Speaker 1: Let's say good morning now to SOLA Foundation's founder, Sherry Francis.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Sherry, Amy, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1: So so happy to have you here, because you guys
Speaker 1: are doing some great work. Before we dive into the
Speaker 1: event that's happening this weekend called Together We Rebuild, can
Speaker 1: you tell people a little bit about what SOLA Foundation
Speaker 1: is and does.
Speaker 2: SOLA Foundation is the affiliated nonprofit of Sola Impact, which
Speaker 2: is an affordable housing developer throughout La And essentially we
Speaker 2: work towards providing access to education, to opportunity to jobs
Speaker 2: to really just elevate and assist with overall wellbeing of
Speaker 2: the communities, the most vulnerable communities rather in La.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you're already doing great work and have been
Speaker 1: doing it for several years, and then the wildfire's hit,
Speaker 1: and so while you continue to do all of that
Speaker 1: great work, you're also shifting focus to help the people
Speaker 1: who've been affected by the wildfires. So tell us about
Speaker 1: what you've been doing and then what you're doing this weekend.
Speaker 2: To help out well through the campaign Together We Rebuild.
Speaker 2: We feel that we need to be committed to working
Speaker 2: to help rebuild La. We started unanticipated with a phone
Speaker 2: call from a Altadena school called Rosebud Academy that was
Speaker 2: desperate to find a home temporarily after the devastation of
Speaker 2: losing their school. They called us and said, hey, we
Speaker 2: hear that you have a tech center at the Behad campus.
Speaker 2: Is there any way that you could house us for
Speaker 2: a while. And we took in one hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: kids transform the space and overweeken and from pre k
Speaker 2: all the way through eighth grade, and we had the
Speaker 2: kids in the space for a little just about two weeks,
Speaker 2: and fortunately they were able to find a more permanent
Speaker 2: home closer home. But that really ignited the idea that
Speaker 2: we should be and could be doing a lot more.
Speaker 2: We are still standing, and so we decided that this
Speaker 2: weekend we would put out an SOS So tomorrow we're
Speaker 2: bringing together over sixty partners who including the Red Cross,
Speaker 2: BMO core Master. It's bigger than us, and we're providing
Speaker 2: a day for folks who've been affected by the fires
Speaker 2: to come to the Behive campus not only to have
Speaker 2: a good time with all the experiences for adults and kids,
Speaker 2: but also take home both tangible really needed resources like
Speaker 2: brand new clothes, essentials, gift cards, furniture, but also what
Speaker 2: I think vital is education and information on how to
Speaker 2: navigate and receive financial assistance and how the support. So
Speaker 2: we have housing housing providers who are ready to sign
Speaker 2: people up. We have organizations like the Red Cross and
Speaker 2: Better Angels who are going to be on the spot
Speaker 2: providing financial assistance, checks, gift cards. And we really wanted
Speaker 2: to be a holistic experience, so we've were setting up
Speaker 2: a spa for massages and haircuts and beauty treatments, a
Speaker 2: kid's carnivals so kids can come and win great prizes.
Speaker 2: We have toys for tots and Mattel donating a lot
Speaker 2: of toys for kids, and so we really expect the
Speaker 2: day to be a day of reprieve, a day of recovery,
Speaker 2: a day of resources, and we invite any families or
Speaker 2: individuals who've been impacted by the fires to come to
Speaker 2: the behive. It takes place from ten am. We're kicking
Speaker 2: it off with a gospel brunch, which is a lot
Speaker 2: of fun, and then the vendor villages and the shopping experiences,
Speaker 2: the food court, all of that opens at eleven o'clock
Speaker 2: four and at four for those that want to stick around,
Speaker 2: we have a benefit show that includes comedians, artists, musicians
Speaker 2: to wrap up the day.
Speaker 1: I love that, So not only are you having a
Speaker 1: productive day, but also maybe a break because again we've
Speaker 1: said several times that it feels like a lot of
Speaker 1: us are moving on who weren't directly affected by the fires,
Speaker 1: but for you know, ten twelve, thirteen thousand homes, their
Speaker 1: lives are not back to normal and won't be for
Speaker 1: a very long time. And I'm imagining that it's incredibly
Speaker 1: stressful trying to navigate where you go and what you do.
Speaker 1: Even though we're a month and a half out. It's
Speaker 1: a long road.
Speaker 2: It's a long road and years right for that matter.
Speaker 2: But if we can provide this day, one of the
Speaker 2: things that we've heard from multiple people, it's been a
Speaker 2: while since I've smiled. We want to bring smiles to
Speaker 2: their faces, to the kids' faces, and this is the
Speaker 2: first mini we plant. We've got. It's a good problem
Speaker 2: to have, but we've had so many partners who want
Speaker 2: to come out and help throughout LA and so we
Speaker 2: know that we have to continue this because there's a
Speaker 2: lot of opportunity and a lot of work to be done.
Speaker 2: Quite frankly, Okay.
Speaker 1: So it's a day of recovery and resilience. Together we rebuild,
Speaker 1: and it's tomorrow starting at ten am from ten to
Speaker 1: four at the Beehive, which is at one thousand East
Speaker 1: sixtieth Street in La So, if you know anybody affected
Speaker 1: or if you are directly affected by the fires, what
Speaker 1: a great place to go and spend your Saturday. And
Speaker 1: then I also wanted to ask you real quick, Sherry,
Speaker 1: what do you guys still need and how can we help?
Speaker 2: We would love more volunteers. We've got a lot of
Speaker 2: great folks who are signed up on our website Thesolo
Speaker 2: Foundation dot org. Anyone who's interested in volunteering or supporting,
Speaker 2: it's all there, but we really want to make sure
Speaker 2: we get the word out and get to them that
Speaker 2: have been most affected. And we also are providing free
Speaker 2: transportation from the Alpadina and Pasadena areas. So all of
Speaker 2: that information lives right now on that website, the Solo
Speaker 2: Foundation dot org.
Speaker 1: Doing great work. Solo Foundation founder Shery Francis, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for coming on and tell your friends because
Speaker 1: it's a day of recovery and resilience and a whole
Speaker 1: lot of fun too. Tomorrow ten to four.
Speaker 2: Thank you Amy, Thanks Sherry,