This initiative emerged from the Maui Economic Recovery Commission (Maui ERC) in 2024.  Economic recovery is one of the challenges that has arisen in the wake of the 2023 Maui fires.  An area critical to economic recovery is individual, community, and generational healing. Without starting to address healing, economic recovery is not possible.

Because of the displacement of so many families from Lahaina, the community has had limited opportunities to convene in Lahaina. The primary focus of recovery has been on providing essential services, clean-up, and rebuilding. Meanwhile, there is an unfortunate continued stigma and cultural barriers to seek or accept mental, emotional, and other types of support.

The initiative aims to curate and envision community events deeply rooted in Lahaina’s unique and diverse culture, guided by the input and leadership of community members. It seeks to build capacity among local community organizers supported by pooled resources from across the state. The goal is to produce two years of seasonal convenings serving Lahaina. The first community event was in early December 2024, entitled “The Grinchmas Lahaina Who-liday Fest 2024 – A Free Community Celebration for Lahainaluna Families,” a collaboration with the Maui ERC Healing Project team and Lahainaluna and Lahaina Intermediate PTSA. The event allowed keiki and kupuna to reconnect with their culture and community and enjoy some holiday fun, including local entertainment and music, holiday craft stations, keiki activities and games, a healing garden, and food.

These convenings will promote healing through gathering and relationships, de-stigmatize mental health support, and provide opportunities for both keiki and kupuna to reconnect. In addition, these events allow collaboration with community leaders to offer direct economic recovery opportunities to local businesses, cultural practitioners, musicians, and more. 

This work has preliminarily involved several Omidyar Fellows, including Rachael Wong, Mahina Paishon, Amanda Corby Noguchi, Shelee Kimura, and Ann Teranishi.  As work continues to create and support events over the next two years, this initiative provides a special and long-awaited opportunity to galvanize broad-based and diverse participation amongst Omidyar Fellows.