Schatz congratulates Maui families awarded with federal funding to buy first home; Visits ʻĪao and Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art

US Sen. Brian Schatz conducted site visits on the Valley Isle on Wednesday, focused on the progress of recovery efforts on Maui, following the 2023 wildfires and recent Kona Low storms in March of this year.

Schatz highlighted the progress in housing recovery, with temporary units and building permits in place, and the provision of financial assistance to families. He also expressed a need for long-term resilience planning to mitigate future weather-related disasters.

The conversation also touched on the upcoming opening of the Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art in 2027 in Wailuku.

Maui families awarded with federal funding to buy first home

Schatz joined a signing ceremony to meet with and congratulate Maui families impacted by the 2023 fires who are set to receive a federal award of up to $600,000 to help buy a new home.

The awards, part of the county’s First-Time Homebuyer Opportunity Program, is funded by the $1.6 billion in federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) money Schatz secured for Maui in 2024. 

“We fought for this money in Washington because we knew that for Maui to recover fully, it needed its people. And what people need above all else is the security of a stable home,” said Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “There’s still so much to do to make sure West Maui is back on its feet, but days like today should give us all hope that better days are ahead and we’re going to get there together.”

Visit in ‘Īao Valley to assess storm damage

In a phone conversation with Maui Now, Schatz said he will push for a more resilient way of dealing with storms, wildfires and other events.

“The weather is getting increasingly intense, increasingly dangerous. In Lahaina, a lot of wildfire mitigation has been established after the fires. They’re looking at having evacuation routes so that people have a way to get in and out of the towns, should something happen again. The communications plan, I think, is more well articulated, but it also goes for flooding,” said Schatz.

During his visit, Schatz also made a stop in ʻĪao to assess the area, which was heavily impacted by the Kona Low storms earlier this year. The visit comes after Schatz and the Hawai‘i congressional delegation urged President Donald Trump to approve Gov. Green’s disaster declaration request, which was granted on April 15.

“Keeping streams and drainage ditches in good condition, doing hillside and stream site stabilization, using natural solutions — all of those are going to be tools in our toolkit. But I think the mindset has to be not just to wait for a disaster to hit, and then we respond and go about recovering. We really got to be prepped for these things. And that’s something I’m also working on in the Congress,” said Schatz.

In addressing county officials from across the American West, including Hawai‘i and Alaska, at the National Association of Counties Western Interstate Region Conference, Schatz said, “It’s just a fact that our communities weren’t built for the extreme weather conditions we experience today. It’s not enough to just wait to respond to disasters. We need to prepare for what’s coming, and we need to do it together, at every level of government.”

Site visit of future Hālau Of ‘Ōiwi Art in Wailuku

While in Wailuku, Schatz had plans to visit the Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art, a project designed as a gathering place for the perpetuation of Hawaiian culture and arts. The center will be dedicated to the study, practice, celebration and perpetuation of hula and associated arts and will also be used as a resilience hub for shelter and recovery in the event of a disaster. 

 In 2022, Senator Schatz delivered $11 million in federal earmark funding for the project, which broke ground in 2024 and is expected to be completed in 2027.

“People are really excited to have a place where they can convene, a place where they can have a space,” said Schatz. “It’s not just about the economics of of running a hālau or doing other native and cultural activities; but it’s also about the synergy that you get when you have a lot of this activity happening in the very same place. It’ll be the first of its kind in the state of Hawaiʻi.”

“It’s exciting to see a project like this begin to take shape. It took a lot of work from every level of government and from the Maui community to secure resources and begin construction. While there is still more work to do, we can’t wait to celebrate its opening,” said Schatz.

*Editor’s note: This article was updated to add images and information from post-visit recaps.