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Nonprofits seek county funding across services from rehousing to mental health, home repairs and kupuna care
Summary
Scores of nonprofit leaders and program directors testified to the BFED committee, requesting or defending budget line items that support kupuna services, home repair for wildfire survivors, youth programs, personal-care subsidies and local mental-health services.
A steady stream of nonprofit leaders and program directors testified during the committees public-comment portion, highlighting line items and specific service gaps in the mayors budget submission. The public testimony spanned affordable housing advocacy, home-repair programs for kupuna, grief and mental-health services, and requests for capital or operating support.
Highlights of testimony
- Affordable rental support in South Maui: Mike Moran (Kihei Community Association) urged support for an Alley OPK three-phase, 100% affordable rental project in South Kihei, noting it is near services, schools and transit and would add walkable housing options.
- Brush With Kindness: Matt Bachman, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Maui, asked the committee to support a $250,000 grant proposed to the Maui County Office of Aging for a Brush With Kindness program that does home repair and accessibility modifications for kupuna and disabled homeowners. Bachman described eligibility rules (age 60+/disabled; <=80% AMI; owner-occupied) and said the program stacks county funds with other grants.
- Spirit Horse Ranch: Director Paige DePonte described trauma-informed equine programs that served wildfire survivors, youth in crisis, foster families and first responders; she asked for renewed and regular county support after a partial award in the current year.
- Kupuna and adult day care: Kathleen Couch, Margie Dela Cruz and others from Maui Adult Day Care Centers described services that keep elders active and delay more expensive long-term care. Dela Cruz said Maui Adult Day Care keeps fees low (cited per-day costs) and requested support for a temporary sublease in Lahaina (60 Kenoi Street) to resume services displaced by the wildfire.
- Home- and personal-care programs: Andy Justice (Hale Mahaulu) testified in support of Kupuna Care personal-care services and a county subsidy program that helps pay caregivers; he described eligibility gaps for people who do not qualify for Medicaid and urged continued county subsidy funding.
- Community-based mental-health and youth programs: Several speakers described county-funded mental-health or youth-prevention activities (Spirit Horse Ranch, Big Brothers Big Sisters). Big Brothers Big Sisters asked the committee to maintain a line item to fund full-time case managers and operating costs.
- MEO and other wraparound services: Debbie Kabibi, CEO of Maui Economic Opportunity (MEO), summarized a broad slate of county-supported programs (reentry, rental assistance, Head Start, paratransit, business development, ag grants) and requested continued support; she flagged the complexity of some federal grant transitions but said county funding helped stabilize local recovery efforts.
Why it matters: committee members heard multiple requests from frontline providers whose programs target kupuna, youth, people with disabilities, wildfire survivors and low-income households. The testimony illustrates how county grants supplement federal and philanthropic funding and how providers rely on predictable local support.
Ending
Committee members asked several providers for written follow-up containing program metrics, budgets and service counts; staff and departments agreed to provide more detail where needed to inform funding decisions.
