Altadena childcare providers' struggle to rebuild raises questions about government disaster response
Imperfect Paradise
LAist Studios
4.5 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 5 December 2025
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
At least 280 childcare spaces were affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires in January. LAist reporter Libby Rainey and early childhood senior reporter Elly Yu followed two women who ran childcare businesses out of their homes until the Eaton Fire destroyed them. In this episode of Imperfect Paradise, they look at how these two childcare providers are rebuilding their lives and businesses, the catch-22 they found themselves in around government assistance, and the state of the child care industry at large.
For more, you can read Libby’s latest reporting on Felisa Wright and Elly’s story on Francisca Gunawardena on LAist.com.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Support for LAIST comes from CarPros Kia, featuring the 2027 Kia Telluride Hybrid with a striking new design and family-friendly seating for up to eight. |
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| 0:29.3 | Claim your rebates at elephant |
| 0:30.6 | energy.com. This is |
| 0:32.6 | in Perfect Paradise. I'm your host, Nerida |
| 0:34.6 | Moreno, filling in for Antonia Serejido. |
| 0:39.0 | This episode is about the struggle to rebuild and return after the January fires that devastated Southern California. |
| 0:46.5 | The nightmare, many are still navigating and the triumph and resilience of a community. |
| 0:51.5 | And it's all told through the story of two women, Felisa and Francisco. Up until |
| 0:56.7 | January 2025, they ran child care businesses in Altadena in the homes where they lived. Then the |
| 1:03.5 | eaten fire burned down their houses, taking their livelihoods with it. The last year for them has been |
| 1:10.4 | spent mired in bureaucracy, and they've each tried to find a home |
| 1:14.1 | and reestablish their businesses. |
| 1:16.3 | And in the process, they've revealed that when there's a disaster, the federal and state's |
| 1:20.7 | social safety net have a child care-sized hole. |
| 1:24.0 | And that raises serious questions about how we care for the people who care for our children, especially when they're needed the most. |
| 1:32.9 | Joining us now to break it all down is L.A. a senior early childhood reporter, L.E.U. And reporter Libby Rainey. Hello. |
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