The night of August 8th, 2023, my family was playing in the backyard preparing for dinner at our home in Kahului on the Island of Maui, Hawai’i. We got an unexpected knock on the door and our lives changed forever. “Lāhainā Town is gone.  It’s burned and people are dead,” said the unfamiliar person, reeking of smoke, and looking like they had survived the apocalypse.  “We have been stuck on the road trying to escape, our phones are dead, and we went to the first house we knew.” The glow of flames over Mauna Kahālāwai and upcountry Haleakala could be seen from our backyard, as powerful trade winds howled; Lāhainā only miles away just on the other side of the majestic West Maui mountains. 

Because of the visit we received from folks seeking shelter from the fire, we understood very quickly the severity of the situation and had a peek into the complexity of challenges and needs that have unfolded over the past 18 months. Complexities and challenges we should all be paying attention to—as a warning for disaster preparedness and for what works in disaster recovery and healing.  

As we now know, the wildfires on Maui in August 2023 fires killed at least 102 people, left the historic Town of Lāhainā in ashes, and its people and others who lost homes across the Island with uncertain futures. While the damage is unmeasurable to the lineal descendants to this land, and the role that water rights played in the destruction is clear, it is estimated that the damage is between $5.5-6B. 7 to 10 years for recovery is what I hear again and again although it seems wrong knowing the generational impacts of trauma. Two days after the fires erupted, the situation was declared a federal major disaster with funds promised to aid in the response, recovery and stabilization, and long-term preparedness and resiliency efforts.  

Since that fateful knock on our door, I have spent the last 18 months activated in fire response and recovery efforts. Witnessing these exceptional organizers and their aloha has been an honor of my life. These organizers are like many I have worked with in the past–modest, caring, frugal, creative, smart, using whatever resources they have to help others. These are the people providing baseline care, providing a trampoline of support, and filling the gaps. These are the people you call when you need help and they actually help you. These are the people that are trusted in the community.

Through the Maui Organizers Mālama Fund, we helped secure and get needed funds to local organizers involved in wildlife recovery efforts early on and, over the last year, have been a part of convening local organizers in support of their own capacity building, restoration, and healing needs.

In 2020, a philanthropic family I had come to know started a Youth Board for their extended and chosen family to come together and give. And, I had the luck to be a part of supporting its development. These young people ages 8-18 have a heart for social justice, specifically for environmental, gender, and criminal justice as their work has grown over the years. But what they have taught me most about is mental health and caring for one another in a trauma-informed, loving way.   

To read this full Grantmakers for Effective Organizations Perspectives blog post, please visit:

https://www.geofunders.org/mental-health-giving-a-lifelong-journey-of-care-and-becoming/

Over a decade ago, I had the opportunity to meet some of the family members from the Tremaine Foundation. They were the first family foundation I had met supporting learning differences and integrating supports into their internal practices as well.

As they put it, “It’s personal.” Many in their family have learning and attention issues and have utilized their learning strengths to succeed. They are why we began using more visual prompts for our events and gave us a partner for thinking through other support needs.

It has become personal for me as well. Over the past three years, I have learned as much as possible about neuro-diversity and neurodiversity affirming practices. Neuro-diversity affirming care to me is: a strengths and rights-based approach to developmental difference that aims to provide support and adaptations that affirm the neurodivergent identity. This is rather than thinking anything need be fixed or cured.

These are the articles and videos I find myself sharing most when talking about stolen water rights on Maui and what is happening since the fires and Lāhainā’s vision for the future.

Let Lāhaina Lead: A Visualization Tool made by Lāhainā leaders: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA1gWXvtioU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Documentary made my Lāhaina residents: Lahaina: Rising from the Ashes

I was first introduced to Mental Health First Aid in 2018 while working nationally with the Cooperative Extension system, many of whose states were ensuring staff were trained in this model. They also have a youth-focused training some of the community-focused youth programs I work with have implemented.

After responding to the Maui wildfires, I found myself learning more about Psychological First Aid and sharing it with others, especially young people. Psychological First Aid helps people cope with the aftermath of a traumatic event, disaster, or personal crisis—-and can be used by anyone as it doesn't require previous training or education. The actions you take will depend on the situation and the needs of the people you're helping.

Safety, calm, and meeting immediate needs are three of the goals of Psychological First Aid I find myself using and reminding others of most.

Safety. Calm. Meeting Immediate Needs. —This is how we take care of each other.

Through our work with the Conflict Transformation Fund, we were introduced to nonviolent communication and those growing its practice. One the Island of Maui, the Teran James Young Foundation is one of those organizations committed to sharing and growing the practice of nonviolent communication. They offer free weekly online facilitated practice sessions open to anyone around the world who would like to join.

Through these sessions, we were introduced to the various resources they share online.

I often find myself sharing this free feelings wheel from Mosaic Eye and the needs wheel from Nonviolent Communication for the Next Generation.

Often I will invite those I spend time with to share how they are feeling. Then, we explore what they might need based on how they are feeling. We all have feelings and needs that deserve to be acknowledged and cared for.

We have been investing in our own learning and growth in somatic abolitionism this year—taking the Foundations in Somatic Abolitionism class and Reparative Communal Consultation for White Bodies from Education for Racial Equity.

If you are looking for inspiration or resources to support learning to give, especially this school year, visit https://www.learningtogive.org

Rhia Ventures believes vibrant and equitable marketplace for sexual, reproductive, and maternal health is possible.

Many thanks to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and Maine Trans for their community organizing and care.

Durfee’s Lark Awards support the collective care and well-being of staff at small Los Angeles-based nonprofit organizations with deep ties to the community. Each organization will receive $30,000 to spend as they see fit to meet the needs of their staff for replenishment.

This report, developed by the Dorthy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy in collaboration with 21/64 for the Greater Houston Community Foundation, offers guidance on designing effective programs to help guide the learning journeys of these essential next gen donors.

“An Unprecedented Opportunity” focuses on the interest in social justice philanthropy and alternative models to engage the next generation of donors in philanthropy.

The Conflict Transformation Fund (CTF) has helped us expect and normalize conversations about conflict, especially as we work towards racial equity.

By understanding the science of adverse childhood experiences and trauma, we can be in deeper relationship with one another and what is happening in our communities.

We work alongside young people and families open to the magic and emergence that comes from sharing the things we care about and acting on what matters most.

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations has been a community for learning and field building for us for over a decade.