Following dramatic and emotional stories from residents and business owners who were severely impacted by the wildfires, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told a community gathering on Tuesday morning that they will rebuild together.

“It’s important that as we’re going through this, that all of the levels of government cooperate and work together with the same thing in mind,” Bass said.

“We will get this done,” she said, repeating, “We will get this done.”

Leo Baeck Temple in Bel Air hosted what was described as a listening session for Bass and Steve Soboroff, her newly appointed chief recovery officer. Organized by nonprofits LA Voice and PICO California, the event included about two dozen clergy members from throughout Los Angeles County and dozens of residents and business owners impacted by the wildfires.

Six people shared how their lives had been turned upside down by the fires, including Palisades resident Wally Marks.

“Yes, I lost my home,” Marks said, noting that he’s keeping the intense emotions at bay. “I visited that home yesterday for the first time, and it is not a pleasant place to be.”

But Marks said that with insurance and FEMA stepping up, as well as support from his many neighbors who are in the same boat, he is confident things will work out for him and other residents.

“It’s the ramifications that I’m really concerned about — the things that have not been revealed,” he said, citing area workers who have lost incomes and can’t get work. “We have a huge responsibility to each other, and the community comes first, not the individual,” he said.

Speaking through a Spanish interpreter, Hermelinda Guadarrama described the cleaning business she has run for more than 20 years. She and her daughter, “haven’t been working,” she said. “We do not have any way of earning. We do not have anything right now. … This really worries me. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Shirley Wong of Pacific Palisades described the loss of their family’s pharmacy that she and her husband opened many years ago.

“I just want people to know that this is a real community of hard-working residents and business owners,” she said. “They’re not all high-income homeowners. We are small business owners, renters. We are working class to make a living.”

“But we are so lucky to be part of a community that cares and helps each other,” Wong said. “It’s not the expensive houses that make up the Palisades, but the big hearts and care and concern for each other that make it a special place.”

Fe “Bhabes” Inabangan, a caregiver for families in the Palisades, helped people get out during the fire. “No matter what could happen, we would not leave them,” she remembered.

John Shaver, pastor at United Methodist Church in the Palisades, lost his home and his church. He moved to the Palisades just last summer. His urged officials to work harder to engage clergy to help with the recovery.

“Sadly, I would say that the clergy have been kept out of a lot of things right now,” Shaver said, noting that it was understandably chaotic and he didn’t want to point fingers. But he said it would be worthwhile to use clergy as a resource.

“I would just implore you all. … We can help you calm people down. We can help you to know these great people,” he said.

Donny Kincey, a Pasadena teacher and third-generation African-American resident of Altadena, said his home and his family’s home were lost in the Eaton fire. “My parents’ home was the first one to go,” he said, because it was near the mountains.

He spent four hours holding a hose, trying to save his home and others in his neighborhood, and he alerted neighbors to evacuate that night. “In that time, no squad cars,” he said. “I’m not pointing fingers, but this is what I noticed. No fire truck, no watering the streets.”

Kincey stressed the importance of Altadena’s history, where his family moved in the 1950s. “The pocket of black history there, that I’m really afraid of seeing erased — I’m hoping is something that people know about now,” he said.

Bass shared her thoughts in response to some of their stories, along with broader comments.

“I’m born and raised in L.A.,” Bass said. “We’ve been through many crises, but the amount of grief and loss on an individual basis through this disaster is so profound.”

She said, “We have to make sure that everybody who has been affected, that their voices are lifted up, and that we know their faces and their stories as well.”

Bass said the city will continue helping everyone who needs help. “We have to be there for you,” she said.