$2.25M awarded for new transitional housing for healthcare workers impacted by Lahaina wildfire

The Maui Health Foundation has received a $2.25 million grant from Hawaiʻi Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund for the construction of up to 15 additional transitional housing units for healthcare professionals directly impacted by the August 2023 Lahaina fire.

These new accessory dwelling units (ADUs) will be integrated into the Foundation’s Housing for Healthcare Maui Lani Fairways site. County building permits for the ADUs have been approved, and the groundwork for construction started this month. The first units are anticipated to be completed by June 2025.

“We are so grateful to Hawaiʻi Community Foundation for partnering with us to help address this double crisis here on Maui,” said Maui Health Foundation Chief Philanthropy Officer Melinda Sweany. “Thanks to their support, these new units will nearly double the Housing for Healthcare housing inventory for healthcare professionals and provide immediate and long-term solutions to these issues. I want to thank our Maui Health Foundation and Housing for Healthcare leadership, and project contractor Lehua Builders and its vendors, for partnering with us in service to our community to make this a reality. We could not accomplish this without all of these incredible partners.”

The ADUs will provide comfortable, affordable and convenient housing near Maui Memorial Medical Center and many other central Maui medical offices. All Housing for Healthcare homes and ADU units are offered as affordable transitional housing rentals (one-year leases with the option to extend with approval) to ensure that housing remains accessible to healthcare workers searching for permanent housing. The addition of the ADUs will bring Housing for Healthcare’s total available inventory to 31 homes.

Additionally, now with the ADUs, the project can accommodate a range of family sizes, with 1-bedroom/1-bath cottages for individuals or couples and 4-bedroom/3.5-bath homes for larger families.

Interested healthcare workers can enter a lottery to be invited to apply when additional homes are completed. For questions on the application process, please contact Emerald Realty Inc. at 808-242-6629. For more information on HFH or to support this initiative, visit mauihealth.org/HFH.