Support the Spirit of Aloha - Help Maui Recover

All Hands and Hearts (AHAH) has been collaborating with community partners focused on delivering relief efforts on Maui, Hawaii since the devastating August 2023 wildfires that destroyed the town of Lahaina, displaced thousands, and drastically altered the lives and livelihoods of the community's residents - many with economic and social vulnerabilities prior to the disaster.

We have continued to support the heightened demand for food assistance by providing volunteers for farm support, food preparation and distribution support, as well as non-food warehouse and distribution support.  These efforts have eased the burden of food insecurity made much worse by the fire and contributed to providing 87,810 meals for Lahaina residents displaced by the devastating fire.  AHAH volunteers also built and distributed 20 multi-purpose units (MPU’s) to be used as temporary shelters on host family properties.

As the focus on providing emergency relief and addressing basic needs began to transition to a longer-term community recovery plan, AHAH found itself in a position to develop a unique scope of work not provided by anyone else in the recovery effort and our Ineligible Debris Removal scope of work was born.  Ineligible Debris Removal or "IDR" refers to debris left behind by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA after they remove contaminated debris from properties in the burn zone.  This includes the removal of vegetation, hardscape elements like driveways, sidewalks, stone walls, playground equipment etc… AHAH developed its IDR scope of work in coordination with Maui County and this scope of work is advertised as a free service to affected homeowners on the county’s recovery website as a way to relieve both the additional financial burden for property owners and the emotional burden, as well.  When discussing this work with owners, AHAH creates a plan with them to save those things that may hold special meaning for the families.

In advance of providing this service in the area where more than 100 lives were lost, AHAH was required to complete cultural training provided by local native Hawaiian nonprofit, Na ‘Aikane o Maui, to educate staff and volunteers about the cultural significance of found human remains and the process for alerting appropriate authorities.  AHAH completed this deeply significant training and immediately signed up dozens of property owners who would otherwise be paying for this service themselves.  With more than 199 properties in the work queue and 47 currently progressing towards completion, this has been a popular and much appreciated service.  Note: 11 properties were completed in collaboration with AHAH recurring partner and noted veteran-led nonprofit, Team Rubicon.  

In August, AHAH worked with local partner, Malama Kula, removing burned vegetation for 30 consecutive days, in remembrance of the anniversary of the August 2023 fires. 

In advance of working on the various hazardous debris sites, 61 staff, volunteers, and community members completed a first aid certification course as part of an AHAH community disaster risk reduction event just in time to begin another new scope of work remediating homes in the burn zone that, while left standing, suffered smoke damage that must be professionally remediated before displaced residents can move back in.  More than 100 of these homes have been identified and, after a successful pilot program, AHAH will be working with partner, Red Lightning, to provide Smoke Remediation work on these properties so homeowners and their families can move back in as quickly as possible.  4-5 homes can be completed every month.  Currently, 5 homes have been completed.  Note: partner, Salvation Army, has committed the funding for all of the materials required

Overall, our Hawaii Wildfire Relief program has supplied 303 volunteers who have donated 35,207 hours of labor to have a direct, positive impact on 20,519 individuals across all our scopes of work. 

Thank you for your support!