More than 150,000 people were displaced from their homes by the January 2025 wildfires that devastated the Los Angeles metropolitan area and San Diego County. Many Californians are faced with starting over after losing everything, and thousands didn’t have adequate homeowners or renters insurance to help them do so.

Home Bank LA is a new initiative supporting survivors of the fires by helping them rebuild. It is an offshoot of the local nonprofit A Sense of Home, which creates first-ever homes for young people aging out of foster care. Georgie Smith, the founder and CEO of A Sense of Home, is working to inspire other nonprofits focused on foster youth to adopt the model. That’s what she was doing when she heard about the fires. 

“We were just about to launch in the New York region when the fires began,” Smith said. “That’s when I saw we had something unique — systems in place that could meet an urgent need in a way no one else was doing, specifically for those displaced by the fires.”

After being forced from their homes, many of those who were displaced moved in with relatives or into temporary rentals. For some, even if they could return to their homes, everything had to be discarded due to contamination, leaving them without the essential items needed to function in daily life, Smith said. She realized the nonprofit’s expertise could be used to help those impacted by the fires settle into new homes quickly by collecting and providing essentials like furniture, kitchen supplies and hygiene products. Within days of the fires, Smith secured donated warehouse space, and furniture and home goods donations started coming in. 

Groups of volunteers come to the warehouse and select the specific items a family needs based on their preferences, such as favorite colors, what comforts and inspires them, and what the children love, Smith said. In total, Home Bank LA selects more than 330 items per home — from toothbrushes to sofas, beds, rugs, lamps, toys and bathmats. In short: It’s everything a family needs to feel at home and start rebuilding their lives.

“We design much of the home — the living room, dining room and one bedroom. The remaining items are staged in a separate area and loaded into the family’s truck,” Smith said. “The entire process only takes about 30 minutes because it’s so well organized. We have massive banners with checklists, and each volunteer has a physical checklist, too. It’s a fast-paced, fun environment.”

When a family arrives at the warehouse, they are led to a fully staged space designed just for them, Smith said. Their reaction is often, “It’s like everyone here knows me. This is exactly my style.” 

Afterward, volunteers introduce themselves to the family, offer words of hope or inspiration, and share why they decided to serve with Home Bank LA, Smith said.

“Asking for help is incredibly difficult, so we’ve worked to create a space where it’s easy for people to receive the love and care of strangers along with the items they need,” Smith said. “As much as it’s about providing material goods, it’s also about sharing our humanity. That’s why everything is done by volunteers, not staff. It’s essential that this work comes from a place of love, with each person giving themselves to someone they don’t know. The impact is absolutely astounding.”

Once introductions are over, lunch is served and a truck is loaded to deliver items to wherever the family is resettling. Home Bank LA created a color-coded system in which each item is labeled by room to make setup easy at the new home. 

“Often just a couple of hours later, families send us photos of their new home already set up. That’s what makes our work unique. There’s no furniture bank like this in LA,” Smith said. “In fact, there’s no furniture bank at all here, but this goes beyond that. We call it a ‘home bank’ because we provide an entire home set, and we’re banking on someone’s future.”

As of March 31, Home Bank LA had a waitlist of 1,000 households. Though the scale of need across the region is larger than one organization can address alone, the nonprofit helped 50 families start over so far.

“What’s so important about this work is that we’re helping people start over. Many have lost everything — their homes, IDs, passports, Social Security cards. On top of that, they’re working, caring for kids, and navigating insurance claims and FEMA applications,” Smith said. “If we can remove the burden of having to think about every little thing needed to make a home feel like home, then we’re truly helping them begin again.”