Lahaina-based nonprofit awarded $1.6M to serve Maui Filipino community

Hawai’i Community Foundation awarded Kaibigan ng Lahaina (“Friends of Lahaina”) with a $1.6 million grant from the Maui Strong Fund, according to organization board president Nestor Ugale. Kaibigan ng Lahaina is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization founded by Filipino fire survivors after 2023 Lahaina wildfire.

The organization is guided by a seven-member board of directors.

“Our board is primarily composed of Lahaina residents providing services to other members of the Lahaina community,” Ugale said. “We have a deep commitment and inherent connection to this place and all of its people, and as Filipinos we are dedicated to establishing a platform to empower our kaibigans as resilient community members with valuable contributions to Lahaina and the future of Maui.”

Members of the board of directors have extensive experiences with the Lahaina Filipino community in development, nonprofit administration, public education, higher education, organized labor, journalism, small business ownership, health services and state and local government.

Kaibigan Ng Lahaina’s grant includes funding for four core programming areas meant to address the short-term and long-term recovery of Lahaina Filipinos:

• A resource navigation program called “SAWALI,” symbolically named after an indigenous Filipino weaving technique used to build traditional homes;
• A mental health and well-being program called AMIN, meaning “us” or “we” in in the Tagalog and Ilokano languages;
• A workforce and youth development program called “WAYA,” named after the Ilokano root-word for “freedom” or “liberation”; and
• A cultural education program called “ILI,” named after the Ilokano word for “land-base” and connoting a community of belonging.

“The Filipino community is the second-largest ethnic group on Maui and made up about 44% of Lahaina’s population before the fire. Post-disaster, we experienced a lack of translation services and culturally-informed programming and outreach for Filipinos by Filipinos of Lahaina,” Ugale said. “We recognized and appreciated the immediate disaster relief that poured in from outside organizations. We realized then that the path to a sustainable and more resilient future for our Filipino community would require a more collaborative and integrated approach led by our own community members.”

“Despite being here since 1906, Filipinos are still underserved by social programs and underrepresented in leadership positions,” said Debra Andres Arellano, Kaibigan ng Lahaina board vice president. “Our programs respond by fillling critical gaps in services, while envisioning a new future for our community. We envision Kaibigan ng Lahaina as the opportunity for Filipinos to be empowered and resourced to build a Lahaina where Filipinos are rooted, culturally-connected, and thriving as leaders—culturally, economically, and politically.” Kaibigan ng Lahaina is currently operating at the Kāko’o Maui and Office of Recovery in West Maui, in partnership with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. The organization plans to establish a resource center as a hub for the community, offering a centralized location for resources and support for current and long-term needs.

“A physical location will allow our community a place to meet, heal, and connect with services, similar to the Kākoʻo Maui Relief & Aid Services Center operated by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement,” said Kaibigan ng Lahaina Executive Director Eric Arquero. “Having this space will allow us to build our relationships with people and partner organizations, necessary for the kind of personal and in-depth services informed by cultural values and the place of Lahaina, which we provide.”

To learn more about Kaibigan Ng Lahaina and to inquire about services, visit www.kaibigannglahaina.org, call (808) 303-8289 or follow @kaibigannglahaina on Facebook and @kaibigan_ng_lahaina on Instagram.