How a 14-year-old girl turned a good deed after the L.A. fires into a thriving nonprofit

Altadena Girls began as a pop-up shop immediately after the Eaton Fire tore through Los Angeles, born out of a desire to help affected teenage girls regain a sense of their identity.

The mission was simple yet profound: offer a space where they could rebuild what had been lost—clothing, makeup, and other items that help define who they are. The impact was significant as it reached more than 42 million people on social media in the first few weeks while receiving support from high-level brands and celebrities.

Now, Altadena Girls is planning to open a community center dedicated to empowering young girls, helping them through trauma, and providing long-term support.

In the Beginning 

Avery Colvert, 14, started Altadena Girls as a way to help her friends who had lost everything in the fires. Shelters and donation spaces had necessities like food, water, and blankets, so Colvert, who lives in Pasadena, decided to take a different approach to help those who needed more than just the bare essentials.

“I wanted to specifically focus on teenage girls, because when you’re a teenager and you’re still growing up and getting to know yourself, things like your clothes and your makeup and how you do your hair, it’s a piece of your identity,” Colvert says. “And they lost that in the fire, so I wanted to provide a space where they could get those items back.” 

The Eaton Fire, which started on January 7, claimed 17 lives as powerful winds propelled the flames across the region, giving residents little time to gather belongings before evacuating. The fire devastated the Altadena community in Los Angeles County, destroying more than 9,400 structures and scorching 14,021 acres. The road to recovery will be long and costly, with rebuilding expenses potentially costing hundreds of billions of dollars.

Meanwhile, there are concerns about the long-term health impacts of prolonged exposure to hazardous air quality, and the emotional toll on the region is profound. Thousands have been displaced, including longtime residents and entertainment industry veterans like Mandy Moore and Richard Cabral.

Colvert first spread the word about what she wanted to do through an Instagram page she created on January 11 for Altadena Girls. Her stepfather, Matt Chait, who has a background in branding and graphic design, quickly put together a logo. They hadn’t planned to start accepting donations until the following day, but the page gained traction almost immediately. Before they knew it, trucks loaded with supplies were arriving at the studio space in Boyle Heights where Colvert had set up shop. Clothing, shoes, beauty products, personal items, feminine hygiene products, and hair care filled up the space, as volunteers showed up without being asked—ready to help. 

“An army of volunteers showed up from 10 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m., helped us open and close and reorganize,” Colvert says. “The people were able to sort clothes and make it look nice and beautiful [so that] it’s a fun experience. It’s about the memory that is left after shopping.” 

The community impact was highly emotional, especially in the first few days, as families were coming to the pop-up wearing the clothes they evacuated in, says Chait, who cofounded Altadena Girls with Colvert and her mother, Lauren Sandidge. As time went on, he noticed a shift in terms of what people were looking for, and how they acted when coming in. 

“There wasn’t so much of a desperation as much as a hope and a lot of interest in what’s next,” Chait says. “They were happy to come in and get the things they needed, but also see this beautiful space and wonder, Where else is it going from here?” 

Sandidge says it quickly became clear that what they were doing went far beyond physical items. “I think what resonated with us, just overall, is that this was about mental health.” 

Help From Celebrities 

As Altadena Girls grew, it began attracting attention from prominent figures in Los Angeles. Celebrities including Paris Hilton, Kerry Washington, Gwyneth Paltrow, Max Greenfield, Tess Sanchez, Karla Welch, Mindy Kaling, and Jennifer Siebel Newsom played a role in amplifying the nonprofit’s mission. Meghan Markle and the Archewell Foundation were also instrumental in the organization’s success. Markle donated her own clothes and spent time carrying bags of supplies out to people’s cars, while the Archewell Foundation helped Altadena Girls secure the lease on its new building. 

“They’re just so kind, and they have such a huge platform. It’s really cool seeing someone with that many fans and followers share something like this,” says Colvert.

