Vibrant Hawaiʻi is asking state officials to tap the islands' new Green Fee to grow a network of community resilience hubs that sprang into action during this year's storms, including a 13-day emergency response on Hawaiʻi Island that reached thousands of households. The nonprofit says the funding would build a connected, locally led system aligned with state and county emergency management, rather than a single island's patchwork of volunteer efforts.
According to bigislandnow.com, Vibrant Hawaiʻi is requesting Green Fee funding specifically to expand its network of resilience hubs across the islands. The same outlet, which first reported the proposal, notes that the network would strengthen community capacity to prepare for, respond to and recover from climate-driven disasters statewide, not just on Hawaiʻi Island where the model got its start.
Hurricane Lala Response Put the Model to the Test
The case for funding leans heavily on what happened after Hurricane Lala hit Hawaiʻi Island. In August, Vibrant Hawaiʻi hubs addressed nearly 4,000 assistance requests and served more than 12,000 individuals during the storm's response and recovery, per the same account. Within 24 hours of the hurricane's impact, 11 points of distribution were already running around the island, a number that grew fast as needs became clearer.
Throughout the 13-day response, that distribution network expanded to 24 points and supported 130 distributions islandwide, the site reports. Vibrant Hawaiʻi ultimately logged 2,363 requests for assistance representing more than 8,000 people, and it distributed $443,800 in immediate cash assistance to 1,757 households. During a two-week stretch of that response, the organization also funded 45 community grant requests totaling $29,300, bringing its total investment in the Tropical Storm Lala effort to more than $600,000 as of September 5.
New Resource Centers and a Web of Local Partners
Community Resource Centers tied to the effort opened in Pāhala and Nāʻālehu on August 31, with additional centers planned for Ocean View, Kona, Puna Mauka, Puna Makai, Honokaʻa and Kohala, according to the report. Twenty-nine partner organizations have been supporting residents with financial assistance, document replacement, insurance claims and denial advocacy, health services, help navigating the rebuilding process, and financial assistance for farmers.
Months earlier, a different test came to Oʻahu. Following the March Kona Low storm, resilience hubs in Koʻolau provided immediate disaster response through points of distribution, a community resource center and outreach to marginalized and hard-to-reach communities. That network, described on Vibrant Hawaiʻi's website, includes both formal and informal community-based groups and associations, and it was originally brought together through a grant from the Harold K. Castle Foundation with backbone support from Vibrant Hawaiʻi. Resilience hubs generally are powered by trusted community leaders who connect residents to services, programs, resources and opportunities, the organization says.
What the Green Fee Money Would Actually Buy
Under the proposal, funding would sustain statewide convening and coordination and provide startup grants to hubs that complete a community emergency action plan, per bigislandnow.com's reporting. Those startup grants would equip new hubs with emergency communication tools, sheltering supplies, equipment and training, with the training itself focused on coordinated disaster mitigation, preparedness and response.
The pitch leans on the Hurricane Lala numbers as proof the model already works, and on a broader statewide need: one in five Hawaiʻi residents is over age 65, a demographic reality that Civil Beat has reported makes disaster preparation for older adults especially urgent. Civil Beat has also noted that resilience hubs pioneered on Hawaiʻi Island are seen as a possible model for the rest of the state, a point that aligns with Vibrant Hawaiʻi's pitch to scale the concept statewide rather than keep it island-specific.
Where the Green Fee Money Comes From
The Green Fee, described as the nation's first climate impact fee, was established by law in May 2025. Officials estimate it will generate nearly $100 million annually, money intended to support protection of natural and cultural resources, climate and hazard resilience, and sustainable tourism across the islands.
Exactly how much of that revenue will reach the islands' hotel and lodging taxes is a point on which reporting diverges. Bigislandnow.com reported the state's transient accommodations tax stands at 10% as of January 1, an increase of 0.75%, while The Hill reported the same January 1 change pushed the statewide rate to 11%. Hoodline could not independently reconcile the two figures. The Hill also reported that the Green Fee's stated priorities are protecting land and aquatic resources, climate and hazard resiliency, and sustainable tourism.
Separately, Civil Beat has reported that cruise ships are projected to pay nearly a third of all Green Fee revenues, and that bills advancing in the Hawaiʻi House and Senate would replace the cruise-ship portion of the fee with a flat charge of around $10 per passenger instead. Hoodline could not independently verify the current status of that cruise-industry provision beyond what has been reported elsewhere about a legal challenge and injunction affecting its enforcement.
Residents who want to weigh in on how the Green Fee proposal should be shaped can review and comment on it at ideas.greenfeehawaii.org.
