wide company, surprised their three employees with the donation under the guise of marking their location’s 10th anniversary.

“We are celebrating 10 years as owners, but more so this extension of family,” Renee Concialdi said. “Everyone in our system really takes care of each other.”

As the disaster was unfolding, the Concialdis worked to account for clients and employees who could have been affected by the fires. It took several days before they confirmed Tripp, Roxanne Pacheco and their office manager Blanca Doperoy, all from Altadena, lost their homes.

Concialdi worked with Right at Home corporate leaders, got the OK to start the GoFundMe, and watched as donations came in from the company’s founders, its board of directors, fellow franchisees and offices around the country.

“I cannot be more honored to tell you that it’s all of them that did this,” Concialdi said.

“We didn’t know how it would go; everyone just pitched in,” said Joe Concialdi. “It’s very heartening.”

Caring for the caregivers is second nature to the couple, who grew up tending to siblings, and later, an ill parent. The emotional and physical aspects of the job can take a toll.

“Not everyone can be a caregiver; you have to have a heart for it,” Joe Concialdi said. “You have to be a psychologist and a nurse all in one. It’s really a calling, God’s work.”

Blanca Doperoy, 37, matches clients and caregivers, coming up with care plans customized to each family’s needs. She also trains caregivers in hospital care and related tasks, from caring for bed-bound seniors or those in hospice.

“I love helping the caregivers that provide, in my opinion, the most essential kind of care a person can get,” Doperoy said. “If I can help our caregivers do their jobs easier, I feel like I’ve done something right.”

While her home is still standing, Doperoy is living with relatives while she waits for remediation to be completed.

Pacheco, a caregiver for 11 years, had to move to San Clemente, where her family found a reasonable price for a rental that would take their pets.

“I’m just thankful to be here, to be working with my senior citizens,” Pacheco said.

Her family home on Las Flores Drive is rubble, and they are considering rebuilding. If they don’t return, Pacheco said she will miss hiking the trails at Eaton Canyon and borrowing books and movies from the Altadena Library.

For Tripp, who was born and raised in Altadena, rebuilding was no question. While the garage is all that’s left of the Tripp family home on McNally Avenue, she reports everyone is in good spirits.

“That helps,” she said. “All of McNally is gone. There’s maybe three garages standing out of 15 homes on our street.”

Tripp remembers seeing smoke in the sky when she got home from work on Jan. 7, waking up at 2:30 in the morning to the evacuation order and having 20 minutes to decide what to take away. The family’s six dogs came first.

“It was dark, it was cold and my job was to take some stuff for myself, pack the dog food, pack the medication for the dogs, all their dog beds went into the trunk, and our three cars, my mom’s, my dad’s, and mine, drove down our street. Embers were flying down the street everywhere and our neighbor’s yard was on fire. The Christmas tree we put in the bin caught fire. And that was the last time we left McNally, and we didn’t know.”