Shared Ground

Episode 8: Quick Hits - Rising from the Ashes with Caroline Paules

• Sean Knierim & Allan Marks

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What happens when everything around you burns to the ground, but your home miraculously survives? For Caroline Paules, this wasn't just a hypothetical question but her lived reality in the aftermath of the devastating 2025 Altadena fires. Standing amid the ruins of what was once a vibrant neighborhood in Jane's Village, Caroline made the remarkable decision to stay, not despite the destruction, but because of it.

Caroline's story weaves together multiple threads of resilience. As co-founder of Casa Nova, she's working to address California's housing crisis through innovative 270-square-foot prefabricated homes. Originally designed for people exiting homelessness, these structures have unexpectedly found new purpose as potential emergency housing for those displaced by disaster. "A lot of us are facing this really rough construction timeline that is scaring people away from their homes," Caroline explains, highlighting how her company's mission evolved in response to immediate community needs.

The heart of this conversation, however, centers on community bonds that strengthen rather than break under pressure. Caroline describes neighbors stopping their cars to talk when they see her outside, or the spontaneous gathering of residents to sit with someone watching their property being cleared – like when she shared a beer with a neighbor while watching the demolition of a fireplace. These small moments of connection reveal how resilience often manifests not in grand gestures but in quiet companionship during difficult times. As Caroline reflects on what sustains her through this challenging rebuilding process, she points to her faith: "Neighborhoods can be destroyed and things can burn and people can leave...but God is very steadfast." This unwavering foundation gives her the strength to remain planted where others might flee, committed to supporting her community through what experts predict could be a decade-long recovery.

Listen now and consider: What would you do if disaster struck your neighborhood? Would you stay to rebuild or start fresh elsewhere? Join the conversation about resilience, community, and finding hope amid devastation.

Shared Ground is produced by Sean Knierim and Allan Marks. Thanks to Cory Grabow, Kara Poltor, Corey Walles (from The Recording Studio) for your support in launching this effort.

For more stories of resilience & rebuilding, kindness & generosity: visit shared-ground.com and subscribe to Sean's substack. We invite you to share your own stories of resilience at the Shared Ground website - whether in response to the January fires in LA or other situations.

Follow us at seanknierim.substack.com, Instagram, or wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc).

Sean Knierim:

Caroline Paules, thank you for being here with me today to talk a little bit about resilience in your own story.

Caroline Paules:

Yeah, thank you.

Sean Knierim:

So, as you're moving through the world right now, you're doing a lot of work to support communities, to try and build a company to help, focused on resilience. Can you tell us a little bit about what you got going?

Caroline Paules:

Yes, about the same time I moved to Altadena in January of 2024, I also co-founded a startup called Cas a Nova that is building prefab, actually affordable housing. It's very small 270 square feet but we believe it's a really good option for people previously who were exiting homelessness in order to address the housing crisis in general. We weren't really expecting it to be used as emergency housing, but it definitely can be, and we think it could be a really wonderful opportunity for Altadenans to build, maybe back in bungalow courts or as an emergency ADU, because a lot of us are facing this really rough construction timeline that is scaring a lot of people away from their homes, and so we wanna be able to use our design in order to fight that. So yeah, is scaring a lot of people away from their homes, and so we want to be able to use our design in order to fight that.

Sean Knierim:

So yeah, Can you talk a little more about the underlying mission of the company, like why is it that you need to exist right now? What's driving y'all?

Caroline Paules:

Yes, absolutely. There's not enough houses in California, and a lot of that is because of a broken system. A lot of it is because of greed and deliberate decisions made by people, but ultimately, what we need is enough housing so that everybody has what they need. We think it's a human right, and so we're trying to construct and build in a way that's completely different than traditional construction.

Sean Knierim:

Right on. So you started the company a few years back, but 2025 has been an interestingly personal year for you on the topic of resilience. Can you talk a little bit about what your year's been like?

Caroline Paules:

Yes, so I live in Jane's Village and when I moved in, everyone was super friendly and super amazing and I knew that Altadena had a really deep cultural history that I really just appreciated being invited into, that I really just appreciated being invited into. And then, when the fires hit, my husband and I left the night of the fires, not expecting to come back to essentially a crater, and so my street is gone. I have a standalone home, which I'm super blessed to have, and so I've moved back in and become a neighborhood captain.

Sean Knierim:

And so your home survived the fires, or? At least the periphery was scored, but all around you got taken out by this fire.

Caroline Paules:

Yep, and everything up to my garage like the fire was to within a couple of feet of my home on all sides, and so it really it was a miracle that it's still there and I took that as God just really wanted me to be planted there and instead of leaving as I understand a lot of people would want to to actually just root me deeper in that I'm going to stay and I'm going to be here for my neighbors who rebuild.

Sean Knierim:

So, as you think about what you've experienced in the last five, six months, are there any stories or any moments of hope that you remember of kindness, generosity, of how the community came together to support each other?

Caroline Paules:

Oh yeah, I think right after the fires happened a lot of generosity flooded in from all over the world, but we know that's not going to last the decade that it's going to take to rebuild. And so really where I find the most hope is just one-on-one conversations with my neighbors. It's not necessarily in the town halls or the rallies those things are fabulous, but really when I sit outside my neighbors will stop their car, put it in reverse and come to talk to me, and I think that's what really grounds us together. One example is that when my neighbor's lot was getting cleared, she and I sat on my front porch drinking a beer and watching them knock down her fireplace, and so just whenever there's somebody out there and something emotional is happening a lot of it's lot clearing there will just spontaneously appear five or six people that just be with them in that moment. So I see that happening a lot.

Sean Knierim:

Something we've explored in a number of these conversations is how people faced with hard situations are able to care for themselves.

Caroline Paules:

over time, any reflections or any insights you've gained or any ways that you found that you're able to take care of yourself and under times of pressure and stress and uncertainty- For me, I think it's it's really my faith in God um, which is something that's not dependent on my physical or temporal situation um is that neighborhoods can be destroyed and things can burn and people can leave um and and die and um that can all come and go Um, but but God is very steadfast, and so that gives me the encouragement to again to stay um where I think a lot of people were wondering if I would just like move out cause I have no neighbors Um, but I think to me this is is where he's planted me Um, and so it doesn't actually matter what happens to my neighborhood, because he's something that I can't lose. So I hope to share that confidence with my neighbors.

Sean Knierim:

I find that waking up every morning with a prayer of gratitude is a pretty wonderful way to start a day, absolutely Wonderful. Thank you so much, caroline, for taking time to talk with us today.