Maui County’s interim housing plan, which includes developments funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state and the county, was announced Wednesday evening at the county’s weekly disaster recovery community update meeting at the Lahaina Civic Center.

An estimated 4,500 households are displaced, Keanu Lau Hee, deputy managing director, said at the meeting, with 13% being homeowners and the remaining 87% renters. Of these households, over 3,800 were sheltered in hotels “at one point in time.”

“What we understand is that the vast majority of this community wants to remain in West Maui,” Lau Hee said. “I think that’s been abundantly clear to at least the county and others, so many of the solutions in which you’re going to hear meet that goal.”

The county estimates it will need 4,000 interim housing solutions, and will partner with FEMA and the state to meet that goal, Lau Hee said.

Lau Hee said the county is working with private developers to “expedite” their permitting processes to build group housing sites.

Private development plans underway include 50 units for the Kapalua TY Management Employee Housing Project, 88 units for the Kahului Family Life Center Ohana Hope Village Project and 77 units by the Holomua Collective in Napili. Developer Ikaika Ohana is working on two projects — Kaiaulu o Kukuia, a 200-unit project that is targeted for completion in December, and Kaiaulu o Kupuohi, which is targeted for completion in December 2025.

Lau Hee said that in addition to expediting permits for private developers, the county is focusing on clearing properties and conducting damage assessments to expedite the ability of individuals to rebuild as well.

“We are proposing to do an allocation to housing nonprofit partners to assist with the rebuilding effort through either grants or loans for individuals who want to and are ready to rebuild,” she said.

An expedited permitting center is expected to open next month, in partnership between the county and an outside vendor to help with permit reviews.

“Our goal is to create opportunities for you folks to start rebuilding on your properties,” Lau Hee said.

The state Department of Human Services is working on a 450-unit temporary housing community called Kala‘iola that will span 72 acres above the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ Villages of Leialii.

DHS deputy director Joseph Campos II said that the project’s first phase will produce approximately 270 prefab homes that will be placed between July and September, followed by an additional 180 homes. The homes are being built by four different manufacturers, and will consist of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes.

The Kala‘iola project also will include community buildings, such as a child care facility, a post office box and a kupuna care space. Campos also said that gathering areas also will be implemented throughout the community.

“The governor’s main goal and mission is to ensure that people have long-term housing,” Campos said. “He is concerned about the well- being and welfare of all the people of Hawaii, but especially those impacted by the fires, and so we hope that Kala‘iola will be a place of peaceful recovery.”

Housing in the Kala‘iola community is designated for those that are not eligible for FEMA assistance. Campos said that at least for the first year, there will be no rent charges.

FEMA is also building a 3,600-acre, 169-unit group housing site on Fleming Road, adjacent to the Kala‘iola community, with the majority of the units being designated for single households.

The agency also operates its direct lease program, which has secured over 1,300 units. To date, FEMA has housed 378 households in the units, and its goal is to house 300 households per week until it fills up all of their available units, said FEMA Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer Curtis Brown.

The August wildfires on Maui killed at least 101 people and destroyed or damaged almost 3,000 properties.

The meeting opened with a discussion on mental health care, led by members of the state Department of Health’s Maui Behavioral Health Wildfire Response Project, which provided resources and tips to maintain mental health following the wildfires.

Trevor Davis, director of the Maui Behavioral Health Wildlife Response Project, said that DOH has been working with the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration over the past few months to get a federal grant to “enhance mental health and substance use services in the area,” through the creation of a new resiliency center. It will include services that differ from already-existing clinics, as well as host group events and provide access to traditional healing practitioners.

“Ideally, the resiliency center will be there for years and years to come, because we have a lot of difficulties to deal with for years and years to come, unfortunately,” Davis said. “It’s going to be a place where we can come together, build those connections and start to build resilience.”

Davis said that DOH also will use the grant to expand its behavioral health serv­ices, including skills training, peer-to-peer support, traditional healing events, and individual, couple and family therapy services.

In his remarks at the end of the meeting, Mayor Richard Bissen emphasized the significance of the mental health pieces that were offered at the start of the evening, in addition to ensuring that the audience’s comments and questions would be addressed and discussed further.

“This is not a perfect situation in any way. There’s nothing good or great about anything that’s happening except for the energy and effort that everybody’s putting in,” he said. “The most important piece is that we treat each other with that grace and treat each other with the respect we all deserve.”

More information on interim housing options will be available on a new section of the Maui Recovers website dedicated to housing. The county said on its Facebook page that a Maui Recovers text and email notification will be sent once the new housing section is live.