Homeowners are experiencing long-term financial impacts caused by the pandemic, which have been exacerbated by wildfires. There is a need to increase long-term housing options within the County to assist displaced families after the wildfires. Programs are needed to support financial assistance for affected homeowners and increase available new housing units for Maui residents with the goal to preserve community stability and facilitate effective recovery.

These programs will continue to expand ongoing projects and efforts already in place to assist residents experiencing financial concerns. Homeowners displaced by the wildfires will be eligible for these redeveloped programs. Programs will be open to homeowners displaced by the wildfires and will build off the Maui Homeowner’s Assistance Fund (MHAF), which is a COVID-19 assistance program designed to provide mortgage and other qualified housing expense assistance now being offered to homeowners displaced by the August 2023 wildfires. It includes the ʻOhana Assistance Program, which launched July 1, 2024, to provide grants to County homeowners up to $100,000 to defray the cost of design and construction of an attached or detached ʻohana unit to owner-occupied grant applicants.