A Maui program kept Lahaina families together by paying households to take in fire survivors

Story by abc

WAILUKU, Hawaii — The Lahaina home Tamara Akiona shared with 10 people was never quiet, and she loved it that way.

Akiona, her husband, uncle, stepdaughter, and her best friend’s family filled the house once owned by her grandparents, with four bedrooms, two living rooms and a spacious backyard.

She remembers the happy anticipation of hearing the front door open and not knowing who’d come home. Someone was always in the kitchen cooking. Neighbors gathered in the evening to chat and share food from their gardens. Kids chased the shave-ice man as he rolled past in his truck.