GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA

Paris Hilton testifies during a House Committee on Ways and Means hearing on Strengthening Child Welfare and Protecting Americas Children on Capitol Hill Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, file)
Paris Hilton’s nonprofit gives $25,000 grants to women-owned small businesses hit by the Eaton Fire
Fifty women business owners impacted by the Eaton Fire will receive recovery grants of up to $25,000 from Paris Hilton’s nonprofit 11:11 Media Impact and GoFundMe.org, in partnership with the Pasadena Women’s Business Center.
 
Desiree Graham is pictured during an interview at Kahikinui homestead on Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Kahikinui, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)
After Lahaina fire, Hawaii residents address their risk by becoming ‘Firewise’
Since the 2023 Maui fires that destroyed Lahaina, communities across Hawaii have sought ways to protect themselves from more destructive fires wrought by decades of climate change, urban development, and detrimental land use policies.
 
Billie Joe Armstrong, from left, Tre Cool, and Mike Dirnt of Green Day perform during the FireAid benefit concert, at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FireAid announces $50 million for LA community organizations helping those impacted by fires
FireAid, the benefit concert which raised an estimated $100 million to benefit those impacted by the LA fires, announced $50 million in grants for community-based organizations supporting families, food access, temporary housing, disaster case management and more.
 
A woman reacts as she receives a check at the gymnasium of Pasadena City College where The Change Reaction is handing out about 1,000 checks of between $2,500-$5,000, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
How the nonprofit Change Reaction gets money to LA households impacted by wildfires so fast
As Angelenos reel from the devastating wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and killed at least 29 people, an LA-based nonprofit is giving some of those impacted fast, unrestricted help by handing out cash payments of as much as $5,000.
 
People impacted by the wildfires seek information and relief at a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at Pasadena City College Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
L.A. wildfire survivors struggling with FEMA applications could benefit from disaster case managers
Of the 118,000 FEMA applications made following the L.A. wildfires made by Jan. 27, less than 20% have received approval for Individual Assistance, according to the agency.
 
Thomas Tighe, president and CEO of Direct Relief, stands for a photo at its headquarters in Santa Barbara, Calif., Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Thomas Tighe reflects on 24 years leading the international health nonprofit Direct Relief
Thomas Tighe led the humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief for 24 years as its president and CEO. The nonprofit was nearly bankrupt when Tighe took over in 2000.
 
Lisa Diaz hugs a neighbor outside of their homes as the Eaton Fire sweeps through the area Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
How to help those affected by the California wildfires
Major fires across Los Angeles this week have killed at least five people, forced 180,000 to flee their homes, and destroyed thousands of structures.
 
Kawehi Akiona wears a wristband with the words "Lahaina Strong" at his home, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Wailuku, Hawaii. Akiona has been wearing this wristband since the Lahaina wildfire. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)
A Maui program kept Lahaina families together by paying households to take in fire survivors
As many as one-third of people displaced by the August 2023 Maui fires wound up in the homes of friends and family in the weeks after the disaster.
 
Resident sift through their fire-damage property after the Franklin Fire swept through Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Fire danger diminishes in Southern California even as crews continue to battle Malibu blaze
Weather conditions have improved enough in Southern California for forecasters to say that the worst of the high winds that drove a wildfire through part of Malibu have passed.
 
FILE - A truck drives down a flooded street in Siesta Key, Fla., following the passage of Hurricane Milton, on Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Sarasota’s Season of Sharing program pays some families’ bills as they recover from hurricane season
Residents of Florida’s Gulf Coast endured two major hurricanes and a tropical storm in the span of nine weeks, and they are still feeling the economic shockwaves. The disasters aren’t just costly for those whose properties were damaged or destroyed.
 
FILE - A tattered American flag flaps outside a home as furniture and household items damaged by Hurricane Helene flooding sit piled along the street awaiting pickup, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton, in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
AI is being used to send some households impacted by Helene and Milton $1,000 cash relief payments
Some hurricane-impacted households in North Carolina and Florida will receive one-time, direct cash payments of $1,000 on Friday.
 
Henry Kovacs, left, and Hayden Wilson, right, volunteers with the Footprint Project, load two Tesla Powerwall batteries to deliver to communities impacted by Hurricane Helene in Mars Hill, N.C. on Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriela Aoun Angueria)
Volunteers bring solar power to Hurricane Helene’s disaster zone
Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Helene downed power lines and washed out roads all over North Carolina’s mountains, the roar of gas-powered generators is both unpleasant and essential.
 