In late January, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong played a Los Angeles concert with his side project the Coverups at L.A.’s Troubadour, with proceeds going to a number of relief organizations, Altadena Girls being one of them. Brands like Skims, Orebella, Huda Beauty, Rare Beauty, and R.e.m. Beauty also donated clothes and makeup to Altadena Girls.  

Working as a Family

This entire experience has brought Colvert’s family closer than ever. Since her school, Eliot Arts Magnet Academy, burned down in the fires, she has been attending remotely—giving the family more time together than they’ve had since the COVID-19 lockdowns. But this time, rather than feeling trapped and helpless, they’re all working to make Altadena Girls a permanent fixture. 

“For Avery to be exposed to how much work goes into something like this, both on the floor, but also the meetings and negotiations and contracts, I’m glad she gets to see how much work there is,” Chait says.

For Sandidge and Chait, it has been both eye-opening and rewarding to navigate this journey as life partners and now business partners. Seeing their daughter through others’ eyes has been especially meaningful.

“To see strengths that are not always recognized in a traditional school setting, to see people validate [Avery] and tell her, ‘You are amazing, being a leader is good’” has been meaningful, Sandidge says, noting they’ve been equally grateful “to have all of these really strong, powerful women volunteers show up.” 

At first, people were eager to send checks and cash donations to support Altadena Girls, but without the proper infrastructure in place, it wasn’t in a position to accept funds. Within days, it secured a fiscal sponsorship through the Edward Charles Foundation. With support from the Archewell Foundation, Altadena Girls set up a pledge link account, ensuring that every donation was properly documented as soon as it started accepting monetary funds. 

“We didn’t want to get any dollars to ourselves personally at all, so it wasn’t until everything was locked and ready [that we started accepting monetary donations]. Now that is the best way for people to support us,” Chait says.

Future Plans

After addressing the immediate needs of the community, Colvert and her parents quickly realized they were ready to expand into something bigger. 

“Two weeks later, when the headlines go away, there are long-term impacts that are mental and emotional and sometimes even financial,” says Chait. “I already started to see some of the other pop-ups around town closing their doors and moving on to the next thing.”

With a vision for long-term impact, their realtor found them an empty location that used to be a bank in Old Town Pasadena, with enough space to have therapy rooms, music studios, and even a dance studio in the basement. 

“I’m very excited about this because we’re going to offer dance, yoga, and movement. We’re going to offer mental health resources. We’re going to offer music practice areas, music lessons,” Colvert says, noting that she was inspired to expand the offerings after the destruction of her own school meant that students no longer had access to dance, theater, or film classes. “We have a big multipurpose space where lots of people want to give training and lectures and teach anything from cooking to hair to taxes.”

Colvert is passionate about providing resources that aren’t typically taught in schools. While creativity will be a big part of the space, there will also be classes focused on business and entrepreneurship. “Personally . . . sometimes in school, I didn’t feel as empowered. I felt brought down in certain areas,” she says. “And I want to just uplift girls.”

Though the 12,000-square-foot space currently looks drab and gray, Colvert has big plans to transform it. With Pinterest boards, collages, and a wealth of ideas, she envisions a vibrant, welcoming space—pink and full of creativity—that will be perfect for the girls. As they work to transform the space, funding will be essential to making it happen.

“We’ve got the product, we’ve got the partnerships, we also have a very big monthly bill when it comes to rent and utilities and even food for the volunteers and trash hauling, and all sorts of stuff. Right now, financial donations are what will allow us to move forward in the future,” Chait says. 

The location is also ideal. On a busy, well-lit corner near a police station and high-end restaurants, the space is easily accessible by public transportation, and girls can be dropped off safely. This central location played a significant role in the decision to move forward. Altadena Girls expects to open its doors in late March or early April. 

“It’s going to feel special, feel clean, safe . . . like something different,” Sandidge says. “And hopefully we can send the message to all of these girls that they have worth and they deserve to have a nice, beautiful space.”