In August 2023, deadly wildfires hit Lahaina, Maui. Just over two years later, survivors are still rebuilding.
Fortunately, a new milestone will give 900 Hawaii residents a safe place to begin anew.
Just last week, Hawaii Governor Josh Green joined state leaders and community members to unveil Ka La‘i Ola, Maui’s largest interim housing development for wildfire survivors.
Made up of modular tiny homes, the new housing community spans 57 acres and is already home to 320 families, or nearly 900 people. A press release from Green’s office shares that more are on the way.
“Ka La‘i Ola represents the very best of Hawai‘i,” Green said in a statement. “It symbolizes our resilience, compassion, and determination as a community.”
The homes were built specifically for wildfire survivors who were not eligible for federal FEMA assistance, the first project of the state to provide relief to this group. According to Maui Now, the fires in Lahaina destroyed about 2,200 structures, most of which were residential units in which renters lived.
By utilizing modular home structures, the new development was completed in less than 18 months, using emergency proclamations that made permitting and construction even faster. Families have been able to move in just months after the project broke ground.
“In less than 18 months, we turned a vision into a thriving community where nearly 900 people, who lost so much in the Maui wildfires, now have safe and stable homes. Every key we hand to a family is a promise that they are not forgotten, that Hawai‘i stands with them as they rebuild their lives,” Green said.
“This project proves that when government, nonprofits, and community work hand in hand, we can overcome extraordinary challenges and deliver hope and healing for our families.”
As Green emphasized, the project was created through a public and private partnership between the State of Hawai‘i, the Department of Human Services, nonprofit HomeAid Hawai‘i, and the Hawai’i Community Foundation. The project cost about $187 million to complete.
Ka La‘i Ola is Hawaii’s largest modular housing community and makes history as the second largest in the nation. Stakeholders say it stands as a potential model for disaster recovery housing across the nation.
“By bridging modular innovation with Hawai‘i trade industries, we achieved the speed, scale and cost-effectiveness that made Ka La‘i Ola the largest and most innovative disaster recovery development in the nation,” Kimo Carvalho, chief executive officer of HomeAid Hawai‘i, said in a statement.
“We reduced costs by 42%, ensuring families can focus on earning, saving, and rebuilding their futures.”
The development has enacted a “no-rent policy” until 2027, ensuring the people who live there do not have to pay for their housing until then.
“I didn’t intend to say this until much later, but we are going to support people in their rent all the way through a third year,” Green said at an event for Ka La‘i Ola. “We’re going to make sure that people don’t have to struggle with housing.”
Up until now, wildfire survivors who did not receive federal assistance have relied on shelters, hotels, and short-term housing to get by. Even with nearly 1,000 new people in safe homes, a waitlist of over 500 remains for Ka La‘i Ola.
Juliet Mosqueda-Santos and her husband moved into the complex earlier this year. The space is small, the 68-year-old told Maui Now, but a blessing.
“We only have one bedroom and one bath, but it’s good enough for us,” Mosqueda-Santos said. “We are just grateful to have this opportunity to live here in this community.”
Ka La‘i Ola translates to “Place of Peaceful Recovery,” and speaks to the history of the ʻāina. The tiny home village will serve as an interim housing facility until 2029, when the site and its infrastructure will be transferred to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and will become housing for Native Hawaiians.
In fact, by fast-tracking the land for this tiny home development, it will advance the state’s timeline of advancing home ownership for Native Hawaiians by 17 years.
Upon the Ka La‘i Ola opening, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said 68% of all the dwellings lost in the fires are in some stage of permitting or building, meaning this project’s completion marks a milestone in recovery.
“[It’s a] huge, huge task, accomplishment for the state, all their partners, all the agencies, all the builders,” Bissen told Maui Now. “But really, the credit goes to the survivors who’ve had to endure this period.”
Iuni and ‘One are two of the residents in the new village. They are a Polynesian genealogist and artist, respectively, who lost their business in the fire. They tried to rebuild in other states, including Florida and Utah, but nothing stuck.
That is, until they found a new home at Ka La‘i Ola.
“With all the hardships and all the problems that we faced, it makes you humble,” Iuni said in a testimonial for HomeAid Hawai’i.
The new community, filled with people who have lost so much, too, has been a place to heal in more ways than one.
“I see our neighbors just kind of come together and they give you whatever they have, they don't have much, but they're there to help,” Iuni said. “And this is what it’s all about.”
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Header image courtesy of Home Aid Hawai‘i
