The Palisades Fire was a devastating tragedy for the community but the disaster sparked a sense of community among many residents that has grown into a full-fledged movement generating ongoing environmental activism .
Santa Monica Helping Hub began as an effort to help fire victims in 2025 and has since expanded citywide, running a farm-to-neighbor program, food rescue work, beach cleanups in partnership with the Coastal Alliance, and monthly dune walks.
Founder Stephanie Inouye never expected to run a nonprofit. A lifelong Santa Monica resident, she was involved in the surfing community while working in the film industry. When the Palisades Fire struck, Inouye rescued an elderly woman from a burning apartment, an act for which the American Red Cross later honored her as a Hometown Hero.
Soon after, she called on her network of female surfers up and down the coast to help people displaced by the fires. Santa Monica Helping Hub officially opened Jan. 11, and one social media post was enough to bring donations pouring in. For about a month, the work was nonstop: The group gathered supplies requested by the National Guard, collected donations, and distributed food, clothing and toiletries — whatever people needed — while working alongside World Central Kitchen.
“World Central Kitchen was one of the most amazing outlets I’ve ever seen,” Inouye said. “They came by, physically, and fed our volunteers.”
Santa Monica Helping Hub and World Central Kitchen ran a farmers market for about three months so fire victims could pick up a bag of fresh, organic produce each week. That model became the basis for the farm-to-neighbor program the organization still runs today.
Among those who volunteered with Inouye early on was world-class surfer Carolyn Day, founder of Growing Hope Gardens. Inouye and Day partnered on the farm-to-neighbor program, which supplies low-income residents in Santa Monica and beyond with fresh produce grown through regenerative, organic farming.
Inouye also created Saturday Serve, a food rescue program that feeds homeless residents. Food rescue involves redistributing surplus food that would otherwise be thrown away to people who need it. Through Saturday Serve, volunteers warm, plate and serve meals to unhoused people at SaMoShel, Tongva Park and to homeless veterans in West Los Angeles.
“One of the pillars [of the surfing community] is if you want to make change with the environment, you have to tackle poverty first, so I’m always going to be part of educating folks about the environment and about our beaches and what they mean to us,” Inouye said.
That philosophy led her to organize monthly dune walks with the Coastal Alliance beginning in June. Each walk includes a beach cleanup and an educational session on the coastline, biodiversity, climate change and the dunes, led by Coastal Alliance founder and conservation biologist Ashley Oelsen. Every dune walk also features a guest speaker with a connection to the coast — past guests have included surfboard shapers, surfers and California Coastal Commissioners.
While the dune walks are open to everyone, Inouye said she is especially passionate about introducing the beach to people who have never visited. “My main goal is I would like people who have never come to the beach to enjoy the beach, to understand it, love it and take care of it, and [know] how it is interconnected to them in their life,” she said.
Volunteering with Santa Monica Helping Hub isn’t the only way to get involved in fighting climate change, Inouye said. She encourages people to reduce food waste, bring reusable mugs to coffee shops instead of using disposable cups, pick up litter, avoid littering themselves, and get involved with environmental organizations.
“I care deeply about [this work] because I was born and raised here — these are people that I know, and I care about what’s happening on our coastline and in the ocean because we’re front line,” Inouye said. “All the surfers are front line in the ocean when it’s not doing well, when there’s spills, when there’s policy that’s going to hurt it — we feel it, breathe it, see it first. It’s full circle for me. I enjoy the work, and I want to keep helping my community as much as I can.”
To donate or volunteer, visit Santa Monica Helping Hub.
Lila Victor, Special to the Daily Press