Families across Hawaiʻi who opened their doors to relatives, friends, or neighbors displaced by this year's hurricanes can now get paid for it. The Hawaiian Council has launched a statewide Host Housing Support Program offering eligible hosts $500 per displaced person each month, up to $2,000 per household, with applications due by October 14.
The nonprofit, formerly known for decades as the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement before rebranding under the tagline “Hawaiians Advancing Hawaiʻi” in August 2025 according to Aloha State Daily, announced the program as it prioritizes needs on Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi, as reported by Hawaii News Now. Those two islands bore the brunt of Hurricanes Lala and Lowell, the back-to-back storms that tore through the state over the past two months.
“Families across Hawaiʻi have opened their homes to displaced relatives, friends and neighbors,” said Hawaiian Council CEO Kūhiō Lewis, per the outlet's report. Nick Carroll, the organization's chief of staff, said the assistance offsets costs such as increased electricity and water bills, food, and furniture purchases — the quiet financial strain of doubling up a household overnight.
Two Storms, One Program
Hurricane Lala passed just south of Hawaiʻi Island as a Category 1 storm in mid-August, dumping more than 43 inches of rain on Laupāhoehoe and triggering widespread flash flooding and power outages, according to NASA Science. It was the first hurricane to directly skirt or strike Hawaiʻi Island since 1871. Three weeks later, Hurricane Lowell passed within 30 to 60 miles of Kauaʻi as a Category 2 storm, the station's report notes, knocking out power to nearly 90% of the island and sending ocean surges into Poʻipū that destroyed coastal homes — the first storm to threaten Kauaʻi that closely since Hurricane Iniki in 1992.
Poʻipū residents have spent recent weeks cleaning out homes damaged by those surges, Hawaii News Now reports. On Hawaiʻi Island, severe flooding from Lala damaged public water infrastructure in Nāʻālehu and Waiʻōhinu, leaving some residents dependent on backup generators and water delivery trucks weeks after the storm passed, per Hawaiʻi Public Radio, since power outages prevented pumps from drawing water from underground aquifers.
Damage Topping $686 Million
State officials issued a preliminary estimate in September putting total damage from the recent disasters, including Lala and Lowell, at approximately $686 million, with at least four storm deaths reported statewide, according to the Office of the Governor. Governor Josh Green and Hawaiʻi's congressional delegation requested expedited presidential Major Disaster Declarations that month to unlock federal individual and public assistance, with Green submitting the formal requests on September 9, as reported by Honolulu Civil Beat.
The Hawaiian Council's host model isn't new. It was informed by the organization's earlier work supporting families after the 2023 Maui wildfires, when its original Host Housing Support Program launched that October with monthly stipends initially set at $375 per displaced person, later raised to $500 in 2024, according to Hawaiʻi Public Radio's earlier reporting. That wildfire-era program was funded through the American Red Cross and the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund. Through its related Kākoʻo Maui initiatives, the organization has assisted more than 900 displaced wildfire survivors through host housing and short-term rentals, and has also built 126 interim affordable rental units on Maui, per Helping Maui.
How Verification Works
On Hawaiʻi Island, the Hawaiian Council works with Vibrant Hawaiʻi to verify household impacts, and displaced individuals and families there must register with Vibrant Hawaiʻi before submitting a host application. Vibrant Hawaiʻi can be reached at 802-365-1808 or [email protected]. That partnership builds on intake forms and relief points the nonprofit established with Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense after Lala to coordinate food, water, and shelter assistance across the Kaʻū District, where Highway 11 suffered extensive road washouts, according to Hawaiʻi County. On other islands, the Hawaiian Council verifies household impacts directly with government agencies, local organizations, and its own staff.
Funding for the program comes from contributions to the Kākoʻo Mai Fund along with a grant from Ty Management, Hawaii News Now reports. The program remains available only as funding allows, which leaves open how far the money will stretch if demand outpaces the fund's current capacity before the deadline closes.
Who Qualifies and What's Required
Hosts must be Hawaiʻi residents providing housing to individuals or families whose primary residence was in a confirmed disaster-impacted area. Applicants do not need to be of Native Hawaiian descent to qualify. The displaced household's original home must have been destroyed or sustained significant structural damage requiring extensive repairs, and the displaced individuals or families must live within the host household's permanent housing accommodations — tents and other temporary shelters do not qualify.
Eligible housing must include a safe sleeping area, bathrooms, and a kitchen or cooking area, and must pass a housing quality standard inspection. Hosts must supply the displaced household's pre-disaster address, a brief explanation of how the assistance will be used, and participate in monthly eligibility assessments; program administrators may also require proof of housing and site visits. Applicants need identification for both the host household and displaced adults, documentation of the pre-disaster address, and the host head of household must complete a W-9.
Hosts can apply at kakoomai.org/host-program, and applicants can request assistance by emailing [email protected]. The application window closes October 14.
The push comes as parallel recovery efforts continue on Kauaʻi, where the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii and state economic officials opened a $2.25 million small business grant portal in late September for enterprises damaged by Lowell's power outages and structural harm. Hoodline has also previously reported on a Big Island family's long road back after Lala tore through their community.
