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Rapid response
Hawaiʻi Strong
Statewide disaster response: mutual-aid hubs, supply runs, connectivity, cleanup crews and direct cash relief, staged before the storm instead of after it.
Give to rapid response →
501(c)(3)Our Hawaiʻi Foundation · Public charity
Recovery, led by the people who live here.
We fund and organize community-led disaster response and climate resilience across Hawaiʻi, from Lāhainā’s long rebuild to the Kona Low floods and Hurricane Lala. Neighbors are always first on the scene. We make sure they’re resourced, and still standing when the cameras leave.
3+ yearsin Maui fire recovery
3 islandsMaui, Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island
$2.1Mtwo-year community investment
With support from
Hawaiʻi Community FoundationClean Break FundMaui Recovery Funders CollaborativeThe New SchoolRebuild.USHawaiʻi People’s FundGlobalGivingNDN Collective
01 — Why we exist
Fire in 2023. Record floods and a hurricane in 2026. Each time, neighbors were first on the scene, and the last to see recovery dollars. We exist to flip that order.
Disasters are coming faster.
The gap between emergencies keeps shrinking. Communities can’t rebuild from scratch every time.
Help arrives late, leaves early.
Aid takes months to land. Local hubs, trusted messengers and supply lines are there on day one, and they stay.
Climate costs land at home.
Every storm pushes premiums up and coverage out of reach. Real resilience includes staying insured.
02 — On the ground
Three disasters.
Three disasters.
We’ve shown up each time.
Every response builds on the last: the same hubs, the same trusted people, more ready each time.
The response
The damageLāhainā: three years in, still here.
When Lāhainā burned on August 8, 2023, Lāhainā Strong, a hui first formed after the 2018 West Maui fires, was already moving supplies and support to displaced families. The Foundation exists to sustain that work for the long haul.
- Lāhainā Strong Charitable Fund for long-term recovery
- Nā Maka ʻo Lāhainā neighborhood watch
- Quarterly Mākeke for fire-affected vendors
- Lāhainā Energy Partnership for community-owned power
3+ yrsof continuous Maui recovery support
The response
The damageKona Low: hubs open, doors knocked.
Record rain flooded Waialua, Mākaha and Wahiawā and hit Maui and Molokaʻi. We turned community spaces into mutual-aid hubs and went door to door to learn what families actually needed.
- Mutual-aid hubs in Mākaha, Wahiawā and at Capitol Modern
- Needs-assessment canvass with Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United and Tagnawa
- Mold-remediation training for about 40 residents
- $2,500 relief checks to Lāhainā families flooded out again
100+neighbors joined our Oʻahu recovery call
The response
The damageLala: reconnecting Kaʻū.
Lala buried Nāʻālehu in mud and cut communication across Kaʻū. We worked with partners to get community hubs back online and supplies to the households that needed them most.
- Starlink connectivity flown to Nāʻālehu hubs with Rainbow Helicopters
- Wellness checks and supply purchasing for South Shore Hawaiʻi Island
- Storm-recovery guides shared statewide
Activerecovery support in Kaʻū today
The response
The damageBetween storms is where resilience is built.
The work doesn’t stop when the water recedes. We use the quiet months to train neighbors, stage supplies and plan with the communities most likely to be hit next.
- 80+ residents at the North Shore “What Comes Next?” recovery meeting
- Community work days on Maui and Oʻahu all year
- Four community hui organizing across the islands
- Hurricane-season readiness with local partners
14+community work days planned for 2026
03 — What we do
Six ways we show up. Based on community need.
Maui recovery
Lāhainā Strong Charitable Fund
Long-term fire recovery led by Lāhainā families: neighborhood safety, community markets, land restoration and a community energy partnership.
Give to Lāhainā Strong →
Climate & insurance
Keep Hawaiʻi Insured
Research and public education on the climate costs driving insurance premiums up, so homeowners, renters and decision-makers can act before coverage disappears.
See the issue →
Community resilience
Ulana Institute
Weaving Kānaka Maoli and Filipino communities in West Oʻahu and West Maui together through shared stewardship, culture and disaster readiness.
Support Ulana →
For community groups
Fiscal sponsorship
A grassroots hui shouldn’t need its own 501(c)(3) to receive a grant. We fiscally sponsor community-led projects and handle the compliance, bookkeeping and reporting, so local leaders can focus on the work.
