Catholic parishes offer shelter, relief to evacuated families near LA fires

LOS ANGELES (OSV News) -- Several Catholic parishes opened their doors to families evacuated from their homes as wind-driven fires continued to burn through parts of Los Angeles County Jan. 8.

St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica was open until almost midnight Tuesday night, offering evacuees from the nearby Palisades Fire a place to freshen up, get snacks, and charge their devices, said Merrick Siebenaler, director of parish life at St. Monica.

"We have dozens and dozens of parishioners and school families who have lost everything," said Siebenaler.

The parish campus was again open to evacuees the following morning, but by Wednesday afternoon had to close after fire officials designated it part of a "warning zone."

One older couple from St. Monica spent the night at the parish rectory, after pastor Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson learned they'd been evacuated from the Palisades Fire burn area.

Another family whose Pacific Palisades home was threatened by the fire stopped by St. Monica Tuesday night to pray. Hours later, they learned the house had been destroyed. The next morning, Siebenaler told Angelus, the family was back to drop off their bicycles and pray with Msgr. Torgerson.

Meanwhile on Wednesday afternoon, Sacred Heart Church in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles opened its auditorium to make water, food and masks available to evacuees and victims of fires in the area.

The shelter was being operated by the City of Los Angeles, but representatives of the local St. Vincent de Paul Society council were also on site with supplies, including children's clothes and diapers, Sacred Heart pastor Father Tesfaldet Asghedom told Angelus.

"We're here to help out," Asghedom said.

After classes were cancelled at St. Andrew's School in Pasadena, principal Jae Kim opened the school gym to families who needed a break from the hazardous air quality caused by the growing Eaton Fire just to the north. Coffee, donuts and snacks were brought to the gym Wednesday. On Thursday, Kim planned to screen a movie for children on a large screen and have a "lot of board games" available.

"You can't be outside here in Pasadena, the air is really bad. It's hazardous and toxic," said Kim.

Many of the families who came by Wednesday had been evacuated from the Eaton Fire evacuation area around Altadena and Pasadena. Several, said Kim, were waiting to be allowed back into their neighborhoods to see if their homes were still standing.

"Every hour, I'm getting a phone call from another family who's lost everything," Kim told Angelus over the phone Wednesday afternoon.

"You can hug them, pray with them, listen to them as best you can," said Kim of the several school families who stopped by. "What else is there to do?"

On Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced a special dedicated fund "to support parishes and schools impacted by the fires."

Resources and updates from around the Archdiocese of Los Angeles can be found at https://lacatholics.org/california-fires.