Makai Foundation - Rebuilding Maui Together

Kū Kia’i Ka Hale Kānaka

Kānaka Housing Assistance Grant

Kū Kia’i Ka Hale Kānaka

Program Overview

Kū Kiaʻi Ka Hale Kānaka can be understood as a commitment to stand as a guardian for the homes of the people—a program grounded in dignity, kuleana, and mālama.

PURPOSE

To provide direct rental and mortgage assistance to Kānaka Maoli households on Maui at risk of displacement due to housing cost burden and post-disaster economic stressors.

PRIMARY GOALS

Prevent displacement for Kānaka Maoli households
experiencing financial strain.
Stabilize housing so families can maintain
employment, schooling, caregiving, and recovery
tasks.
Deliver aid with dignity using culturally grounded
language, respectful documentation practices, and
trauma-informed outreach.

TARGET POPULATION

Kānaka Maoli households on Maui experiencing acute housing insecurity or at imminent risk of displacement. We prioritized Kūpuna, those on the verge of houselessness, those who received eviction notices, low- income families (certified through SNAP/Quest), and families facing outside burdens such as a death in the family, health challenges or work layoffs.

View the Grant Report

IMPACT BY NUMBERS

Through This Grant, in 2025 We Helped:

$50,000

Funds deployed.

22

Households that received support funding.

$2,020

Average assistance per household.

12

Families avoided displacement.

$86,000

Additional grant funding opened up through advocacy and application assistance.

You can make a difference! Donate to the Kānaka Housing Grant below. 100% of your donation will go directly towards keeping Kānaka housed.

Donate Online

Program Partners & Community Governance

This program was made possible through collaboration with trusted community organizations and leaders embedded in Maui’s recovery landscape:

Hoʻoponopono O Mākena
Mālama Kakanilua
Maui Tomorrow Foundation

Makai Foundation provided program lead, admin, accounting, legal support, MOU writing, website, application build, intake application build, administration, and grant management and reporting for the grant. These relationships ensured that the program did not operate as a detached “service,” but as a relational support mechanism accountable to community realities.

YOUR PARTNERSHIP AT WORK

Statistics & Funding Snapshot

Demographics of Applicants

Reasons Leading to Housing Instability

Additional grant funding opened up through advocacy and application assistance: $86,600

$16,800 for 2 families supported with signing up for basic-income grant through MRR $700/mo for 12 months

$48K for FEMA advocacy for 3 families (recertification support so they could stay)

$16,800 direct from Makai foundation (if more than $2K was needed for housing security)

Supported 1 family to raise additional funds to prevent eviction- $11K

Utility assistance- $2K donated directly from Makai

HOA fees paid for 1 family $700 so they could qualify for Kanaka home ownership grant

Supported 2 families with first time homeowners Kanaka grant (pending)

Supported 18 families with MEO TANF grant and Disaster Stabilization grant

Supported 18 families with OHA grant- pending

One household provided a vehicle to get them working again (DV survivor)

34 families provided with clothing, blankets, jewelry, coolers through HealMaui/Makai clothing giveaway from this list

Qualitative Outcomes

Beyond numbers, families reported that support:

Reduced immediate crisis stress and stabilized household health.
Appreciation shared that we came to them and met them at a location and time that worked for them and their families/ children/ around work.
Preserved community ties and caregiving responsibilities.
Prevented cascading losses (job loss, school disruption, relocation costs).
Restored a sense of being held by community rather than managed by systems.

VIEW THE FULL GRANT REPORT ONLINE

For more information, we encourage you to view the grant report in detail using the link below.

VIEW THE REPORT