Paris Hilton launched a recovery fund for women-owned businesses after disasters; a year after her Los Angeles wildfire grants, 90% of recipient businesses were still operating

When natural disasters destroy homes and neighbourhoods, small businesses can face a difficult recovery of their own. For women who depend on those businesses to support their families, losing a workplace can also mean losing a source of income and the livelihoods of employees. Paris Hilton has launched a new initiative aimed at helping women business owners facing that situation across the US. As reported by The Associated Press, the Back in Business Recovery Fund follows a programme she supported after the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, when grants helped dozens of businesses deal with the immediate costs of rebuilding.Paris Hilton commits $350,000 to new recovery fundHilton has pledged $350,000 to establish the Back in Business Recovery Fund, which aims to raise at least $1 million by the end of March. The initiative is being run through her social impact organisation, 11:11 Media Impact, in partnership with GoFundMe.org, the charitable arm of the fundraising platform. GoFundMe.org is contributing a further $100,000 towards the launch, according to The Associated Press reports.The programme is intended to reach women who own small businesses affected by disasters across the country. Rather than being limited to one type of emergency or a particular industry, it is designed to provide financial assistance when businesses are struggling to reopen or maintain operations after a damaging event.Hilton said her involvement came partly from seeing how much locally owned businesses contribute to the communities around them. She also wanted to extend the work beyond Los Angeles, where she had previously helped provide financial support to business owners affected by the fires.Paris Hilton's earlier wildfire fund helped businesses cover rent, wages and rebuilding costsThe new fund builds on a programme Hilton backed following the January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles. The fires destroyed her Malibu home, where she had been raising her young children, and left many other residents facing the loss of their properties and livelihoods.In the aftermath, Hilton's organisation and GoFundMe.org distributed more than $1 million in grants to 50 women-owned small businesses. Individual awards reached up to $25,000, with recipients using the money for expenses including rent, staff wages, replacement equipment and rebuilding damaged premises.Among those helped were owners of childcare centres, bakeries, bookshops, dance studios and beauty salons. Many of the businesses had been affected by the Eaton fire, which caused extensive destruction in Altadena.For Hilton, the experience of losing her own home brought the financial difficulties facing other mothers into sharper focus. Renata Ortega told The Associated Press, “Nothing prepares you for that amount of loss.”90% of Los Angeles grant recipients were still operating a year laterA year after the grants were distributed, 90% of the recipient businesses remained in operation, according to the Pasadena Women's Business Center reported by The Associated Press. The organisation also received funding to offer technical support and mentoring to businesses affected by the fires.For some owners, the grants helped meet costs that might otherwise have prevented them from reopening, while others were able to replace equipment or secure premises from which to continue trading. Renata Ortega, owner of Orla Floral Studio, was among the recipients. She had operated her floral design business from a converted garage beside her home in Altadena, where she lived with her husband and three dogs. The Eaton fire destroyed the property, including her studio and the equipment she had accumulated over several years.The loss left her uncertain about whether she could continue the business. She was also concerned about the people whose income depended on her work, including her employees and flower market suppliers.The grant helped Ortega put down a deposit on a new studio and buy a replacement floral cooler. Those purchases allowed her to resume operations without losing her existing staff. She said the business had since become busy again and that she was considering taking on another employee.Hilton continued supporting businesses after the grantsHilton's involvement with some of the Los Angeles recipients extended beyond the initial financial assistance. Reportedly, she became a customer of several businesses, wearing a catsuit from clothing retailer Crop It Like It's Hot at the Coachella music festival and bringing local food vendors, including Carmela Ice Cream and Hot Shrimp Mami, to her events.Hilton, the great-granddaughter of hotel magnate Conrad N. Hilton, also spoke about being underestimated during her career. She said she had worked to establish herself as more than the public image many people associated with her.According to Wells Fargo figures cited in the announcement, the US has 14.5 million women-owned businesses, representing 39% of all businesses. Yet women, particularly those from minority communities, continue to receive a smaller share of venture capital and loan funding than men.Rebecca Grone, director of 11:11 Media Impact, said women business owners often have fewer financial resources available to them. Those with primary responsibility for caring for children or other family members can also face additional pressures when trying to recover after a disaster.Women's business centres will help identify grant recipientsThe Back in Business Recovery Fund will work with some of the approximately 150 women's business centres operating across the US. These organisations are expected to help identify business owners affected by disasters and connect them with financial assistance.The grants will be unrestricted, allowing recipients to decide how best to use the money for their businesses. The approach follows the Los Angeles programme, where owners were able to direct funding towards immediate operating costs, equipment and other needs.Amanda Brown Lierman, executive director of GoFundMe.org, said, “Collaborating with the centers will help identify impacted women quickly and opens up access not just to cash, but to a community of business owners facing similar challenges.”The timing of the fund's activation will depend partly on assessments from these centres. They will help establish where assistance is needed and when the programme should respond.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.