Maui SERG Community Convening | Healing Maui, Together | Voices from the Maui SERG Convening

Two years after the August 2023 wildfires, more than 30 Maui organizations gathered at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College to reflect on what recovery has actually looked like and what it will take to keep going. Listen to what they said. Between 2024 and 2025, partners in the State Emergency Response Grant (SERG) network served more than 121,000 people, delivered over 23,000 services, and held nearly 2,000 community events across Maui. But the numbers are the smallest part of the story. What comes through in this room is trust. Showing up week after week to an empty pop-up tent until the keiki came. Pandesal on the table doing what months of paperwork could not. Providers carrying their own grief while holding someone else's. Research shared at the convening pointed to social support as the strongest known protective factor against anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The organizations in this room have been building exactly that, in Lahaina and across the island, since the day after. Recovery is not a phase that ends. As one participant put it, it is not a matter of if another disaster happens, but when. Mahalo to every organization, provider, and community member who shared their voice. The Maui SERG Convening 2026 was made possible by the Hawai'i State Department of Health through the SAMHSA State Emergency response Grant (H07SM089538) administered by Papa Ola Lōkahi. #MauiStrong #Lahaina #MauiRecovery #CommunityHealing #Hawaii #DisasterRecovery #MentalHealth #SERG