Unfortunately, we aren’t the ones deciding how our tax dollars get spent — and whether the money generated from West Maui’s tourism businesses plays a direct role in helping Lahaina families rebuild. For example, in the year after the fire, the State of Hawaiʻi spent $357 million on hotels for fire survivors and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spent another $295 million to temporarily rent homes and condominiums. Said differently, that’s enough money to buy (or rebuild) 650 $1 million homes – more than 80% of the approximately 800 owner-occupied homes lost in Lahaina.

Similarly, even though Maui generates millions of dollars in revenue through hotel room and sales taxes, there’s no guarantee that those dollars will go toward projects the Lahaina community needs either. As of late 2024, for instance, the state estimated there was a nearly$300 million gap in residential losses after the fire that weren’t covered by insurers.

In contrast, every single dollar that goes toward this collective partnership through Kalua‘ehu will go toward filling financial gaps to allow families to rebuild and keeping Lahaina lands in Lahaina hands.

Every single dollar raised through Kalua‘ehu will go toward our programs that provide grants to homeowners to help them rebuild and create permanently affordable homes on LCLT land. Thanks to the support of generous funders, LCLT’s day-to-day operating expenses are covered through 2026.

All donors will receive a tax-deductible receipt for tax reporting purposes. We advise you to consult with your tax advisor on any further questions you may have seeing as each business may be structured differently.

Although it’s still under legal review, our weighted lottery system will give preference to: ​

• Lahaina residents displaced by the fire​

• Folks who grew up in Lahaina​

• Native Hawaiian and multi-generational kamaʻāina to Lahaina

LCLT will partner with sellers on buy-back clauses to ensure that families can return to their land once a home is built or children/grandchildren have first right of refusal.

Our Keep Lahaina Home Insurance Gap Program is made possible by a powerful partnership that helps us support families who need financial assistance to rebuild. While LCLT provides funding and stewards long-term protections on homes that are rebuilt, nonprofit mortgage lender Hawai‘i Community Lending (HCL) vets and qualifies all applicants for the program and helps homeowners better understand their financial positions. The Hoʻōla iā Mauiakama Disaster Long Term Recovery Group (Hoʻōla LTRG), meanwhile, works in collaboration with LCLT and HCL to help homeowners navigate the permitting and rebuilding process by coordinating resources, including grant funding, material sourcing and in-kind labor.