Nineteen-year-old Lahaina resident Kawai Brown and her partner survived the August wildfire and got housed in a hotel — only to get kicked out just before Christmas.
They lived in their car for the next couple of months, and most recently, on the beach.
Brown is due with their first baby any day now.
“Just holding onto hope, and everybody has been super supportive," Brown said. "And even though it wasn't us having a roof over our head at that moment, like just the things that people would tell us to uplift us, or just give us that much more to hold on to the light, I guess.”
While living on Kāʻanapali Beach at the Lahaina Strong camp, the organization was able to help connect Brown with a temporary house.
“It's for two months," she said. "But that two months, for me, I feel is enough time for us to keep pushing to find long-term housing. A stable roof over my baby's head. So I have nothing to complain about.”
Before that, she prepared for her baby’s arrival while staying in a tent and struggled to make it to prenatal appointments. But Brown said her mother, grandparents, partner and others have helped her cope.
“All I can do is focus on the now and prepare for the future," Brown said. "You know, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. But just to be in the space that we're in now, it's been amazing.”
Though she knows they’ll have to find a new place again soon, she’s grateful for what they have now.
“It's really good to lay on a bed and have a roof. And just … breathe.”
It’s been a long journey for them to find housing.
“Before we were sleeping in our vehicle, we were staying at Royal Lahaina," she explained. "We were there from maybe like a week after the fire had happened."
"And then three days before Christmas, we got a notice from Red Cross and FEMA, saying that we weren't eligible for their assistance anymore because where we were staying before the fire happened was at the shelter in Lahaina," she continued. "And they said it's considered pre-disaster homeless. So that's how come they said we didn't qualify.”
She said she didn’t understand why that was the case when others they knew at the same shelter had been able to keep their hotel housing.
But for now, Brown is hopeful about her newly expanded family.
“I'm glad that I have the support that I have — this whole community is rooting for this baby.”
