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Rising From The Ashes; Couple Which Lost Home, Business To Thomas Fire Relaunches Business

They are partners in Ventura County with a dream for a simple business: to use plants found in nature to create natural skin elixirs.

Clara Andre, and Lauren Crow used all their savings to try to make that dream come true, when at the first possible time, disaster hit, in the form of the Thomas Fire.

They lived in Matilija Canyon, where they had a house, a small recording studio, and the still they used to turn the plants into the natural hydrolsol. Andre says the Thomas Fire took it all. Crow says seeing what had been their home, and business for the first time of overwhelming.

She says when the fire hit last December, they had put all of their money into getting their business, called OO AH Alchemy, ready for the holiday season. The fire wiped it all out, destroying their equipment, the hydrosol they’d made, and the plants used to make the elixir.

Friends stepped up with a temporary place to stay, and they’ve received help restarting the business. The local non-profit group Women’s Economic Ventures also put a spotlight on the plight, and efforts to relaunch their business.

It’s been a difficult seven months for the duo. But, Andre says they survived, and while their home is gone, they are at least back on track towards turning their dreams of a nature based business into a reality.

Link to OO AH Alchemy: www.ooahalchemy.com

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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