Shouts of joy can be heard from the playground at the Eagle Rock Recreation Center. A group of 30 children is grouped based on their favorite breakfast.
“I like pancakes better than waffles,” one boy announced.
“Pancakes, pancakes!” They sang together while beckoning others to join them.
There was a sense of normalcy among the children gathered at the recreation center, despite the upheaval in their families' lives. Just a few miles away, thousands of Altadena homes, schools and businesses lie in ruins, devastated by the Eaton Fire.
The Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed at least 11 public and private schools and about 30 daycares (and thousands of families have been displaced by the torrent of damage) and destroyed more than 12,000 structures, including many homes.
Across Los Angeles County, many families whose lives have been upended by the fires are looking to maintain structure and routine for their children and are turning to temporary disaster camps, including Project:Camp. In partnership with Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks, the camp offers free child care during the fire crisis. The organization has responded to disasters across the country, including Hurricane Helene in North Carolina in 2024 and the Maui wildfires in 2023.
The organization has established three camps throughout Los Angeles County and plans to open more as needed. This week, every camp in Los Angeles has filled its spots within hours of opening registration.
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Organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, and Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation also offer free childcare options. And other preschools, local businesses and families have stepped up to create temporary child care in this time of need.
“Younger children, in particular, rely on consistency in their lives to feel like everything is okay,” said clinical psychologist Karen Rogers of the National Center for Crisis and Grief at Children's Hospital LA. “And if their school is no longer here, if they have to live in a different place, then that sense of predictability can disappear for them.”
This is where you can find free child care.
Frances, 6, and Harriet, 9, rushed to hug their mother Anne Thornberg as she waited to pick them up at the Eagle Rock Recreation Center. Both girls had spent the past few days playing and sharing snippets of their experiences with other children as part of Project:Camp's trauma-informed approach to care. St. Mark's School in Altadena, which they both attend, was destroyed by the Eaton Fire.
“It's hard to be 9 and 6 and be at home and feel like everything is uncertain,” Thornberg said, adding that many of her daughters' friends had lost their homes.
Anne Thornberg picks up her daughters Frances, 6, left, and Harriett, 9, who are attending Project:Camp, which provides free child care to families affected by the fires, at the Eagle Rock Recreation Center on Jan. 15. Frances and Harriett's school in St. Mark burned in the Eaton Fire.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The same goes for Michael Dodge, whose two children attended Altadena Arts Magnet, which he learned will be one of the last schools within Pasadena Unified to get support to reopen because it has been damaged by fire. He wants his 7- and 9-year-old children to be around other children and be able to maintain a sense of security through in-person routines while he and his wife work, volunteer and support friends, many of whom have lost their housing. .
“We try to follow routines,” said Dodge, who continues to take her children to their usual dance and basketball activities after picking them up from camp, despite the disruptions.
Establishing structure through camps and other activities can make children feel more comfortable when everything around them is changing, said Rogers, who also advises local school systems affected by the fires. Knowing what will happen throughout the day can make a big difference, he added.
Daycares like Big and Tiny 10th Street Preschool in Santa Monica are also trying to contribute to the stability of families by providing free care to those displaced by the fires. Owner Keltse Bilbao had the first student start on Wednesday, accompanied by her mother to ease anxiety. He has heard from 15 families interested in enrolling their children this month.
Meanwhile, her two daughters, whose charter school campus remains closed because it is in an evacuation zone, are opting to attend free camps in Santa Monica run by a local gymnastics center and taekwondo school instead of attending online school. They longed for a sense of normalcy, Bilbao said, explaining how eager they were to return to their home in Brentwood after the evacuation, despite the lack of electricity. He hoped the camps would also provide stability.
“At this point, I'd rather they do something in person,” Bilbao said. “If next week we see that this is going to take a long time, we may have to get them on Zoom, but I'm not excited about that.”
After the private school her son attends, Village School in Pacific Palisades, burned down, Nicki Hemmat said she and other parents struggled with child care and how to keep them busy.
Hemmat, who lives in Brentwood but not in an evacuation zone, ended up hosting daily “camps” this week for his son and children from other damaged or closed elementary schools in and around the Palisades.
On Tuesday, a dozen children gathered on the playground and field at the Barrington Recreation Center to play basketball. A sports coach, who had offered to supervise the children at a greatly reduced rate, led them in exercises while Hemmat and a few other parents exchanged stories about fire recovery by the picnic tables.
“Normal is good for these kids,” Hemmat said. “There they spent a few days glued to their iPads. We wanted to get them out and get them moving. And this way, their parents can have some time to fill out any paperwork or applications they need, just like with FEMA.”
This article is part of the Times' early childhood education initiative, which focuses on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. To learn more about the initiative and its philanthropic sponsors, visit latimes.com/earlyed.
