Lizz Porter

🎧 Listen to the podcast! @afterthefireusa.bsky.social CEO @jgt-707.bsky.social and business owners Melissa Schuster and @lizzporter.bsky.social spoke with Mina Kim on managing the practicalities of losing your home to a wildfire.

Airport bartender says “I’ll be right back” and leaves. There are no employees here. What’s a reasonable time to wait for her return so you can pay? (There are 3 other customers plus me)

Friends, if my wildfire-related content has been helpful to you this last week, you can also help support my own family’s recovery (because it’s still ongoing) by purchasing items from my business, pewpewlasercraft.com. Thank you!

If you have a friend who is impacted by fires, do me a favor: Set a reminder for 6-9 mo from now to check in, send a gift card. It’s hard when you’re in the thick of recovery and the world has moved on. All of this support and donations + assistance goes away + then you’re on your own and it sucks.

Etsy sellers impacted by the fires: Did you know Etsy has free grant money available? Up to $2000! Apply here: advocacy.etsy.com/etsy-emergen...

Wildfire fundraiser: All proceeds after costs will be donated directly to families via GoFundMe. Please check out the link and share! pewpewlasercraft.com/products/i-c...

Here’s what we’re not gonna do: Shame/harass people for how they act (or don’t) after the fire. You don’t know how you’d react either. Exhibit A: I snapped my mask off, posed and smiled for a pic after spending several hours sifting through the ashes of our home. I don’t know why, muscle memory?

A note for my fellow wildfire survivors: Being on here and helping/talking to people is work in the thick of it work. Hard work. Take care of yourself and be gentle with your heart.

Eventually, the fires in Southern California will subside and while the grieving process will continue, the rebuilding of people’s lives will have to begin. Here’s what @lizzporter.bsky.social wishes she’d known when she was evacuating and came back to a destroyed home.

If you want to share with non-social media peeps, my tips have been compiled here on @sfchronicle.com www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

And please: “Victims” are those who lost their lives. “Survivors” are the rest of us.

It’s also ok to make jokes. A friend called us from 100 mi away, a few days after the fire. “We making jokes yet?” As ash rained down in his yard. My husband said yes, and he replied “Great. Can you come get your house out of our pool? Thanks.” It’s not right for everyone, but it was right for us.

Speaking of your property, you’ll hear that touching the debris will void any assistance with cleanup. Also not true. Be careful not to increase the size of the footprint. Keep the ash contained where it is. Don’t toss shovel over your shoulder, move it to 1 side.

When you can access your property, don’t step into the footprint without PPE. That shit is toxic. Boot covers, tyvek suits, N95 masks, the whole nine.

Also. ALSO! You will hear rumors that “You don’t need to sign up with FEMA if you have insurance because they won’t help you.” While you may not be eligible for direct FEMA grants if insured, it opens the door to other options, like low interest loans to help you rebuild. When FEMA shows up, go.

Fire survivors: Go create a dedicated email for anything and everything Fire related. Gmail is fine, but have an address to give out to charities, insurance people, construction people, all that stuff. I wish I’d done this.

PLEASE don’t tell people it’s “just stuff” DO NOT. A survivor can say that about their own things, you, however, cannot tell them that. It’s easy to say when it’s not your stuff. Yes it was “just stuff,” but I liked it and didn’t deserve to have it turned to ash. It’s minimizing and hurtful.

Hi friends, I’m still here reading, but I also really love my pet-filled feed because I told the algo that pets were my only interest when I signed up.

Creative person problems: I ordered like 100 of these little dudes in capsules and I don’t remember what my plan was. Any ideas?

The highlight of my Spotify Wrapped is that it used my “Vocal Warmup” exercises as background music. Literally a piano and a dude saying “Now we say the hum” and “Now say, Mommy made me match my m&m’s”

WWYD? We have about $1000 in Disney credit from the card, but are kind of over Disneyland for a while. What should we do with it? Keep saving for a cruise? Blow it on a Disney store shopping spree? Reminder our only kid is almost 17.

Raise your hand if you’re having Trader Joe’s chocolate or almond croissants for breakfast this morning. 🙋🏻‍♀️

In 4th grade, I went to summer camp and there was this girl there with the most amazing red hair, and she had it shaved on one side around her ear and we were all so jealous of how amazing and cool she was. Thinking of that girl, wherever she is now, as I wait for Cyndi Lauper to take the stage.

What are we calling individual posts on this here platform? Rainbows? Clouds? Raindrops? Chemtrails?

My entire feed is cats and dogs because that's the only interest button I clicked when setting up this account. I'm tempted to leave it.