Boys play basketball at the Project:Camp pop-up daycamp for families impacted by Hurricane Helene in Brevard, N.C., Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriela Aoun Angueira)
This camp provides a safe space for kids to learn and play after Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene flooded the Weissmans’ home last month. They need to chase down private insurance claims and fill out federal aid applications. But their priority is their children.
 
FILE- North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, right, and Deanne Criswell, Administrator of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, await the arrival of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris for a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Oct. 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, file)
FEMA administrator continues pushback against false claims as Helene death toll hits 230
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is again forcefully pushing back against false claims and conspiracy theories about how her agency is responding to Hurricane Helene.
 
Alance Wisdom, who farms cabbage, sweet peppers and cucumbers, points to damage from Hurricane Beryl in her home on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Cross Keys, Jamaica. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)
Jamaica’s female farmers rebuild after Hurricane Beryl through women-led cash voucher program
More than two months after Hurricane Beryl, the strongest July Atlantic hurricane on record, some farmers in Jamaica are still unable to restore their crops and repair their homes.
 
Kuhio Lewis, CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, stands for a portrait between two under-construction modular housing units at the Ke Ao Maluhia housing development, Monday, July 8, 2024, in Kahului, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
The leader of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement reflects on a year since the Lahaina fire
In the year since the Lahaina fires on Maui, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement has helped more than 6,000 families through a robust recovery project.
 
Janice Dapitan, left, speaks with Paige DePonte as a horse named Maverick stands nearby, as part of a philanthropy-supported equine therapy program at the Spirit Horse Ranch, on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Kula, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
How horses at the Spirit Horse Ranch help Maui wildfire survivors process their grief
One year after the Maui fires, thousands of residents struggle with grieving the losses of loved ones and generational homes. They are haunted by their traumatic escapes and even by the guilt of surviving.
 
Josephine Fraser, 22, who was born and raised in Lahaina, holds her son Zyon Dias, 18 months, as she watches Ireh Dias, 3, front, run around outside their small home at Ke Ao Maluhia at the Maui Lani housing development, spearheaded by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Kahului, Hawaii. The family has moved multiple times over the past 11 months after being displaced by the 2023 wildfire and are the first to move into the modular home community being built for those affected. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A year after Maui wildfire, chronic housing shortage and pricey vacation rentals complicate recovery
Thousands of displaced residents on Maui have faced a year of anxious uncertainty since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century devastated Lahaina.
 
Brian Gobba, left, stands with his wife Morgan and their son in front of the family's new home in Paradise, Calif., Friday, June 14, 2024. The Gobbas found out they were being dropped by their insurance company just before they finished building their home on the east side of Paradise last year. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Rebuilding Paradise: Nonprofit’s $500 ‘defensible space’ grants help cut residents’ insurance costs
Five years after the 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed 90% of the homes here, residents of Paradise, California, face a new struggle: Finding homeowner’s insurance.
 
CEO Sue Labbe shows the battery system at Alliance Medical Center in Healdsburg, Calif., Wednesday, May 29, 2024. In May, the medical center — which serves 13,000 patients per year, mostly underinsured and uninsured essential workers who labor in the wine country’s fields, hotels and restaurants — turned on a new rooftop solar and battery storage system. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Community health centers’ new crisis: The need for backup power
The humanitarian organization Direct Relief is helping community health centers across the United States install rooftop solar and battery storage systems as they confront more frequent power outages from extreme weather and fickle grid systems.
 
Rob Ranieri, CEO of House of Hope, stands in the food pantry, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Stuart, Fla. House of Hope offers food, clothing, financial and life skills to residents of Martin County. The Community Foundation of Martin - St. Lucie counties has overhauled its approach to disaster response by creating a permanent fund and establishing preemptive agreements with nonprofit partners like House of Hope to deploy funds to them immediately when a storm is forecasted. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
As Atlantic hurricane season begins, Florida community foundations prepare permanent disaster funds
As climate change makes storms more frequent and intense, Florida community foundations are looking for new ways to make sure they have resources on hand to support the public before, during and after a disaster.