February 2026 – The Outreach Team Looks Back and Moves Ahead
Once a month, PPTFH meets with The People Concern’s Palisades Outreach Team, which is funded and supported by PPTFH. At these meetings, in addition to providing outcome data, the team shares a “success” story. As the new year began, team members surprised us with their reflections on the challenges of 2025 as they carried out their steady, continuing work. We thought you might appreciate their reflections. This is the Outreach Team’s story, in their words. To put faces to names, see the photo at the end.
The fire devastated our Palisades community. Residents experienced upheaval, desolation, and loss. Precious things were taken from us. The definition of homelessness took on a new meaning as residents began to navigate the aftermath of displacement.
How We Kept Going
The Palisades landscape changed, but our mission did not. For our clients, instability was not new, but the fire intensified it. Our work never stopped; it simply shifted. The tragedy required us to adapt, listen more closely, and show up with greater flexibility. Our focus remained: meet people where they are and respond with care and compassion. We held onto our belief that everyone deserves safety, health, dignity, respect, and the opportunity to be housed.
At the same time, something else shifted. Barriers that once felt immovable began to soften. Some clients who had previously declined services sought support in new ways. Loss altered their priorities, opened conversations, and created opportunities for clients to accept options for safety and stability.
Our housing navigator spent countless hours advocating for clients, including accompanying them to the Housing Authority. He also stepped in as a resident mechanic, helping clients jumpstart their vehicles when needed. Our clinical case manager provided steady guidance, supporting both clients and the outreach team, often freeing the team to respond to urgent needs in the field. Our program manager offered direction when needed and encouraged us to keep advocating for our clients. The outreach team built strong credibility within the court system, and judges at the LAX courthouse recognized us for writing letters of support and attending court dates with clients.
People have asked us why we kept showing up after the fire. Our team’s responses speak for themselves:
- I was determined that the fire would not destroy what we had accomplished. I refused to let our efforts be defined by loss. Our commitment and consistency were things the community and our clients could rely on. So I showed up every day ready to work.
- —Glanda Sherman, Senior Case Manager
- In the wake of a natural disaster, I witnessed a community in deep distress and clients who feared for their lives while already living without stability. Concern for them motivated me to meet clients where they were and provide whatever stability I could.
- —Taylor Roberts, Case Manager
- The resilience of people experiencing homelessness after the fire is deeply moving. Despite having so little, and often no family or support systems to turn to, they endure, adapt, and find ways to survive. Their strength in the face of loss and isolation highlights both their humanity and the harsh realities they are forced to navigate every day. That resilience is why I work to help get people housed and why I refuse to give up hope.
- —Jaime Gallardo, Housing Navigator
- My commitment to my clients, my team, and the Pacific Palisades community remained strong, even as the disaster amplified the trauma of displacement and stripped away survival resources. I worked to ensure that people living on the streets were not abandoned during the community’s most difficult hour.
- —Tiffany Stewart, Program Manager
- The crisis created an unprecedented need for stability among our most vulnerable neighbors. During such a profound crisis, the greatest need is for a consistent, trusted presence to provide psychological first aid and navigate the path to recovery. I continued my work as senior clinical case manager to provide the critical mental health support necessary to bridge the gap between immediate survival ad long-term stabilization.
- —Jennifer Dukes, Clinical Case Manager
We Were Inspired by Community Resilience
Amid the destruction of 2025, we witnessed an inspiring surge of community resilience, where Palisadians insisted, “We are not defeated.” In April, the Day of Resiliency at Clover Park became a community celebration, where displaced residents greeted familiar faces, shared hugs and stories, and renewed neighborly bonds. In October, the LAPD Pacific Palisades Hillside Taskforce offered another kind of family reunion, where police, fire, state and city officials, and PPTFH volunteers reaffirmed their shared commitment to keep the Palisades safe. These events revealed a community coming together with determination and care.
We are deeply grateful to PPTFH, as you have continued to support our work. During the most challenging times, you have remained engaged and committed, showing up at meetings and joining us in the field. You understand the complexity of our work and recognize that meaningful outcomes take time. Your willingness to celebrate both modest and major successes with us has made a lasting difference.
At the threshold of 2026, we are moving forward, committed to our work and facing the future with hope and resolve.
PPTFH note: from January to June 2025, the Outreach Team
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Moved 17 clients into either permanent supportive or interim housing.
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Made 172 contacts with those clients to ensure that they remained successfully housed.
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Worked with 95 unhoused clients who remained in and around the Palisades community.
