Resilient Soles... and the Rest of Us

Red Cross celebrated survivors they could see. But many of us are still walking through ash... uncounted, unhelped, and still moving.

Bravo Red Cross! Bravo!

I love hearing the stories in your “Resilient Soles” campaign about resilience… for those that you deemed worthy of care and help. The heartfelt stories, the polished portraits, the uplifting message about wildfire survivors finding strength is all really touching.
And yes, their resilience is real.

Bravo!

Unfortunately, some of us are still waking up every day, walking through the soot with no shoes on at all.

Why?

Because you keep using a map that was never meant for this.

A burn scar map is not a damage map.
It doesn’t show where the wind carried toxins.
It doesn’t reflect how smoke seeped in through vents or how ash settled into children’s beds.
It wasn’t made for deciding who gets to eat or sleep or breathe safely.

And it doesn’t speak for the families still sleeping in cars, or on couches, or in hotels they can't afford.

Yet you use it to determine who deserves help.

But here I am… like countless others… on my 13th move, heading into my 14th by Saturday.
And come August 7th, I’ll move again.
No FEMA. No Red Cross. No clean return.

No end in sight.

You call it resilience.

I call it being left behind.

So sure… tell your stories.
Celebrate the survivors you chose to see.
But let’s not pretend it ends there.

Because while your cameras packed up and your campaign launched, the rest of us are still here.

We are burned by bureaucracy, poisoned by policy, and somehow still standing.

Newsflash… That’s resilience, too.
Even if you won’t photograph it.

Resilience isn’t a badge, it’s survival with no backup.