Ask about sponsorship →
Across sectors
Coalition building
No single group can rebuild a town. We bring unions, churches, funders, cultural practitioners and public agencies together around shared recovery goals, and keep them at the table between disasters.
See our partners →
04 — Keep Hawaiʻi Insured
The climate bill is coming due. Families shouldn’t pay it alone.
Each disaster raises the cost of staying home. Insurers raise rates or pull back, families go without coverage, and the next storm hits harder. We’re working to break that cycle with research, plain-language education and a stronger community voice in the decisions that set what Hawaiʻi pays.
…and the cycle starts again. Tap a step to see where we step in.
Where we step in
Readiness before the storm: hubs, supplies and trained neighbors in place.
Where we step in
Research that shows who really pays for climate damage in Hawaiʻi, and who should.
Where we step in
Public education on rates, coverage and what’s driving costs, in plain language.
Where we step in
Helping homeowners and renters keep, or get back, the coverage they need.
Where we step in
Rapid response and recovery that keep families housed while they rebuild.
05 — Impact
What three years of showing up adds up to.
3+
years supporting Maui fire recovery, since August 2023
1,000s
of families directly assisted after disasters
$2.1M
planned two-year investment in Hawaiʻi communities
14+
community work days planned for 2026
4
community hui active across the islands
2,100+
volunteers signed up
Figures from Our Hawaiʻi Foundation program records, 2023–2026.
06 — How we work
Relief is the start. Resilience is the point.
01First 72 hours
Respond
Hubs, trusted messengers and supply lines, activated by neighbors who already know who needs what.
02The first year
Recover
Cash relief, cleanup crews, mold training, and help navigating aid and insurance claims.
03For good
Rebuild
Neighborhood watches, community energy and local leaders, so the next disaster meets a stronger community.
Our tools
Direct servicesCommunity organizingCultural organizingPopular education & mediaPolicy & opinion researchNonpartisan civic engagement
07 — The people
By the community, for the community.
Every hub, work day and relief check runs on local people: aunties and uncles, kumu, fishermen, small-business owners and keiki who show up for each other.
08 — Partners
We never move in silos.
Recovery is a team effort. These are the community groups, funders, unions, faith communities, schools and public agencies we’ve worked alongside.
WaiʻanaeHigh School
Shake EnergyCollaborative
WaiʻanaeAssembly of God
Add your logo.Partner with Our Hawaiʻi Foundation
09 — Partner with us
Offer your kōkua where it truly matters.
We partner with foundations, donor-advised funds and individual donors who want their dollars working in Hawaiʻi communities: fast in a crisis, and steady long after.
Choose a fund
Rapid Response Fund
Keeps hubs stocked, crews moving and cash flowing to families in the first weeks after a disaster.
- Water, food and cleanup supplies
- Connectivity for cut-off communities
- Direct relief to displaced families
- Cleanup and mold-remediation training
Lāhainā Strong Charitable Fund
Sustains Maui fire recovery led by the families who lived it.
- Nā Maka ʻo Lāhainā neighborhood watch
- Quarterly Mākeke for local vendors
- Land restoration work days
- Lāhainā Energy Partnership
Keep Hawaiʻi Insured
Funds research and public education on climate costs and insurance affordability.
- Research on who pays for climate damage
- Plain-language coverage guides
- Community convenings on climate costs
- Homeowner and renter education
Where it’s needed most
Flexible support lets us move the moment a storm forms, not after the paperwork clears.
- Organizers rooted in each community
- Training and readiness between storms
- Systems that make fast response possible
- The Ulana Institute and new hui
Questions funders ask.
Yes. Our Hawaiʻi Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 33-4648848. Gifts are deductible to the extent allowed by law.
We’re the charitable partner of Our Hawaiʻi Action, a 501(c)(4). The two share values and some operating costs under a written cost-sharing agreement, but keep separate boards, budgets and books. Foundation dollars never support candidates or partisan activity.
Yes. Choose rapid response, Lāhainā Strong, Keep Hawaiʻi Insured, or give where it’s needed most. Restricted gifts are tracked and reported separately.
Yes. Recommend a grant to “Our Hawaiʻi Foundation,” EIN 33-4648848.
10 — Contact
Pilina is important. Let’s talk story.
Volunteering, partnering, sponsoring a project, or just asking a question: send us a note and someone on our team will follow up.
- EIN33-4648848
- Emailinfo@our-hawaii.org
The next storm is already on its way. Help us meet it ready.
Every gift strengthens the network that shows up first, and stays the longest.