Palisades Fire Survivor Greg Champion Rebuilds Home and Business

Impact of the Palisades Fire

• 🏠 Gregg Champion, co-founder of Startup Recovery and Wellness, lost his home, three luxury recovery facilities, and his daughters' schools in the Palisades fire.
• ⚠️ Champion was on the PCH when the fire hit and received urgent messages about his clients in sober living homes and his daughters in three different schools.
• 🤝 His wife and he divided tasks: she took the daughters to safety, while he evacuated clients from the recovery facilities.

Community and Childhood Trauma

• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Champion gathered 17 families from school and sports clubs, proposing they relocate together to Manhattan Beach to mitigate childhood trauma for their children.
• 💖 The families maintained their connections through church, volleyball, sleepovers, and concerts, leading one daughter to describe the summer as "the best summer ever."

Rebuilding Businesses and Lives

• 🏢 All three of Champion's high-end sober living properties in Pacific Palisades were damaged beyond repair.
• 🎗️ Facing immense grief, Champion considered relapse, suicide, and divorce but found strength in his recovery fellowship and community.
• 🌱 Startup Recovery and Wellness is now slowly rebuilding, starting with one house in Santa Monica attached to a wellness center.

ASU Award and Recognition

• 🏆 Champion and his partners received the Sun Devil 100 award from Arizona State University, recognizing the top 100 companies nationwide by ASU alumni.
• ✨ This award, received after the fires, provided a much-needed win and a sense of being "back on the map" during a challenging period.