Maui homeless shelter looks to rebuild after devastating wildfires
A homeless shelter on the Hawaiian island of Maui is staying strong after wildfires tore through the historic town of Lahaina.
Last week, wildfires, which ignited due to very dry conditions stemming from a drought combined with powerful winds, decimated the west side of Ka Hale A Ke Ola Resources Center’s campus, which housed over 220 residents.
Since the fires, all residents have been accounted for, according to Ka Hale A Ke Ola Executive Director Monique Ibarra.
’They are heroes’
The feeling that Ibarra and many of her staff are experiencing now is a joyful one compared to a week ago when the fires ravaged Maui.
Ibarra told “Good Morning America” it was her extraordinary staff who went to great lengths to evacuate Ka Hale A Ke Ola.
She explained that when the fires broke out on August 8, she and her staff witnessed the fires creep closer and closer to the shelter for six hours. By 3 p.m. that day, they heard explosions from nearby cars blowing up from the heat of the flames.
When Ka Hale A Ke Ola Operations Manager Tiffany Medeiros realized that help wasn’t on its way, she, Ibarra and the rest of the Ka Hale A Ke Ola staff quickly worked together to evacuate residents and keep them safe.
“We knocked on the doors for people and then once they saw us evacuating people, everybody else that lived there jumped in,” Medeiros said. “We left the property just as the flames were touching our property. And as we drove off all I could see was a wall of flames.”
Once they evacuated, Ka Hale A Ke Ola staff were able to move their residents to other units at the agency’s sister facility, located 20 miles away.
“They are heroes,” Ibarra said of her Ka Hale A Ke Ola staff. “They have the heart and the will to make sure that these people that were there got saved and are alive today.”
Breaking the cycle of homelessness
The loss of the west side of Ka Hale A Ke Ola’s campus is something Ibarra and her staff are coping with.
The shelter has been a safe haven for many for 30 years. Staff at Ka Hale A Ke Ola has also worked over the years to break the cycle of homelessness on the island of Maui through many of the agency’s programs and services, which include helping those who need assistance with navigating housing, providing educational classes on budgeting and finances, as well as employment.
Additionally, last year Ka Hale A Ke Ola served over 37,000 meals, aided 327 families in shelter and helped 87 households into permanent housing.
“Most people know to live on Maui -- the cost of living here is very high,” Ibarra said. “And yet we have our families that aren’t going to make those types of money to be able to stay or buy homes that are living paycheck to paycheck.”
’We’re going to rebuild’
Despite the tragedy the shelter is faced with and the shock that many are still experiencing, Ibarra said they are doing everything they can to rebuild.
“We’re going to rebuild as fast as we can, get our units up again so individuals who are low-income have an affordable place to live,” she said. “And also to have our shelter again which is so important for individuals in need.”
She’s also grateful for the support Ka Hale A Ke Ola has received in the past week.
“There has been such an amazing outpouring of support from our community here on Maui from our state, from our nation, and also just around the world,” she said. “Mahalo to everyone who has helped.”
