Grassroots organization · Hāmākua ahupuaʻa · Maui

Care now · Capacity ahead

The next phase of mālama starts with the basics.

Immediate care, access assistance, workforce development, and advocacy work together to create pathways toward stability, participation, and belonging.

See the priorities Support the work

Essential food and care supplies prepared at a weekly mobile outreach site — Weekly outreach · Essential care prepared where people gather

01Programs and pathways

The work meets immediate needs and builds what comes next.

Each area begins with the same commitment: listen to the community, respond without displacement, and create meaningful ways for people to move forward.

Community members removing a discarded washing machine from the roadside — Environmental work · Removing dumped material by hand

Environmental workforce development

People and place brought back into balance.

This hands-on, community-rooted program creates meaningful work for people from houseless and vulnerable communities while restoring the environments they live in.

Community cleanups, illegal-dumping removal, green-waste clearing, fire mitigation, and abandoned-vehicle identification build real-world experience, routine, and job readiness without relying on displacement.

Holomua Outreach community members gathered together at an outdoor resource event — Access and opportunity · Community navigating the next step together

Photo IDs and access

A practical key to opportunity.

Without identification, employment, housing, healthcare, rehabilitation, and essential services can remain out of reach. Holomua Outreach works alongside people to remove that barrier.

Help obtaining photo IDs and reconnecting with SNAP benefits, medical coverage, and other support turns paperwork into access, dignity, and a more stable path forward.

Community members preparing meals together beneath shade tents — Food systems · Preparing meals together

Food systems workforce development

Food as nourishment, skill, and service.

Participants gain hands-on experience in food preparation, safe handling, kitchen operations, and meal distribution while preparing nourishing food for community members across Maui.

The work supports people who cannot readily cook or store meals, strengthens connection with local food systems, and creates structure, purpose, and employment pathways for participants.

Holomua Outreach community advocates gathered outside the Maui County Council chamber — Public advocacy · Showing up where decisions are made

Community advocacy

Standing alongside the people affected.

Advocacy means more than speaking up. It means showing up consistently, listening, helping people navigate immediate challenges, and protecting dignity when public decisions affect their lives.

The approach is relational and non-displacing: build pilina, restore shared places, connect people with resources, and ensure community members are present in the decisions shaping their safety and future.

02Care in practice

Direct care remains the foundation.

Food, water, hygiene care, clean clothing, and shelter supplies are gathered and organized so the hui can respond consistently in everyday need and in times of emergency.

Food and essential supplies arranged on tables for community distribution — Essential care · Ready for distribution

Community members organizing donated food, hygiene products, and household supplies — Shared hana · Resources organized together

A weekly mobile outreach site with shade tents, tables, and a Maui Rescue Mission vehicle — Weekly presence · Care where people are

Daily needs

Food, water, hygiene, clothing, and essential supplies

Navigation

IDs, benefits, medical coverage, and document support

Preparedness

Shelter support, equipment, and emergency response

Presence

People returning, listening, and building trust

03Practical priorities

What the community needs next.

Alongside the programs already underway, Holomua Outreach continues organizing the equipment, infrastructure, and access needed for safer daily life.

A cleaner, safer road

Trash removal and a dedicated flatbed truck
Abandoned vehicle removal and a tow truck
Community-led cleanups along Holomua Road

Foundations for daily life

Toilets and community water
A contained cooking space
Animal care, food, and supplies

Access and readiness

Mailing addresses and legal documents
State benefits and voter registration
Disaster kits and emergency preparation

Cleanup volunteers walking together along Holomua Road — Walking Holomua Road together · June 16, 2024

04The long horizon

A Puʻuhonua for continued mālama.

The long-term vision is a culturally grounded, community-led place where people can find refuge, restore connection, and move toward healing and self-determination.

Research, planning, relationship building, fundraising, and grant work continue while the weekly care and programs remain active.

01Create community jobs
02Build employment skills
03Offer educational classes
04Connect people to certified training
05Work toward permanent housing
06Support recovery and healing through cultural practices
07Help people become sober, grounded, and thriving

Help move the work forward

Practical care grows through steady support and collaboration.

Give essentials, volunteer your skills, or work with a grassroots hui that knows this place and its people.

Ways to kōkua Collaborate