More federal funding is flowing to reduce homelessness on Maui, six months after the Lahaina wildfire affected this vulnerable population alongside other fire survivors struggling to obtain long-term housing.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Friday that it is providing $6.9 million in a second round of Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing program money to the state after an initial $1.3 million delivered two weeks after the Aug. 8 fire.

Gov. Josh Green called the new contribution an extraordinary and timely amount of support delivered a day and six months after the disaster, which destroyed roughly 3,500 homes in Lahaina, displaced 9,806 residents and killed at least 100 people. The fire also affected many homeless people in the West Maui town.

“We’re so grateful for this,” Green said during a Zoom news conference organized by HUD. “This means many families will suffer less, and we can begin to transition them to permanent housing, which is our long-term goal for everyone.”

The earlier Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing funding from HUD helped the state, county and private partners establish a village, or kauhale, largely using military-grade tents in Puu­nene, called Pu‘uhonua o Nene, which Green said is serving 139 formerly homeless people.

Before the wildfire there were known to be 259 homeless people on Maui.

Green said his administration is working with Maui County to identify sites for more kauhale and that the additional HUD funding will enable more shelter facilities to be developed.

Marion McFadden, HUD’s principal deputy assistant secretary for community planning and development, said Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing funds can also be used for things that include rental assistance, homeless outreach work and helping people with very low incomes avoid eviction or obtain relief from severely crowded housing conditions.

McFadden announced the new funding during a visit to Maui where she met with local government officials and other stakeholders in the wildfire recovery effort.

“I am deeply touched by the community’s resilience, strength and determination to rebuild stronger in the future,” she said. “In the wake of weather-related disasters, people need both immediate shelter and reassurance that their long-term housing needs will be met.”

McFadden also announced that Hawaii is one of eight states picked to participate in a new federal initiative aimed in part at using Medicaid funding to pay for housing needs that reduce homelessness.

Under this initiative by HUD and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Hawaii will be able to obtain technical assistance to access federal programs and resources that include Medicaid waivers to cover time-limited rental, utility, security deposit and other costs to secure housing for eligible individuals.

Green, a medical doctor, said he has long believed that housing people with chronic illness reduces illness and suffering for those people while also reducing the costs of their health care.

By participating in the initiative, a competitive award program established in November called the Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator, Green said the state can be more innovative with its $4 billion Medicaid budget.

“We believe housing is health care,” he said. “This is very thoughtful of the federal government to come to this position. … It is very helpful.”

Green said providing shelter to the unsheltered reduces health care costs for this portion of the population by 73%.

“This is the way you decrease morbidity,” he said. “This is where the future should lie for states dealing with homelessness, and I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that we were one of the selected states.”