Hawaii Island Volcano Recovery Fund - Grant Summary

HAWAI‘I ISLAND VOLCANO RECOVERY FUND GRANTEES The Hawai‘i Island Volcano Recovery Fund provided grants to organizations for the benefit of the communities on Hawai‘i Island that were impacted by the Kilauea eruptions of 2018.

Donations made to the Hawai‘i Island Volcano Recovery Fund were distributed based on the following three phases of recovery: •

Rapid Relief and Response – immediate support for urgent needs for those displaced.

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Recovery and Stabilization – intermediate-term assistance to support the return to some level of normalcy for families and communities.

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Rebuild and Resilience – longer term assessment and support for rebuilding communities affected by the eruptions.

GRANTS MADE FOR THE RAPID RELIEF AND RESPONSE PHASE Big Island Substance Abuse Council (BISAC) – Hawaiian Island Health and Wellness Center Counseling. This grant provided funding for BISAC to provide counseling for Puna residents being affected by the disruption to their lives caused by the lava flow and resulting loss of homes and livelihood.

Child and Family Service (CFS) – Disaster Case Manager. CFS increased their capacity to process requests for assistance by moving a part-time employee to full time for three months.

This helped to fully utilize discount vouchers offered by Alaska Airlines for anywhere Alaska flies as well as other assistance.

Catholic Charities (CC) – Disaster Relief Case Manager. This grant allowed CC to add a Disaster Administrative Assistance for a period of three months to support processing requests for housing and financial assistance.

Hope Services – Disaster Case Workers. This grant was for housing placement assistance and case management.

Neighborhood Place of Puna – STREAK database, Disaster Response Coordinator and Case Manager. This organization served as a coordinating entity for the nonprofits providing responses. They built on an informal network of over 30 nonprofit agencies that came together after Hurricane Iselle. Initial funding supported the purchase of a subscription for a case management database system so that all the agencies could have access to over 1,200 requests for assistance. The grant also supported increased staffing for three months to manage the database and coordinate the responses.

Project Vision Hawai‘I (PVH) – Operation costs for mobile hygiene trailer. PVH has mobile hygiene trailers that provide showering facilities for families that have been living in tents. This grant helped to support the operations of the hygiene trailers that were also being used at the sites where micro housing units were constructed for transitional shelter.

Puna Baptist Church – Laundry vouchers for displaced residents. The church coordinated efforts around laundry for those displaced by the eruptions by working with a local laundromat to provide discounted services. The churches provided detergent and distributed vouchers to be redeemed at the laundromat. The grant covered the cost of the vouchers.

The Food Basket – Support for driver, warehouse person and disaster relief outreach/volunteer coordinator. The Food Basket received quadruple the usual number of donations of food and supplies and made daily deliveries of food to the Puna community. This grant provided funding for key staffing positions. A second grant was made to support the Disaster Relief Coordinator and additional space to store food and other supplies that continued to be contributed to help address the increased need for food resulting from the disaster.

GRANTS MADE FOR THE RECOVERY AND STABILIZATION PHASE Catholic Charities – Kilauea Hui Unmet Needs. Two grants were awarded, one to support an additional three months for a Disaster Administrative Assistant to continue processing requests for financial assistance and one to provide funds for distribution by the Kilauea Hui, a committee of organizations formed to meet long term recovery needs of eruption and earthquake survivors.

Connect Point Church – Hale Iki Micro Unit Operational Expenses. Connect Point Church built temporary micro units on a property owned by the church to provide shelter for families with children. This grant helps to support the operating costs for Hale Iki Village for 4 months.

Habitat for Humanity Hawai‘i Island (HHHI) – Family Services/Volunteer Coordinator and Construction Coordinator for East Hawai‘i. HHHI received two grants, one to support a Family Services/Volunteer Coordinator position to assess families for housing and building a volunteer corps to support builds. A second grant was given to hire a Construction Coordinator to manage the work of repairing homes impacted by the lava and working with families who need to rebuild homes in new locations.

Hawaii State Bar Foundation (HSBF) – Kokua for Puna Disaster Relief Legal Assistance. The HSBF provided probono attorneys to support the individuals evacuated due to the eruptions.

They offered free legal clinics in Puna and Kau and referrals for those needing more one-on-one legal services. This grant provided for the printing and distribution of brochures with information about insurance claims and other potential legal issues.

Hawaiian Community Assets (HCA) – Financial Counseling and Loans for Puna Survivors.

Funding to HCA allowed them to assist low income individuals and families impacted by the

volcanic eruptions to provide financial counseling and emergency loans for deposit and rent, home repair, replacement of appliances and furnishings and other renovations necessary to make homes livable again.

Hope Services – Case Management and Outreach and Hale Iki Management. This grant supports the ongoing need for housing placement assistance for lava survivors and case management at the micro unit villages constructed at Sacred Hearts and Connect Point Church properties.

Legal Aid Society of Hawaii (LASH) – Paralegal. LASH applied for funding from the federal Legal Services Corporation for an attorney and paralegal for Hawaii Island. This grant supported a paralegal to conduct intake, provide legal advice and assist with the coordination of legal volunteers.

Neighborhood Place of Puna – STREAK subscription for 12 months. This grant will provide for an additional 12 months subscription for the STREAK database to continue to support requests for assistance that are still being addressed and to develop improvements for using the system for future disasters.

United Policyholders – Roadmap to Recovery Services. United Policyholders provides expertise regarding the nuts and bolts of insurance claims, especially after catastrophic loss claims. They have provided training for local lawyers, a Hawaii Insurance Claim Help Library and access to an “Ask and Expert” forum to provide answers to specific questions at no cost for those seeking help with their insurance claims.

University of Hawai‘i Foundation – Student Housing at UH Hilo. This grant provided for housing costs for students who were displaced from their homes by the lava and are attending UH Hilo or Hawai‘i Community College.

GRANTS MADE FOR THE REBUILD AND RESILIENCE PHASE Hawai‘i Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development – Exploring an Affordable Housing Community Land Trust and Affordable Housing Community Land Trust Business Plan.

Two grants were given to this organization, first to work with the County to coordinate a gathering of housing stakeholders to explore the possibility of establishing a land trust and then to develop a plan for one.

Housing and Land Enterprise of Hawai‘i County – Community Land Trust to Benefit Survivors of the Kilauea Volcanic Eruption. As a result of the housing stakeholders meeting to explore an affordable housing community land trust, an organization recently established for this purpose, was identified to construct several homes on land donated by the County. This grant will support start-up costs during this pilot project phase.

Maku‘u Farmers Association – Activate Puna Community Event. This grant supported a community revitalization event that used art, food and music to engage youth and the business community of Puna as they move into long-term recovery after the devastation of the Kilauea eruption.

University of Hawai‘i Foundation – Housing Construction Internships. Hawai‘i Community College hired an Internship Placement Coordinator to liaison between students in the applied technical education programs of carpentry, electrical installation, etc. and contractors with the intent of growing the pipeline of skilled labor to help with the repair and rebuilding of homes.