To get to Tepito Coffee in Pasadena, you take the Lake Avenue exit to Colorado Boulevard. Mike de la Rocha can tell you a short drive north up Lake will reveal the still-uncleared rubble and ash of the Eaton Fire.
“This fire cut real close to home, so when the fires erupted, we had to close down and we just went into action,” said De la Rocha, co-owner of Tepito Coffee.
Action meant rounding up volunteers from the coffee shop and Homeboy Industries, a partner at Tepito that also trains baristas from Homeboy’s rehabilitation program for former gang members and the incarcerated. They delivered 300 coffee cakes and served coffee to wildfire victims and first responders, spending two weeks at the command center at the Rose Bowl doing the same for more than 2,000 firefighters and first responders.
A week after the fire erupted, a crew from Homeboy Industries spent a day at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, unloading a water delivery and cleaning the ash and dust from the sanctuary, chapel and hallways.
“It was really beautiful to give a sense of love in that moment,” De la Rocha said.
“Dena Heals,” is the result of that impulse and desire to help. The collaboration among Revolve Impact, Fabletics, Homeboy Industries, Botanica Melo, Savage Fenty, The Paseo and others provides a free shop and wellness center for individuals and families directly impacted by the Eaton Fire.
A Mutual Aid Marketplace opened on Jan. 30, and more than 600 people came through to pick up free clothing, including jackets and athletic wear. Healthcare workers got to pick from new scrubs. More than 300 pairs of shoes, Hydroflasks and glasses were also distributed.
An adjoining wellness center offered a sound bath, offering deep relaxation through healing sound vibrations. Children get their own space. De la Rosa also led a men’s healing circle, a space for men to get out of their comfort zones.
“We’re conditioned to hold everything and that leads to us getting sick or acting out in unhealthy ways, and this is a space to heal together and release,” he said.
The next men’s healing circle is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at the wellness center. Organizers plan to hold one every other Thursday.
Healing circles are discussed De la Rosa’s book, “Sacred Lessons: Teaching My Father How to Love,” which he wrote to normalize men asking for help and raising awareness about modes of healing.
Both the marketplace and wellness center will stay open until the end of April, recognizing the need for Pasadenans, especially members from Black, Brown and Indigenous communities, to gain a semblance of normalcy and dignity after trauma and loss.
Elena Esparza, alternative medicine practitioner, will lead a two-day community Karma Clinic Feb. 8 and 9, also at the wellness center. It will feature chiropractic and acupuncture as well as traditional healings such as limpias and song cleansings.
De la Rosa and Tepito co-owner Jose Arellano, who is also a vice president at Homeboy Industries, said they hope Dena Heals serves as a community hub that meets people’s material and emotional needs.
“Tepito’s open again and we had regulars come in and just break down, and all we can do is walk beside them in their pain, hold space alongside them,” De la Rocha said. “We want Dena Heals to be a resource, a place where folks feel welcome, like Tepito was a refuge even before the fires.”
Rev. Greg Boyle, S.J., founder and director of Homeboy Industries, in a video statement, said building a beloved community means doing many things with great love.
“We commit ourselves to walk with everyone who suffers during this time of great displacement and loss of life, and loss of belongings, to remind ourselves that our greatest treasure is each other,” he said.
Dena Heals is at 300 E Colorado Blvd, No. 150 and 151, in Pasadena. For more information, visit denaheals.com.