Column: After Years of Helping the Homeless, He’s One of Them After Altadena Fire Destroys His House
A Life Dedicated to Helping Others
For over a decade, Anthony Ruffin has been a social worker, dedicating his life to helping the homeless. His job has been to steer homeless people into housing. But last week, Ruffin lost his own home. The Eaton fire destroyed much of Altadena, leaving Ruffin, 56, without a place to call his own.
A Morning Ritual
Ruffin grew up in a two-bed, one-bath house on West Palm Street, just above West Altadena Street between Lincoln and Fair Oaks avenues. He later bought the house from his parents. As someone who confronts so much suffering on a daily basis as part of his job, Ruffin established a morning ritual in which he’d wake up early and sit in the yard, gaze up at the San Gabriel Mountains, and listen to birds, all the while surrounded by plants he’d named for homeless clients to whom he’d become particularly attached.
A Home Destroyed
Early on the morning of Jan. 8, Ruffin and his wife Jonni Miller — who is also a longtime social worker serving the homeless community — had to evacuate without time to collect precious possessions. Handwritten letters, written to Miller by her grandmother on the day she was born, were left behind. So were the decommissioned cellphones, seven of them, on which Ruffin stored photos of hundreds of clients, along with contact information and notes thanking him for his help. Hours later, they learned that the home and everything in it was incinerated, along with much of their block and neighborhood.
A Legacy of Helping
Ruffin’s mentor was Mollie Lowery, a legendary social worker who had also assisted Nathaniel Ayers, the Julliard-trained musician who was homeless in Skid Row. Ruffin’s regulars included amputees, diabetics and drug addicts. "Some are partially paralyzed," he said, and "many are ghosts, their former selves barely visible in the shadows of unrelenting psychosis."
A Desire to Rebuild
Ruffin said his desire to become a social worker had a lot to do with his biological father’s struggles and homelessness. Ruffin said he wasn’t close to his father until the last years of his life, when his dad worked in downtown L.A. as a legal briefs courier. They ultimately built a belated but "beautiful relationship," Ruffin said, telling me his father carried a briefcase that contained a copy of my story about his son the social worker.
Conclusion
Ruffin’s story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of community. Despite losing his home, Ruffin remains committed to helping others, and is already planning to rebuild his home in the same spot. His legacy of helping others will continue to inspire and motivate those around him.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What happened to Anthony Ruffin’s home?
A: The Eaton fire destroyed much of Altadena, including Ruffin’s home.
Q: How did Anthony Ruffin become a social worker?
A: Ruffin’s desire to become a social worker was inspired by his biological father’s struggles and homelessness.
Q: What is Anthony Ruffin’s plan to rebuild his home?
A: Ruffin plans to rebuild his home in the same spot, to the same dimensions.
Q: How can people support Anthony Ruffin?
A: People can support Ruffin by visiting his gofundme page and donating to help him rebuild his home.
