Coming Together In Times of Need: Los Angeles Resident’s Provision of Housing and Financial Assistance In the Face of the 2025 Wildfires

Background and Purpose:

The January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires caused severe climate-related devastation, with 24 deaths, 16,000 homes destroyed, and an estimated 180,000 residents evacuated. Most of the discussion surrounding this event focused on the financial harms and trauma created by the fires. However, it was also a moment in which the residents of Los Angeles (Angelenos) were able to come together and support one another. Thus, the focus of this study was to explore to what extent Angelenos provided housing support and made financial contributions to relief efforts. Using a social capital framework, we explored how preexisting social support networks and social cohesion impacted Angelenos’ provision of housing and financial contributions.

Methods:

The data was collected by the LABarometer, a subpanel of the Understanding America Study (UAS). The UAS is a nationally representative panel of 14,000 U.S. residents administered since 2014; the LABarometer includes a representative sample of Los Angeles County adults fielded since 2019. The LABarometer participants are recruited using address-based probability sampling with households randomly selected from a comprehensive list of all Los Angeles County mailing addresses. Wave 637 (June 2024) of the LABarometer serves as the baseline wave, encompassing social support, social cohesion measures, and demographic information. Wave 691(February 2025) contained outcome data on financial donations (n=1,347 linked to Wave 637) and Wave 739 (June 2025) provided outcome data on the provision of housing assistance (n=1,259 linked to Wave 637).

Perceived social support was measured using six items from the MOS Social Support Survey, including three tangible/material and three emotional support items. Social connectedness was assessed using an adapted version of the Social Ties with Neighbors scale that includes items on neighbors, friends, and relatives and permits both in-person and remote interactions.

Multivariable logistic regression models were conducted to examine the impact of pre-wildfire social support and social cohesion on the provision of housing and financial donations in the aftermath of the wildfires, controlling for race/ethnicity, age, gender, education, housing unit number of bedrooms, and household income.

Results:

Approximately half of Angelenos (47.22%, n=636) reported donating money to wildfire relief efforts. Additionally, 6.35% of Angelenos (n=80) reported providing housing to someone who was displaced or evacuated due to the wildfires. Multivariable logistic regressions show a significant positive relationship (p<.05) between perceived emotional support, material support, and social cohesion reported six months prior to the wildfires and the subsequent financial donations for wildfire relief. Additionally, a significant positive relationship (p<.05) was identified between social cohesion six months prior to the wildfires and the provision of housing assistance to someone displaced by the wildfires.

Conclusions and Implications:

The findings reveal that social capital serves as a critical infrastructure for mobilization of communal support for disaster relief and recovery efforts in Los Angeles. Interventions that seek to prepare communities for future climate-related natural disasters would benefit from strengthening interpersonal relationships and a sense of community. Such efforts not only impact the emotional and psychological states of communities but their capacity to respond with material relief in times of crisis.