Makani Christensen of Brown Kross Hui is known around Maui for his big, white box truck.
For the past four months, he has been using it to pick up donated furniture and deliver it to families displaced by the fire as they make the transition from hotels to longer-term housing. He’s helped furnish more than 50 homes.
"We're able to gather the furniture pretty quick and there's an outpouring of individuals that want to donate," he said.
The response has been huge — both from those offering furniture and from those receiving it for free.
Christensen is a Native Hawaiian military veteran who volunteered in his community as soon as the fires broke out. Before he started filling his truck with furniture, he used it to deliver food and essentials to community hubs in West Maui.
“We've moved mountains. Not me — just the community in general has moved mountains since the beginning,” he said.
Christensen recently helped a family that had just moved from a hotel.
“The daughters were like, 'Dad, this is awesome. Please don't let us go back to the hotel,’’ Christensen said. “And for them to get a dresser that was given, that has sentimental value from the person that was giving it away, and for that dresser to go into the hands of a 13-year-old and her eyes is light up and just super appreciative of having a dresser for the first time after eight months. It's kind of a big deal.”
Brown Kross Hui also helped move furniture for Lahaina resident Edwin Benitez.
“A lot of people like me, we lost everything. Material things, of course, is nothing compared with the memories that we used to have in Lahaina,” Benitez said.
His Kīhei rental through FEMA will last 11 months, Benitez said. After that, he still has to look for another place.
“All the stuff that is inside is not ours, doesn't belong to us,” he explained. “So that's why we're still looking for furniture, because sooner or later when we move from this place, we're going to be empty again.”
His son had to transfer schools and Benitez said he now has to find a new job because the commute to Lahaina is too far.
Brown Kross Hui is one of several grassroots community efforts working on furniture donation.
Nicole Huguenin is co-director of Maui Rapid Response, another organization helping to coordinate deliveries.
“We've been told that the FEMA direct housing is supposed to provide, the landlord is supposed to provide the furniture, that doesn't always happen,” she said. “So the community also knows that they can call on us as well.”
They supply kitchen and bathroom essentials, beds, couches, tables — everything a family needs to settle in.
Along with getting calls from families in need, they also work with Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement and other agencies to identify those transitioning to longer-term housing.
Huguenin said families can either keep donated items or give them back to another family when they no longer need them.
“They've just been so relieved when they walked in to see that the basics are already there for them,” she said.
She added that Maui Rapid Response has been helping fill pukas in community services and connecting other local groups to help, like Brown Kross Hui.
“It's just this really beautiful stand-in for dignity for people as they move into [housing, whether] it's a temporary home or a long-term home,” she said.
