*MauiGuestHouse

Aloha to all:

It took some time, but out of the ashes we finished rebuilding the office files. We processed $76K in refunds, so as of September 25th, 100% of our guests  have received their deposits back, either by credit card or check (all checks have cleared my bank so far, except one that was sent to Australia).  That has been a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.  I want to thank all the guests for their patience and certainly for their understanding on what we were going through on our end to make this happen.  With that said, I do want to give a HUGE shout out to those guests that donated their deposits towards our Spotfund account so that we could take care of some of our basic needs right away.  Many of these guests had not even meet me or stayed at the Guest House, but they clearly felt our pain    I did not mention this earlier, as I knew that many of the guests that were due refunds, were not in a financial position to donate.

Brooke still has a room at KBH, I still have a room a few hotels up from her at the Westin, and Chiiko is at the Royal Lahaina (where she is still working).   Between FEMA and the Red Cross, we are all getting 3 meals a day (we are not allowed to 'cook' in the hotel rooms) and for the most part, all of our physical needs are being met at this time.  There really is no available (affordable) housing right now, and to date there are still over 7500 of us camping in hotels and air B&Bs at this time.  Rumor has it that we may be here at least until February.

Barbara has settled in a bit more in California, and I was fortunate to have some time to get one of the vehicles washed and wax last week, as a decision was made to ship her out the Nissan so that she could feel a little bit more independent.  I think we all understand how important it is to have our own 'wheels.'   Your donations have paid for the shipping, and I just found out that  our annual guests, Harvey and Vivian, have offered to help her out with getting car insurance. 

My friend, Ellie, who was planning on becoming part of the Guest House team in January, has doubled my wardrobe, by making me 3 beautiful Hawaiian dresses (you know, the ones I live in), so the blessings continue to come in.

We were able to finally get entry to our property, as we had to get the insurance and SBA guys out there to verify our loss.   The first time, I went with Noah and Angie, and the second time I went with my friend Victoria.   Both times we were supported by a foundation called "Samaritan's Purse."  They prayed over the property and they prayed for us in our recovery. They did the dirty work of helping us sift through ashes in the event that we were searching for something in particular.   It was hot, sweaty, dirty and somewhat toxic work, but these volunteers were so empathetic and patient with us. They kept us hydrated, focused and at the end, they gifted us with a Billy Graham Bible.

I truly was not expecting to find anything, as the destruction was so total, put it certainly put a smile on my face when the only thing  we  will walk away with is the Nativity set that we had under the Christmas tree each year.  Even though the paint is total burnt away and they are a little scorched,  we were able to salvage every delicate figurine.  It is hard to imagine that the roof and walls all caved down upon this set, yet there is not a single piece broken.

So I was able to have some closure for 36 wonderful years at the Maui Guest House.  Having that Nativity set will be a quiet reminder that we may be a little more worn from going through this experience, but we are not broken, and we are ready to rebuild.

Aloha Everyone!  Just another quick update, as I am in the process of moving (again). I will be up at the Westin for the next couple of weeks, until more permanent housing can be found (hopefully something that has a kitchen).  Quite a few of my neighbors are staying there, so it is nice to be around familiar faces.

Just so you know, Barbara made it to California and is settling in with her ohana.  She met her great nephew Reggie (who is adorable), and I can see that she is getting the support she needs from her family to recover.  We had quite an emotional sending off at the airport, as I think that it finally hit both of us how different our lives will be for the next few years.  Barbara has always been the "rock" at the Guest House, the one stable thing over the years, that truly held the Guest House together.  She is already missed... but our shared faith in Our Lord will continue to tie us together.

In the meantime, I am trying to organize my life.  We have not even been allowed to return to our properties to see if there is anything salvageable and until that is done, the clean up process will not start.  We do not have a lot of answers yet either, as to how long the clean up will take, who is going to rebuild the infrastructure, or how much money will be available to rebuild, so I am finding it hard to make basic decisions on what the next step is.  But I am steadfast in the knowledge that 'we make are plans, but The Lord leads,' so even through this difficulty, I feel His Peace.

Last, but certainly not least.... we have rebuilt over half of our office records so far to identify those that had prepaid for future stays, and most of these have already been refunded.  For those still waiting, please just hang with us a little longer as we continue to sort through everything.  I will have nothing but my reputation, when all is said and done, so I am doing everything in my power to keep that intact. So again, I thank you for your understanding.

Aloha Everyone!

Thanks to my good friends, Eric & Victoria, I have been able to set up a make shift office in their living room at their home in Napili, as they have provided their neighbors and I with a StarLink hookup for internet.  Most of the Lahaina area still does not have power or internet, but north of Lahaina in Kahana, Napili and Kapalua, power has been restored and in some places you can even get television reception.  Most of the people that were displaced are finally in temporary housing, as FEMA and the Red Cross have provided hotel rooms and 2 meals a day so people can have their basic needs met as they take some time to process and work through the trauma of the fire.  Many are still missing, and it is very difficult to move forward until some resolution has been found, so the human suffering continues.  There is overwhelming tragedy, but there have also been small miracles along the way.

