The Altadena Senior Center was a place for many residents in the San Gabriel Valley community to go when they needed some company and a place to feel a much-needed sense of community.
When the building burned in the January 2025 Eaton Fire, there was an empty space in the lives of many seniors that needed to be filled. That’s where the Pasadena Senior Center stepped in, opening its doors to seniors in Altadena who lost their homes in the fire.
“We have a lot of hope,” said Akila Gibbs, executive director for the Pasadena Senior Center. “We’re not going to let people walk through this by themselves. We’re going to be there.”
The Altadena Senior Center was destroyed in the terrifying first hours of the fire, which ignited Jan. 7, 2025 in a canyon and quickly spread. Fanned by powerful winds, the fire burned into neighborhoods, destroying homes and businesses that had been part of the community for decades.
The Eaton Fire grew to 14,000 acres, leaving 19 people dead and destroying 9,400 structures. It is the fifth-deadliest and second-most destructive wildfire in California history.
Mary Ellen Washington’s family bought their home in Altadena in November 1976. A flower pot owned by her mother that she brought with her on the move to California was one of the few items the fire did not destroy.
She said faith and the Pasadena Senior Center helped her rebuild a sense of belonging.
“It was our special place,” she said of the Altadena house. “It was hard to brush your hair. It was hard to do anything. Then, I started coming here.
“It’s good here. It’s a great place here. They don’t realize how much they mean to a person who’s really down and out.”
The home of Mercedes Matus and her family also was destroyed by flames. Her family moved into the house in 1986 after coming to the United States from Belize.
“It was a very good feeling to know that you could come from a foreign country, work very hard, get yourself established, and just keep working and thinking… this is going to be for generation after generation,” Matus said.
The family found out about the destruction of their home when they saw it on a TV news reports. The property was where they created lifetime memories and planted a lemon tree with seeds from Belize in the front yard.
The Matus’ found a sense of home at the Pasadena Senior Center.
“We’re still together,” she said. “And, that’s where we got to meet a lot more friends.
“We have a lot of people in our situation who are coming here, so we all sit down and talk. What we’re doing. What’s going to happen. What we’re not going to allow to happen to us. We’re going to keep on fighting.”
Peter Matus, who works at the center, described it as a second home.
“This was the one certainly I had in my life,” he said. “This was the one certainty they had in their lives.”
The Matus family told NBCLA Monday morning that rebuilding permits had been approved for their property.
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