Eaton Collaboratory Opens in Historic Altadena Site

In a building where NASA once monitored spacecraft hurtling through the solar system, community leaders on Friday launched a very different kind of mission — one rooted not in the stars, but in survival.

The Eaton Collaboratory, housed in the former Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mission Control Center that decades ago helped send Voyager into the cosmos, opened its doors this week as the permanent home of the Eaton Fire Collective — a coalition of more than 200 nonprofits, government agencies, and community partners formed in the ashes of January’s devastating Eaton Fire.

“This is the grand opening of the Collaboratory,” said Jill Hawkins, one of several early founders of the Collaborative, gesturing across the expansive warehouse now filled with new chairs and desks, shelves filled with donations, and community offices, all of which were donated.

“This was JPL before us, and this is where they launched the Voyager from Mission Control. Now, it’s where Altadena’s recovery launches.”

What once guided spacecraft now serves as a one-stop hub for fire survivors — offering case management, wellness programs, youth services, mental health support, and a “Collaboratory Store,” a free distribution space where displaced families can pick up daily essentials like bedding, cookware, diapers, and toiletries.

“The need is still huge,” Hawkins added. “People are still living in motels, in cars. This is going to be a long road. Everyone tells us recovery takes five years — we’re saying three, because that’s how Altadena does things.”

The Collaboratory houses more than 30 organizations on a daily basis, with as many as 45 participating in rotation through the rebuild center and donation operations. Every one of them, from small arts groups to mental health nonprofits, is committed to the same goal: bringing residents home.

Standing before the crowd during the ribbon-cutting, Christy Zamani, executive director of Day One Pasadena and chair of the long-term recovery group, drew sustained applause when she spoke of what the space represents.

“All these offices are filled because people love their community, they love Altadena, and they care about our survivors,” Zamani said. “We believe, and we will not stop until everybody gets back home. That’s what this is about. Everything we do here is survivor-focused. That is our one and only goal here at the Collaboratory at the EFC — in every room we’re in, with some one acronym or another, the only thing that matters at the end of the day are survivors. That’s it.”

Zamani praised the entirely volunteer-led effort — a network of organizations that pooled resources, skills, and sheer persistence to build what she called a “miracle from nowhere.”

For Antonio Manning, chair of the Eaton Fire Leadership Council, the opening was both “a culmination and a beginning.” The site, he noted, once served as the temporary staging area for first responders during the fire.

“It’s full circle,” he said. “Now it becomes the hub for rebuilding and restoration.”

Lisa Valentin, chief executive of the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena, described those chaotic early days — from keeping doors open for displaced children and families to raising nearly $500,000 in direct relief for residents who lost everything. “We started by handing out $100 Target gift cards,” she said. “Sometimes the smallest act — a shower, a clean shirt — made the biggest difference.”

Victoria Knapp, chair of the Altadena Town Council, called the Collaboratory “the first true home base” for survivors. “To have a safe place that’s friendly, well-organized, and puts all the groups under one roof means everything,” she said.

The Eaton Fire Collective continues to seek funding to sustain operations and staff as it transitions from volunteer to permanent capacity. But on opening day, the tone was unmistakably hopeful.

“This was a dream,” said one of the volunteer founders. “A year ago, we were still looking for a space. Today, we’re full.”

In a place once devoted to exploring the universe, Altadena’s residents are charting their own recovery mission — one focused not on distance traveled, but on neighbors finally coming home.

For more information visit eatonfirecollaborative.org