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Maui United Way urges $15 million county grant to aid ALICE households
Summary
Maui United Way told the County Council's budget committee it can administer a proposed $15 million “Alice Initiative” to provide direct financial assistance and services for households struggling to meet basic needs after the wildfires and COVID-era economic shocks.
Maui United Way asked the Maui County Council Budget, Finance & Economic Development Committee on April 22 to approve a proposed $15 million county grant to help “ALICE” (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households across Maui, Molokai and Lanai.
“We plan to provide assistance to asset-limited households for necessities including food, utilities, rent, gas, medical and school supplies,” Jason Economu, president and CEO of Maui United Way, told the committee during the public-testimony period. “We will conduct ongoing needs assessments and direct subsidies toward local vendors to provide stimulus to the local economy.”
Economu said the organization has experience administering sizable direct-aid programs, noting it distributed more than $8 million in immediate assistance after the August 2023 wildfires. He said Maui United Way would deploy program safeguards to prevent duplicate payments and coordinate with local nonprofits and relief programs.
“Forty-three percent of households in Maui County fall into the ALICE category and another 10 percent fall below the poverty line,” Economu said. “The time for bold action and supporting our community is now.”
Gian Lehi, a West Maui resident who said he has been “boots on the ground” since the fires, told the committee that local nonprofits and networks are prepared to partner on relief and case management if the County provides funds. Lehi and Economu both stressed collaboration with existing programs and community-based organizations to speed distribution and prevent duplication.
Council members asked how Maui United Way would target aid and whether funds might be leveraged alongside other public or philanthropic dollars. Economu said the organization seeks to amplify funds’ impact by working with other providers, citing experience coordinating the gas-card and emergency-assistance efforts after the fires. Committee members asked for more data on the share of county employees who fall into the ALICE category; Economu said he would try to provide those figures.
The committee did not take a vote on the request during the April 22 session. The hearing included repeated references to the post-fire increase in need and to continuing economic pressures from inflation, supply-chain costs and lingering COVID impacts.
If the council approves an appropriation, Maui United Way said the funds would be used for both one-time subsidies and investments in case-management infrastructure to help households stabilize and, where possible, move out of ALICE-level vulnerability.
