Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation. Weeks 1 through 4. Returning home, or figuring out what home looks like now. The paperwork starts.
This is where the hard, unglamorous work begins.
Navigating insurance, replacing documents, and rebuilding the basics. This is slow, procedural, and often frustrating work.
- Insurance claims and documentation.
- Free legal guidance (e.g. VA benefits navigation).
- Replacing IDs, records, and essential belongings.
The adrenaline is gone and the exhaustion arrives. Small bureaucratic hurdles can feel enormous. That's not you being fragile, it's the accumulated load.
- Decision fatigue is real and physical.
- Frustration and short temper are common here.
- You're allowed to do this in small pieces.
If you weren't displaced, you might feel you have no right to be rattled. You do. Smoke, fear, and disruption reach the whole community.
This part is tedious and it's supposed to be hard. If a phone call with an insurer wipes you out for the day, that's the exhaustion talking, not a flaw in you.
No wrong answer. Pick whatever's closest.
Looking for something you can do right now? Explore self care →
What you can do now
This is the slow, unglamorous stretch of the marathon. You do not have to do it all at once, one task a day is a real pace.
Start an insurance claim, replace documents, or get VA-benefits guidance. Vetted organizations are donating this help.
See financial & legal help →Officials are warning about contractor scams after the fires. Verify any contractor, and never pay up front to someone who shows up unsolicited.
Make one phone call or fill one form today, and let that be enough. If it wipes you out, that's the load, not you.
211 can point you to insurance, housing, and recovery navigation.
Call or text 211 →