The family business was decimated by the Palisades fire. The majority of their clients also lost their homes.
A family lost their entire plumbing business and the community it served due to the devastating California wildfires.
Palisades Plumbing’s building, trucks and the majority of their customers’ homes are gone, but the owners haven’t lost the will to continue. They implore to let surrounding communities know that they are ready to work.
“We just want work,” Mandy Church, co-owner of Palisades Plumbing, told FOX Business. “My men have to be paid. You know? We have to survive.”
Mandy Church and her husband, Ray Church, fought hard to make a living after moving to the United States in 1985. They battled racism as Ray Church tried to get a job as a plumber. Eventually, he landed a job with Palisades Plumbing, a company they eventually took over in 2007.
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It was a family business that quickly became their second home. Ghey doesn’t want to lose him without a fight.
“I need visibility. I need people to know that we are here and we need help,” Mandy Church said.
Palisades Plumbing, a business destroyed in the Palisades Fire. (Shavahn Ahmadi)
On Wednesday morning, Ray Church, his daughter Shavahn Ahmadi and Shavahn’s husband, Obai Ahmadi, who also worked there, were the first to witness the devastation left by the Palisades fire.
“We were hopeful that the business would still be there…as soon as we started walking and saw the trucks completely burned. We were just devastated,” Shavahn Ahmadi said.
Shavahn Ahmadi explained that it wasn’t just a place where she and her husband worked. This is where their children grew up.
“We literally made our office a home. I had cribs there. I had rugs for the kids to lie on, high chairs, toys, everything you could imagine for a child in the office.”
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A before and after photo of Palisades plumbing before it was destroyed in the Palisades Fire. (Shavahn Ahmadi)
Mandy Church and Shavahn Ahmadi aren’t just worried about their livelihoods. Their four hardworking employees are also a priority.
“They have children and families to take care of, and we took care of them. We worked together as a family,” Mandy Church said. “I saw them crying here. I feel very bad.”
She estimates they could continue paying them for about a month before the funds run out.
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Palisades Plumbing, a business destroyed in the Palisades Fire. (Shavahn Ahmadi)
Mandy Church is particularly worried about some of her older workers, saying that if they are forced to start from scratch, the new “plumbing company is going to send them everywhere.” They will work 12 hours a day. My guys work from 8 a.m. at 4.”
Before the fires decimated their building, Mandy Church said she typically served customers in the Palisades, although she was expanding into other communities such as Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu.
They are now looking to expand to Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Culver City, Santa Monica, Malibu, Westwood, Brentwood, throughout the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks.
They also plan to serve the Palisades again when they reopen.
