The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement has emerged as a new go-to housing site for those displaced by the Maui wildfires. It has housed 528 families with its assets.
Other agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state Department of Human Services have stepped up programs to help provide incentives for landlords to turn short-term rentals into long-term housing for displaced families.
The Conversation talked to Dean Minakami, head of the Hawaiʻi Housing and Finance Development Corporation, which initially connected owners of vacant homes with people left homeless by the fires. More than 600 families have been helped by the effort.
This story aired on The Conversation on Dec. 27, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
