[00:00:00] Speaker A: The Journey Hometown Journal.
[00:00:01] Speaker B: It's right there at the foot of the mountains and you could see where the mountains had burned. And you see this huge black scar at the foot of the mountains, which was the town of Altadena.
[00:00:12] Speaker C: Welcome to the Hometown Journal. I'm Mark Edwards. We have all seen the images of the devastating fires of Los Angeles. With more than 12,000 homes and other structures damaged or destroyed, as many as 200,000 people have been forced from their homes and. And at least 25 people have lost their lives. In our first segment, we want to share with you, how Forest Virginia based relief agency World Help is providing ways for you to help the people of the Los Angeles area. Noel Yates is the president of World Help. Noel, welcome. I understand that you just returned from Los Angeles. Tell us what you saw.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Just like everybody listening, I've been following along and watching on the news and I've, you know, seeing all the images, but nothing compares to seeing it for yourself and driving through those neighborhoods and seeing just the absolute destruction. I think one of the things that hit me the most is we kind of climbed up on top of this hill where you could overlook part of the city. And we've all heard about that town, Altadena, that was so devastatingly struck. And I looked out and it's right there at the foot of the mountains. And you could see where the mountains had burned and you see this huge black scar at the foot of the mountains which was the town of Altadena. And just in that town alone, they estimate more than 7,000 structures were destroyed. And that's just one of the many fires that we're seeing on the news. So the destruction is overwhelming. So many people impacted. But at the same time, the whole reason I was there was the work of World Help and the work of the World Help family and so many people that are listening that are wanting to get involved. I was really able to see how that help is making a difference. And I was there with our partners who are on the ground.
People are waiting up to four hours in line to get the help and supplies that they need. Things, you know, basic hygiene items and food and support, just so many things that people need right now. And that shows you how desperate to wait four hours in line to get that. But the beautiful thing was just seeing how the church and people of faith have rallied around this and are really making a difference for so many people.
[00:02:32] Speaker C: What is among the greatest need that people have right now when you look at relief items that they need today?
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Right. Well, you know, in any Crisis, there's phases, and it will change. But right now, our partners, we're focused together on those just kind of emergency survival supplies. And you have to keep in mind, first of all, this is impacting people of all kinds of life. This is the one thing I want to tell people, because I feel like we're not hearing this clearly on the news. You know, we're hearing a lot about the celebrities. We're hearing a lot about these affluent communities.
But what we're not hearing about is even in those areas, think about all the people that worked in those communities. Think about the service industry, maybe people who cleaned those homes, maybe the lawn crew, people that worked in the businesses. They may not have lost their home, but they've lost their entire livelihood, which means they may not be able to pay rent, which means they may not be able to pay the mortgage, they may not be able to afford their groceries. So you have everything, and in between, you know, you have people who have lost their homes, and. And they had seconds, maybe minutes to grab, and you can only grab so much. So they're coming through these lines, needing a toothbrush, you know, or just basic hygiene items. But I would say the most important things right now that we're able to help with are those things, hygiene items. Toilet paper, paper towels, bedding, food, groceries, things like that, that people literally just need to survive these first days of the crisis.
[00:04:12] Speaker C: Very good. You made a great point there about that. A lot of times, what we've heard, because it is Los Angeles, we've heard about celebrities, but even in that situation, losing a home is losing a home, whether you can afford to rebuild or if you can't.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Yes, that's so true. And that's the other thing I've been saying. It's heartbreaking no matter what, but don't fool yourself that these people don't need help. I mean, there was one story we focused on yesterday of a mom, you know, who has a son with special needs, and they had to flee at the last minute. And all they have is, you know, one bag of stuff that they carried out. I talked to another family who their. Their kids school is completely destroyed. And in that one school alone, 60 families lost their homes. So not only are these kids struggling with, you know, that stability in your life of that school, you know, especially at this young age, it means a lot, and you've lost that, but everybody in your community seems to have lost their homes as well. So there's just a lot of devastation in so many walks of life.
[00:05:21] Speaker C: I wanted to Give you an opportunity to talk a little bit about some of the partners that you are working with in the Los Angeles area.
[00:05:29] Speaker B: That's the beauty of World Help's model, is we work.
Usually we're doing this globally in a disaster, international disaster, around the world, but domestically it's the same. We work with people already on the ground that know these communities, that know their people, that know how to help in times of crisis. And so this is no different. We're coming alongside some churches there and able to help them do anymore, do even more to help even more people. And, you know, I was. It was so good to be there, to be able to tell people back home, don't be overwhelmed by this crisis. You know, don't be. Don't buy the lie that it's too big, that there's too many people, that maybe I'm too far away from California to make a difference. I saw firsthand that we can, and we're telling people every $50 can help one person.
And that's all we're called to do, is to help one person. You know, it's not our jobs to save the world. It's not our job to help every person impacted by this crisis, but we can all help one person. And I saw firsthand how that is bringing so much hope. You know, in a time of crisis, I try to put myself in people's shoes, and that's what I would encourage. Like, what if this was happening in Virginia? What if this was happening in our own community?
What would we want people to do? How would we want them to respond? And I think most of the time, people just want to know that we're not forgotten. And so when we respond, you know, we're sending such a message of hope that you're not forgotten, that God loves you, and that we're standing by you to help.
[00:07:03] Speaker C: So through World Help, people can help with relief efforts there in Los Angeles. World Help also has ongoing relief projects for people in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: That's right. And I think that's a great example of when that price was right in our backyard. People from all over the country rallied to help those people. And this is an opportunity where on the other side of the country, we have the opportunity to do the same.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: That is Noel Yates, the president of World Help, sharing how you can partner with them in providing relief for the people of Los Angeles. And as I mentioned, World Help also has ongoing relief work in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. We have the link on our
[email protected] or you can visit worldhelp.net thanks for joining us for the Hometown Journal.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: You've been listening to the Journey Hometown Journal. If you're a part of an organization or know of one in the communities we serve and would like to be considered as a guest, please make your
[email protected] email officeyjourneyfm.com or call 800-424-9594. The Hometown Journal is a presentation of the Journey.
