Last week, HPR shared the story of Lahaina fire survivor Beatrice Hoopai, who has filed a rent appeal with FEMA. As HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol explains, the Makai Foundation is one organization helping fire survivors like Hoopai navigate the challenges they’re facing.
Rebekah Uccellini-Kuby has helped file more than 100 appeals on the rent amount that’s due this week from fire survivors in FEMA housing.
Uccellini-Kuby is program director at the Makai Foundation, a nonprofit that’s helping families who have fallen through the cracks, she said.
“I kind of equate the disaster relief, once you get past the initial shock, there's sort of this period that happens where it feels like a little bit of a race, and those who can't run the race, for all the reasons you wouldn't be able to run a normal race, are the ones that typically fall behind,” she explained.
“And so a lot of the people we've worked with are families that lost family members in the fire, those who had severe PTSD. We have a lot of burn victims that had to be relocated to the mainland, and when they came back, they missed all the [assistance] deadlines.”
She said the Makai Foundation has contributed nearly $200,000 to assist families with emergency housing situations over the past seven months.
At the top of Uccellini-Kuby’s mind right now are FEMA-housed fire survivors with rent due on March 1.
FEMA’s rent requirements are based on fair market rent set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in combination with a household’s income.
Fair market rent for Maui is set at $1,762 monthly for a one-bedroom, $2,309 for a two-bedroom, $3,103 for a three-bedroom and $3,584 for a four-bedroom. FEMA said households who can’t afford those rates can file an appeal.
“I would say a lot of my cases did get a good letter back saying you only have to pay $50 a month, which is great,” Uccellini-Kuby told HPR.
Of the appeals she’s helped file, she said about a quarter are still waiting for a response from FEMA.
“I do have some cases where the appeal wasn't accepted, or they came back with a slightly lower rent, but it's still out of reach for their family to meet that rent,” Uccellini-Kuby explained. “And so we are now in the process of doing second or third appeals and just trying to get more information together to turn in.”
She said some families with unusual circumstances that may not be reflected by income alone, like high out-of-pocket medical costs, are among those she’s still trying to help.
Uccellini-Kuby has even filed a congressional inquiry for at least one case.
She said the notice letters sent by FEMA lack trauma-informed language and have been causing panic for many fire survivors.
“For many, they read that and they're like, ‘Oh my god, I have to move out of my house in the next 10 days.’ We also have a lot of people that are just worried [and] unclear about what happens — March 1 is really soon,” she said. “Right now, I have a lot of people coming to me with those questions and feeling really just scared.”
Survivors are required to pay rent for FEMA housing starting 18 months after a disaster, per federal law. But even with all the challenges, Uccellini-Kuby acknowledged FEMA’s extension of Maui post-fire housing assistance for an additional year until next February is much longer than other disasters she has worked in.
“The hope is that people get back into a lifestyle where they're able to afford rent and kind of get back on their feet,” she said.
