The majority of Lāhāina residents remain housed in hotels and other temporary accommodations nearly two months after fleeing the wildfire that destroyed their town.
A spokesperson from the Red Cross said the organization is working with about 7,800 people displaced by the fire, which is well over half of the town’s pre-disaster population.
Families are now trying to navigate various sources of aid before confronting a rental market that was already tight before the fire. Matt Souza’s is one of them. He has two kids, with one more on the way.
“We lost our whole house, everything that was in it. All important documents. My wife's generational wedding band that's been passed down," Souza said.
He and his family have been staying at his grandmother’s house, but they recently noticed a clause in the family trust stipulating that once she passes, the house must be put on the market within 90 days. His grandmother is 95, and he’s not sure how long they will be able to stay there. The uncertainty meant they missed the application deadline for housing through the Red Cross. He’s still not sure they’ll accept a late application.
“Once we found that out, that's when we went to the Red Cross … We did fill out the housing document with them, but we’ve had zero response," he said.
The Red Cross’ non-congregate shelter program is housing families in hotels primarily. While case managers can help those enrolled with navigating resources, the program does not offer permanent housing.
At a recent press conference, Gov. Josh Green called hotels a temporary safety net as the state and other agencies work on longer-term solutions.
Green assured residents they would not be displaced from hotels into homelessness in the meantime. When asked about families who said they had already been told to leave hotels without another option, he said that it shouldn’t be happening.
“If it’s suggested that they're going to get displaced, as you heard, the Red Cross or our office or others will intervene directly to make sure that they have a roof over their head," Green said.
Matt Wells, a spokesperson for the Red Cross, confirmed survivors should contact a representative immediately if told to leave by the hotel. He said communication should come from the Red Cross directly.
“If we need to move them out of one hotel room and into another, that's what it's going to be. We will make sure that they still have a place to go, no one is going to be kicked out. They will, if anything, be transferred to another hotel," Wells said.
He added that the Red Cross plans to continue sheltering people in hotels until at least Feb. 10.
“The Feb. 10 deadline, when that comes up, we'll re-examine things as that gets closer. We'll determine, ‘Okay, what do we need beyond this point?’ or, ‘Do we need to extend it?’ And that determination will be made in the months to come," Wells said.
He said the number of people enrolled in their non-congregate shelter program has not dropped since the fire. He expects the current figure, about 7,800, will remain the peak.
State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Director James Tokioka said his office’s program, Hawai’i Fire Relief, has housed about 300 families. The program is an online listing service connecting available units with survivors. He is pleading with homeowners to put more rentals on the market for long-term housing.
“We need as many programs as we possibly can to move people from the hotels into shelters, into more comfortable shelters like an Airbnb, like a vacation rental. Places that have a kitchen," Tokioka said.
Green said that if not enough property owners step up to post units or convert vacation rentals to long-term housing, the state would consider offering additional incentives.
In the meantime, families like Souza’s are just trying to sort out their options. His insurance only provided enough for about six months of rent, and he is still on the hook for his mortgage.
“We are kind of waiting to see because … we kind of drop everything to make sure my kids are happy. I mean, my son still wakes up in the middle of the night screaming 'fire.' So anything that will help them, that's the key thing right now," Souza said.
