, building a recovery budget, and more. See Operation HOPE Inside Disaster to learn more.
