Another hit: Insufficient funding erases more than 130 jobs held by Maui wildfire survivors

As Maui wildfire survivors try to get back on their feet, another blow: A combination of uncertain federal funding from the US Department of Labor and insufficient available funds from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations have led to lost jobs Monday for 131 National Dislocated Worker Grant workers.

The program provided “good-paying jobs” to people impacted by the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires and provided labor at no cost for recovery work at wildfire sites, according to Maui Economic Opportunity Inc. The project shutdown happened Monday. MEO is the program administrator.

“We are deeply saddened by this unfortunate turn of events related to the federal funding environment,” said MEO Chief Executive Officer Debbie Cabebe. “We had plans and expectations to run the program through September 30.”

On Monday, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations informed MEO that the department did not have enough funds to cover MEO’s January payment request for reimbursement and that continued funding through the US Department of Labor remained uncertain. This program has been structured with MEO fronting payments, and DLIR reimbursing MEO.

The news from the state Labor Department “left us no choice other than shutting down immediately to prevent incurring further potentially non-reimbursable expenses,” Cabebe said. “We do not have an abundance of discretionary funding to cover potentially millions of dollars in expenses.”

For the 131 dislocated workers who lost their jobs Monday, MEO is “committed to placing all participants” in regular jobs, working with Employers Options and the Maui County American Job Center, she said.

MEO also will host a resource fair for former dislocated workers from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at MEO, located in Wailuku, at 99 Mahalani St., behind the J. Walter Cameron Center.  

There were 27 host sites performing wildfire cleanup, recovery and humanitarian work on Monday. Because of the way the program was structured, Employers Options was the employer of record, not host sites.

Dislocated worker program participants must contact Employers Options to ensure receiving eligible benefits – including unemployment compensation. Failure to update resumes and apply for jobs may disqualify workers from unemployment benefits.

Employers Options can be reached at 808-877-6555. The Maui American Job Center is at 110 Ala‘ihi St., Suite 209, Kahului. It can be accessed online at https://www.mauicounty.gov/1116/Maui-American-Job-Center.

MEO Community Services Director Cassi Yamashita can be reached as a resource person by email at cassi.yamashita@meoinc.org or by calling 808-243-4359. Host sites with questions may contact Cabebe by email at debbie.cabebe@meoinc.org or by calling 808-870-1906.

The National Dislocated Worker Grant program was announced on Oct. 18. Since then, it has placed more than 300 individuals in temporary jobs, ranging from $20.50 to $27 an hour, at 51 host sites.

“NDWG was launched with the best of intentions in the midst of the suffering, devastation and chaos in the aftermath of the wildfires,” Cabebe said. “The goal was to stand up the program quickly to help those impacted by the wildfires gain footing as they made decisions about their future.”

“Looking back, the program was a win-win for participants and host sites providing important and necessary services. MEO will continue to support and look for ways to assist those impacted by the wildfires,” she said.

Editor’s note: A  photo and caption referencing The Salvation Army in an earlier post of this story was used in error. It is not an impacted organization for this story.