“Beauty from ashes”: A conversation with Kendra Tierney Norton of ‘Catholic All Year’

On January 7, the Eaton fire broke out in the Angeles National Forest, which borders the Los Angeles County community of Altadena, just north of Pasadena. The massive fire eventually claimed 17 lives and destroyed 9,400 structures. While wildfires have been common over the years in the area, nothing has yet matched the destructiveness or intensity of this fire, with large sections of Altadena homes and businesses wiped out. Many surviving structures have significant damage and are in need of cleaning before they can be occupied.

Hence, many have been left homeless and in need, including a large number of Catholics who lived in the area.

Kendra Tierney Norton operates the “Catholic All Year” website and YouTube channel. She is a widowed, homeschooling mother of 10 (husband Jim died in 2022 after a 16-year battle with metastatic melanoma) who has since remarried and now has an additional four stepchildren. She lived in a 6,000-square-foot home in Altadena built in 1920 with 12 of her 14 children (two adult children lived elsewhere). The Eaton fire destroyed nine of the 12 homes on her block. While her home survived, the grounds were significantly damaged and the home must be extensively cleaned before it can be reoccupied.

Additionally, the community is still without basic necessities such as power, water and gas. Many of the surrounding businesses she had patronized have been destroyed as well. She is living with seven of her younger children in an Airbnb—the older children have returned to college—and hopes to reoccupy her Altadena home in the upcoming months.

While Kendra’s home survived, many in her tight-knit Catholic community have lost their homes and possessions. She is leading the effort to aid these Catholic communities through a Wildlife Relief Effort, which shares the stories of some of the Catholic families in need, solicits donations and sells products on their behalf to help them through this difficult time.

She spoke recently with CWR.

CWR: Can you tell us about your Altadena home?

Kendra Tierney Norton: My late husband Jim and I moved here with our children 10 years ago. It is 105 years old and sits on more than an acre of land. Such a large property is not easy to acquire in the Los Angeles area. When we bought it, it was advertised as a 10 bedroom; we have a large bedroom for the boys and another for the girls as well as a master bedroom.

It was once a luxury property, built for a mining magnate, his wife, daughter and servants. There have been a couple of owners since, including a music industry executive. By the time we bought it, it was being used piecemeal as a rental and had fallen into disrepair. We spent the following years fixing it up, making it a family home.

CWR: Did you have a concern about the wildfires?

Kendra Tierney Norton: Everyone who lives in the California foothills expects that there will be wildfires. It’s just that before the firefighters always kept them under control. This year was different. We had two fires [Eaton and the Pacific Palisades] at once, raging out of control.

What was surprising was that we didn’t get any warning to evacuate. There were no robocalls or sheriff driving a vehicle through the neighborhood telling us we should leave. We just looked out the window, saw the mountain on fire, and decided we should leave. We went to San Diego to stay with my parents. We have since moved to an Airbnb.

CWR: You are a homeschool mother?

Kendra Tierney Norton: Yes. I have three children I homeschool, and four at an independent Catholic school, St. Monica Academy at Holy Redeemer Parish in Montrose. Seven of our Catholic families in the school have lost their homes. … The Altadena/Pasadena area has a long Catholic history, with amazing, large families in the homeschooling community. It has been part of the culture since the 1970s. Today, we are part of the Christ the King homeschool group.

CWR: The Halpin family is part of your group; a video of them singing the Regina caeli at the ruins of their home went viral.

Kendra Tierney Norton: Yes, they are parishioners of St. Andrew’s in Pasadena, where we attend mass, and Mrs. Halpin works at St. Monica Academy. They are a deeply Catholic family, and they are singers. They live their faith with actions, not words. Their action, when confronted with the destruction of their home, was to praise God through song. It was inspiring.

CWR: When the fire was headed for your house, what you decide to do?

Kendra Tierney Norton: My husband’s priority was to get us to safety. My two oldest sons, ages 19 and 22, who are attending USC came and did what they could. They cut down burning branches and used water from the pool to douse the house next door, which was on fire. But there was no water in the tap.

CWR: Do your neighbors want to rebuild?

Kendra Tierney Norton: I hope they will. My biggest fear, after the loss of life and possessions, is that Altadena will lose its character. It had unique and quirky houses; we’re concerned that a developer will buy up blocks and build what we call “Santa Clarita tract homes.” We don’t want to look like that.

However, everyone is underinsured, and the price of building has increased.

CWR: How is your insurance process going?

Kendra Tierney Norton: It is going well. We have been reimbursed for the Airbnb. We met insurance representatives at the house, and they told us what is covered, and what isn’t. We’re going to be out of our house for weeks, if not months. There is no water, power, or gas. The reservoirs at the top of the hill have been damaged, so they’re trying to figure how they can pump water up to us from Pasadena.

The house is smoky and sooty, so it needs to be cleaned. Also, we’re underinsured on the exterior structures on the property, which we didn’t expect to burn down.

CWR: You created a Wildfire Relief Effort to help the Catholic families in the community.

Kendra Tierney Norton: Yes. There is a link to a novena on the page that we want people to pray for nine days if they can, but even a single time would help. There are also multiple links to make donations, and products they can buy that will benefit fire victims. We also want to connect with people; perhaps there is a job opportunity they could share that would help someone in need.

If you click on one of the links, you can “meet” some of the local families in need. The Bulgarini family, for example, lost both their home and the restaurant they operated in Altadena. It was their only means of income. They also employed 11 people, who lost their jobs because of the fire.

Sarah Ray is a widow with four young children. She lost her husband to brain cancer in 2022, and now has lost her home in the Altadena fire. They’re looking for temporary housing and want to rebuild their home.

Fatima Binns is also a widow with four young boys. Her home was damaged in the fire and need money for expenses while they try to repair and reenter their home.

The Slavin family, whose home is just behind mine, burned down. The husband, Dennis, is the cross country and track coach at St. Monica Academy. They lost everything, including a beautiful Dodge Charger they owned. It is now a burned hulk.

Angela Martin is a single mother of six. Their rental house burned down. They lost everything they own.

There are other tragedies like these. Normally, we’d rally around and support one another when problems occur, but in this case, the Catholic community here has been so hard hit that we’re reaching out to the broader community to help.

Any support offered would be most appreciated.

CWR: Other thoughts about this tragedy?

Kendra Tierney Norton: We consider resilience one of our core family values. We try to approach hardships with a positive attitude. We’ve been impressed with the way our children have handled it. It’s been inconvenient and disruptive, but we’ve stayed together as a family.

And, I’m grateful to have my Catholic All Year platform to shine the light on these other families in need.