When Jendrikdrik Paul recently arrived on Maui, he was shocked by how many Pacific Islanders from Lāhainā needed aid after the Aug. 8 wildfires.
More than 2,000 Pacific islanders — mostly Micronesians — were helped within the first week of the arrival of islander-led organizations.
Paul, an executive director of the Marshallese Community Organization of Hawaiʻi, said 250 families were placed into temporary housing.
“We were happy that we were able to come out and help them navigate the system and navigate the resources that they need here,” he said.
Pacific Islanders make up 4% of the population in Hawaiʻi. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, they comprise 10.5% of Lāhainā's population.
Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted the Pacific Islander organizations to step up community response, helping the impacted population overcome challenges in the Valley Isle.
“The government has a system that doesn’t work for the COFA (Compacts of Free Association) nations or other Pacific Islander communities,” Paul said. “The key to getting to the community is to go through the grassroots organizations.”
Organizations that Paul works for have helped Pacific Islanders, particularly Micronesians, apply for housing through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, file for unemployment and retrieve vital documents.
They have also provided language assistance in person or online.
“When they come down and there’s a language barrier, we step in and interpret on-site,” Paul said.
Paul said when the pandemic hit, it taught the community to be more organized and provide swift assistance.
“The struggles are the same. The barriers are the same,” Paul said. “We get pushback. But all we can do is keep trying until a door opens. We keep knocking.”
Paul said the challenging part of providing services is having money to fly more people over to help on Maui.
Paul started a GoFundMe to assist the Marshallese community in Lāhainā. He raised over $1,800 so far.