We certainly have been so blessed by your donations which have helped everyone affiliated with the Maui Guest House and many, many others, especially during the first 2 weeks following the fire when we had no communication with each other and very little contact with the outside world.  In total, with the help of my friends Mark, Sarah and their daughter, Savannah, we were able to help distribute more that 32 fully activated phones, donated  by T-mobile, to those stranded in their cars and camping in the parks.  Many were parked along the highway, where they just ran out of gas.   We became a lifeline to them by delivering  5 gallons of gas to get to a station, and cash to get more gas, as none of the credit card machines were working since there was no power.  When I have more time, I would love to share more as there are so many tragic, yet wonderful stories to be told, but for now, I would like to give the following updates.

Barbara has moved from two different rooms at the Sheraton, then to the Royal Lahaina, and now up in Kaanapali Hillside, where a  generous family opened up their Hillside home to us.   Ultimately, she has decided to stay with her family in California for the foreseeable future, finding the area to toxic to be in right now, and realizing that it will take years for the recovery of Lahaina.  She has plans to depart on September 6th, leaving with everything she has in just one suitcase.  Your donations will help towards the purchase a car in California, once she gets settled in.

Brooke, after sleeping  in shelters, parks, and the back of a pickup truck, has temporary shelter at one of the hotels in Kaanapali.  With your donations, and the help of our friends, Vashti and Lanny, we have been able to bless someone by purchasing their Toyota sedan so that they could leave the island, and gift it to Brooke so that she could continue the few house cleaning jobs that she still has.  Your donations also blessed her with a year's car insurance, so that she would not be financially stressed with that obligation, as she continues to heal from the trauma of having to actually flee from the fire that was already burning in her yard when she woke up on August 8th.

Our neighbor, Chiiko, who evacuated with us, moved from the Sheraton where she was camping out with us, and is currently residing at the Royal Lahaina where she is still employed.  She is known as the bird lady, as she has hundreds of birds that she feeds twice a day, and yes, we were able to provide her with plenty of bird seed so that she could continue caring for them, which brought her much comfort.  She too lost everything in her home in the fire, but one of the small miracles, was that even though every car parked on our street was burnt down to the metal, her car remained untouched.  We were able to sneak in and drive it out to her two days after the fire.

My nephew Noah and his wife Angie also lost their home, but they were able to leave work the day of the fire,  run in behind the closed roads and rescue their 5 cats as the unit right next door was already burning.  Everything else was left behind and burned to the ground.  They made sure that the guests staying at the Maui Guest House were safely evacuated to the Sheraton Hotel that night, along with Barbara, Chiiko and myself.  They continue to work long hours, helping FEMA and the Red Cross set up at the Sheraton and assisted in the preparations of the Ritz Carlton for the President's visit.  They are currently still camping out in a small room at the Sheraton with their 5 cats until more permanent housing can be found.

Our friends Vashti and Lanny, who had originally evacuated to the Maui Guest House with their pets, were blessed to be taken in by their friend Joni, having completely lost their house.  Their daughter, Seanna, who was residing on the grounds of the Judo Mission, also lost her home.  Seanna helped Noah and Angie rescue their cats the day of the fire.  It was Lanny, Vashti, Seanna, Noah, and Angie who stayed behind to help me pack up things from my office and secure the Guest House as best we could, once all of the guests had been evacuated.

I am still 'couch surfing,' presently with Eric and Victoria, who lost their boat and dive business, Extended Horizons.  I  hope to be in something more permanent within the month.  Your donations have blessed me with a new smart phone, which I have to admit, does work a lot better than that 'flip' phone that you guys would all tease me about over the years.  I am trying hard to catch on, but this is definitely going to take me some time. 

Now that most of the urgent needs have been met, and now that we have reliable internet access, I feel like I can finally take some time to get back to the job of rebuilding the business in between dealing with all the insurance, FEMA, and SBA stuff.   As the business files get rebuilt we have already started the process of refunding those guests that had paid in advance for a future stay at the Maui Guest House.  Please be patient with us, and know that you have not been forgotten.

Aloha MGH Friends and Family, 

Tanna’s update for 8/18/2023 (as communicated to Lori for posting):

Conditions are about the same on the west side today. They have access to food, water, and supplies. They continue to have temporary shelter at west side hotels. They have limited text and phone service, and almost no internet connectivity available unless they travel to one of the StarLink sites where they can get some brief access to the internet for filling out forms for emergency/disaster relief and shelter, reestablishing access to essentials like banking and other accounts, etc. She continues to be so thankful for all of the support from around the globe, and to all of you holding them in your thoughts and especially your prayers.  

Tanna reports that a bright spot in her day yesterday was being able to get a phone call to hold so that she could speak with her dad and mom, and also to dear friend and long-time MGH Ohana & Staff member Melodie. She also reports that her nephew Stephan was able to help get the MGH website updated remotely as well which she really appreciates!  

Tanna has been able to secure 20 activated smart phones to distribute to members of their wider network of displaced friends.  Mark LaRock has been helping with the deliveries as well.  She and her Ohana are continuing to take each day one at a time.  She ends with asking that you please continue to send your prayers and hold all in Maui who are suffering right now in your hearts.  

Aloha and Mahalo nui,

Lori