Puʻuhoʻomaha

Maui

Ways to help & Get Help:

In August of 2023 Maui was affected by devastating wildfires in the Kula and Lāhainā regions. As our community works through this disaster we know we will need the aloha and kōkua of both our island community and the world. Below are ways to provide help and receive help. I’ve added a new section, hope.

To my Maui family, me ke aloha pumehana. I’ll be updating this page as relevant articles and information come to my attention.

[Updated 10/11/23]

For Locals

Maui Nui Strong. A centralized hub from the County of Maui, on ways to donate, volunteer, offer services, and seek support.

Maui County “News Flash” website for daily updates and information.

Housing requests

For displaced residents and those offering homes, go to the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance & Development Corporation. Rental agreement forms are also located on this site.

Mental Health Services

County and state services are available. From the county press release:

To receive the emergency [mental health] services, contact Maui CMHC at (808) 984-2150 or via email at mauiwellness@doh.hawaii.gov or in person at 121 Mahalani Street in Wailuku. Clinic hours are [M - F] 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. […} Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. After hours, contact Hawaiʻi CARES to speak to a local crisis counselor at 808-832-3100, 1-800-753-6879, or call/text/chat 988.

MAUI STRONG SUPPORT GROUP 

For anyone who has been affected by the Maui Wildfires. Daily meetings. Register or for more info: anisa@namihawaii.org

NAMI HI Peer Support Groups are free, confidential and safe groups of people living in recovey. Our support groups are evidence-based programs led by individuals trained by NAMI Standards.  We believe in helping one another by utilizing their collective lived experiences and learned wisdom, renewing a sense of hope for recovery.  All of NAMI Hawaii programs are FREE.  YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

ONLINE THERAPY

If you have the ability to connect with an online therapist headspace.com through NAMI Hawaiʻi is offering free online help click here for the QR code.

Legal Assistance

Hawaiʻi Legal Aid

The Legal Aid Society of Hawaiʻi is providing legal services to Maui wildfire victims. Click here for their extended workshop dates, to apply for help online and their 800 number and operations. [updated 8/30/23]

Rebuilding resources

Coming soon: funds geared toward helping locals rebuild their homes.

FEMA - Maui Wildfires

For those seeking federal aid to cover what homeowners insurance doesn’t the federal government has disaster assistance through FEMA:

FEMA Press Release HQ-23-130 August 12, 2023 - […] If they can, FEMA encourages Hawaii residents to register for federal assistance by visiting DisasterAssistance.gov, through the FEMA App, or by calling 1-800-621-3362. Residents who use a relay service, such as video relay or captioned telephone service, can give the FEMA operator the number for that service.  

FEMA Brochure: Help After A Disaster

A couple of things to note, I am advising my ʻohana to take this aid. But be sure to reach out for legal help (see above) if any part of the process becomes too bureaucratic to understand. Never sign anything you don’t 100% understand, this includes federal small business loans too.

Maui donation links

Maui Food Bank

This one continues to be the top donation site I send people to. They’ll be feeding Maui residents now and into the future. From their website:

Maui Food Bank’s mission is to help the hungry in Maui County by collecting and distributing food through community partnerships.

Local folks, click here for a list of their service locations.

GoFundMe #Maui

This group within GoFundMe are individuals who are raising money to rebuild and recover. While giving directly is our preferred way to give to people in need please make sure to choose carefully as we are all aware that natural disasters also bring in those who feed on the chaos. Below is a GoFundMe site that my ʻohana created for Clyde Wakida.

  • GoFundMe in honor of Clyde Wakida - this is a friend of our ʻohana who we lost in the Lāhainā fire, he’s survived by his wife Penny - a retired Lahainaluna school teacher - a daughter and grandchildren. Penny has asked that any funds donated go to a Lahainaluna scholarship fund in his name. We’ll be funding this scholarship with the GoFundMe donations. Mahalo.

Hawaii Community - Maui Strong Fund

This fund supplies non-profit organizations helping on the ground assisting Lāhinā, Kula, and Kihei recovery efforts.

Local non-profits looking for funding, click here to fill out the short form to request grant money.

Locals looking for assistance, here’s a list of grant recipients.

Kākoʻo Maui

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement started a fund to help the Maui ʻohana. From their website:

If you are able to donate, we will double it. 

CNHA is partnering with Native Hawaiian and community organizations and businesses to match up to $1.5 Million in donations for ʻohana impacted by the devastating wildfires on Maui.

Funding will go to:

100% of the proceeds will go to Maui organizations to support relief efforts.

Maui Humane Society

Help fund the shelter that pets are sent to when they’re lost or hurt. It’s my local understanding that donation dollars go directly to fund supplies and care for the animals.

Hope

My goal for this section is to start collecting stories of joy and aloha as they pertain to the recovery efforts.

The Banyan

In the early days after the fires, information about the banyan tree off Front Street was a heavy topic. It naturally connected us all to its spirit, a thing of the land that represented us, our cultural beliefs (ʻāina is life), and that if the land was dead, that somehow, some way, our hope died too. Then, in a cherished moment within all the ash an arborist declared it struggling. But, live, it could. Suddenly it took on a profound representation. It was us. A contractor working on the clean-up efforts took it upon himself to water it every day, unknowingly watering our collective hope. Then, nutrients were recommended and day after day, week after week, more people came together to care (hoʻomalama) for the banyan, for our collective hope. And now, it sprouts. It reminds us that we too can come back from this. And I wonder now if this is how things become sacred. As a collective community, this banyan has given us hope, and direction how how to replant with an eye toward endemic, native species in all the scorched earth. I know that it is sacred to me, a towering bastion of hope for my island family. A reminder that hope is green, we must water it, nurture it, and give it our aloha. Only then will it sprout carrying us out of the darkness toward a future our people and ancestors can look upon with pride.

Learn more. Maui News NOW article from October 3rd. Lahaina Treescape Restoration Project update: New sprouts atop banyan tree