The Lahaina campus of the Sacred Hearts School is a flurry of activity these days — but not with students.
After severe damage from the 2023 wildfires, school operations have temporarily relocated to Kāʻanapali. In its place, what’s left of the campus is being transformed into living quarters for a volunteer group helping to rebuild homes.
“So as you look out this way, that's the school, the portion of the school that burned down, and these two buildings were spared,” said Rhonda Alexander-Monkres, executive director of Hoʻōla iā Mauiakama Disaster Long Term Recovery Group.
The Maui organization has partnered with the Mennonite Disaster Services, a national group that assists in rebuilding homes after disasters.
“What we're going to walk through today is the progress on the construction of the site for their team of about 30 that will be arriving on Oct. 5,” said Alexander-Monkres, motioning toward a building now divided into dorm-style rooms under construction.
Hoʻōla has a lease with the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu to convert the Sacred Hearts School classrooms into volunteer living areas. Located at Maria Lanakila Church in the heart of Lahaina town, it will serve as the base while Mennonite volunteers from across the country come in shifts to rebuild burned homes.
Brandy Cajudoy is Hoʻōla’s construction manager. She said their home rebuilding program is well underway.
“So the first five start in October, and then our next 10 is going to start next year,” she said. “And then hopefully there's like 10 every year.”
She said this year’s five builds are currently in various stages of planning and permitting. As soon as permitting is complete, it will be a race against time.
“We will immediately start digging the ground too because we have to have their foundations done before the Mennonites come in October. So we're on a super tight timeline here, and we're gonna make it happen,” she laughed.
In the meantime, Alexander-Monkres said the team is hard at work on the living quarters. They’ve divided classrooms into bedrooms, built plywood bedframes, and framed portable showers.
“So right behind us here is going to be the outdoor kitchen,” Alexander-Monkres explained. “Right behind it, that's going to be the shower and laundry facility.”
Alexander-Monkres said partnerships like Mennonite Disaster Service are making rebuilding possible for some Lahaina families who wouldn’t otherwise have the resources to do so. It’s all at no cost to survivors.
“We're so grateful and appreciative, because the amount of money that MDS is investing — and they're paying for all of this — for everything to be here,” she said. “They all took time out of their lives to be here, and that's what they all do for one- to two-month periods. And they do this in every state. It's pretty amazing.”
Maui’s Long Term Recovery Group was formed in the wake of the wildfire, modeled after a national framework.
According to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, long-term recovery groups are often made up of representatives from faith-based, nonprofit, government, business and other organizations working on a community level following a disaster.
“Communities are encouraged to set up community coalitions, long-term recovery groups, because all of the government entities eventually go away, and who's left to help the community with the rest of the recovery is the community groups,” Alexander-Monkres said.
She explained the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, or VOAD, has developed a long-term recovery guide that provides a structural roadmap. Hoʻōla brings together Maui organizations already working in Lahaina, while benefiting from national advisors who are experienced in disaster recovery.
Along with a Disaster Case Management program, Hoʻōla also facilitates regular meetings to help fill the unmet needs of survivors.
“Across the nation, is more commonly known as unmet needs roundtable. Here, we named it the resources roundtable,” Alexander-Monkres said. “And so we have anywhere from eight to 12 different funders that sit at the table.”
Case managers present anonymous client needs.
“I'm requesting for funding for this unmet need. And then the funders, based upon their organization guidelines, will then raise their hand and say, 'Hey, you know, I can cover the entire cost, or I can cover this amount. Who can partner with me in helping to close the gap for the cost?' So the unmet needs that have been brought to the round table of range between $3,000 to $80,000 per client.”
Hoʻōla continues to connect fire survivors with resource partners in a variety of programs, and is currently selecting 10 more families for next year’s home rebuilds.
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