Altadena Girls was a fire relief success story. A year later, can it still help as L.A. moves on?

"A few dozen teen and tween girls, all affected by the wildfires that had ripped their town apart in January, came together for a "cozy cabin" hangout night in downtown Pasadena - some making Christmas ornaments while others applied glittery makeup and temporary tattoos or kicked back on overstuffed furniture. Avery Colvert, who founded Altadena Girls in January as a 14-year-old, hung garlands and decorations around the 12,000-square-foot complex, beaming that what she'd built was at last open to the world."

"The nonprofit was still gussying up the podcast studios, rock band rehearsal rooms and the basement "Sliving" lounge - a young content creators' paradise decorated by Paris Hilton, who coined the term referring to living your best life. "We have a video of Avery touring the space at the very beginning, and she was talking about what she imagined would be in each room," her mother, Lauren Sandidge, said at the event last month."

"Of all the charities that emerged in the chaos and triage of January's fires, none captured popular attention like Altadena Girls. Avery organized her community to raise donations of clothing, hygiene kits and other essentials (and life-affirming pleasures) that displaced teen girls needed - over a million items in all. Altadena Girls became a social media sensation and a celebrity-beloved cause."

Altadena Girls opened a 12,000-square-foot community hangout offering podcast studios, rock band rehearsal rooms and a themed "Sliving" lounge for teen and tween girls affected by January wildfires. The space hosted cozy activities such as ornament-making, glitter makeup, temporary tattoos and comfortable seating. The nonprofit began in January when Avery Colvert, then 14, organized large-scale donation drives that collected over a million items including clothing and hygiene kits for displaced teen girls. The initiative gained major social media attention and celebrity support, but the group faces the ongoing challenge of dwindling funding and public attention.

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