Helping Maui’s Immigrant Community Navigate Wildfire Recovery Alongside Roots Reborn
Last month, Peace Winds staff had the pleasure of visiting our partner organization, Roots Reborn, at their office in Maui, Hawaii. Roots Reborn is a local nonprofit organization that formed in response to the catastrophic wildfires that struck the island in 2023. The team provides legal counseling and resource navigation to Maui’s immigrant community, a group that is often overlooked after disasters like this.
Coping with loss and the aftermath of a wildfire is difficult to begin with. The process is made much more challenging for survivors whose first language is not English or who do not qualify for government aid programs. These individuals often harbor a fear of asking for help or disclosing personal information, causing them to slip through the cracks of humanitarian aid. Roots Reborn’s compassionate staff and welcoming community events have made it a trusted source of guidance for these groups.
Thanks to contributions from our donors in Japan, the United States, and around the world, Peace Winds provided a grant to Roots Reborn in 2024 that helped the team bring a new immigration attorney on board. In the last year, they consulted with 56 individuals in need of legal guidance.
One of these was a man from Guatemala. He struggled with financial instability, and as a result of the wildfires, his work hours were reduced even further. Combined with the difficulty of learning English and the emotional strain of being separated from his wife and daughter, who remain in Guatemala, he struggled to navigate the complex American legal system. Support from Roots Reborn helped him become a naturalized citizen in December 2024. He is now hopeful that he will soon be able to reunite with his family, and he has been able to access more resources for recovery after the fires.
The Roots Reborn team understands firsthand the challenges the community faces; many staff members are immigrants or children of immigrants themselves. One woman joined the team after she and her family lost nearly everything in the fires, including their home and their jobs. This shared experience makes for a deeper sense of trust and understanding between Roots Reborn and the community it serves.
The team has expressed immense gratitude to Peace Winds and its supporters for believing in the organization as it was first getting started in the spring of 2024. Over the last year, Roots Reborn has grown considerably. In addition to hiring more staff to manage additional programs, the organization is now providing crucial “Know Your Rights” sessions. These help immigrant families understand the freedoms and protections they are entitled to amid stricter immigration policies and increased deportation risks.
In addition, Peace Winds continues to support wildfire recovery in Maui through Family Life Center (FLC) with Japanese government funding. FLC is a housing-focused nonprofit that runs Ohana Hope Village, a temporary housing community for Maui residents who lost their homes. Peace Winds is building a playground and community space there, as well as providing grief care and counseling workshops to FLC employees.
