Jennifer Seifert knows how to pull from a reservoir of resilience in the face of hardship. A trauma-informed therapist, mom, actress and writer, the Altadena resident has wrestled with chronic illness, depression and loss, and she has long leaned into art to rescue her. In fact, she once planned a vibrant creativity festival from her hospital bed. And when she and her family lost their Altadena home and belongings to the Eaton fire (due to smoke damage), she turned to the creative community to help herself and other survivors deal with their grief, fear and despair.
Seifert is mom to two boys and founder of CRxEATIVITY, a business she created to support artists and other creatives. The CRxEATIVITY Festival, which she co-produces, features live performances from local L.A. artists. Through her GoFundME campaign, she aims to get the business and festival back up and running.
Can you tell us about your beloved neighborhood?
We lived in the JPL [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory] neighborhood, one block west of Lincoln Avenue. The fire line on Lincoln to protect NASA saved our home. However, we are still displaced due to the smoke damage and “toxic environment.”
Our town is flattened — nearly 10,000 buildings have burned and at least 25,000 folks are displaced. Many of us, who are chronically ill already, may not be able to go back “home” for years. This is our place in the world, and unless we rally, we can’t do it alone. I plan to hold a CRxEATIVITY Festival sooner rather than later because I believe in the concept of “healing through creativity.”
How are you and your family holding up during this challenging time?
We have been blessed to have an incredible support system of friends. One college friend set us up in her AirBnb for a couple of weeks. We’ve lived in and out of four different hotels, and both my husband and I have been working full time. He’s with LAUSD and I’m a full time AMFT specializing in trauma. Everyone I know who lives in my town has been flattened by this event. Some of us have taken time off (I didn’t and now regret it), and some friends haven’t stopped moving.
Luckily, my kids’ school, despite losing its elementary campus and sustaining damage to the middle school building, was one of the first in the district to start back up in a different location. My children talked about how, for the first three weeks, it didn’t register; they were numb. Now, they’re just incredibly sad and overwhelmed with the changes ahead.
Can you tell us what happened the night the Eaton Fire threatened your neighborhood? What steps did you and your family take?
I was following [climate activist] Edgar McGregor’s weather forecasts that morning. And when I read “100 MPH in the canyons,” all I could think was, “We live in between two canyons, and this is going to be brutal.” So, I told my husband to come home early (the kids’ school was closed already) and said we’d stay the night in the Courtyard Marriott in Old Town Pasadena. I packed important paperwork, but no wedding albums or anything like that, because it was “only wind” and how bad could it be? We were at the hotel watching the news when we found out about the fire.
You were renting your house. It didn’t burn, but you have said you won’t be able to return.
It has been deemed uninhabitable because the water isn’t usable and remediation has not happened yet.
What resources or support have you found most helpful during this crisis?
FEMA has been great, as well as 211LA. But our friends have been the best resources. They have all banded together in Altadena to help support one another. Our friends who have not been directly affected have been incredibly helpful with meals, gift cards and even just some time to breathe and cry. Aveson (our school) has also been an incredible resource. The ACO (the equivalent of the PTA) has raised at least $100,000 for the families affected by the fires.
My sorority also has gifted my family with some monetary support. The people in my community have always organized. They have always banded together (political, ethical protests, etc.), but even those most affected now by the fires have created groups for mental health, clean up, donation centers, free zooms with lawyers…
How are your children coping with the displacement and other changes caused by the fire?
I think because our children have gone through Covid and the major disruption that happened from 2nd-5th grade, this feels like another bump in the road. We’ve handled a lot of it with humor, but just the other night (after one month exactly), the 14-year-old said, “I just can’t believe that it really happened.” As a trauma-informed therapist, I’m coping in the same way. Numb, disbelief and, finally, some serious grief.
What additional support do you need?
When I am able, I plan to get us all into EMDR therapy to help with the collective PTSD. We’ve had to share a one bedroom hotel room, and given that we were constantly on top of one another, there have been moments of tears, frustration and holding each other.
What concerns do you have about your children’s education and school attendance in the aftermath of the fire?
I am worried about the air quality, as they are still in the Pasadena area. I’m not worried about attendance or academic success, as Aveson has always been about personalized learning and meeting the students where they are, but I am concerned that we may be behind when we start high school in the fall.
How has the notion of home/neighborhood changed for you during this time?
All of our neighborhood is on a thread right now, and as we all plan to move back in over the next year, I do believe that going through this has made our bond stronger.
What do you think you and other families will most need this spring?
I think by the spring, we will need organization and monetary help.
I’d like to receive several of these “arts” grants to produce our 8th CRxEATIVITY Festival (Creativity Rx- healing through creativity). I’m not sure if the event will be able to take place in Altadena, but we are hoping to find a venue that everyone feels comfortable in.
In the meantime, CRxEATIVITY is offering a free Artist’s Way course for displaced artists of Altadena. We’ve lost so much, but CRxEATIVITY is my own Altadena baby. So, there is a desire to really push on.
