The Hawai‘i County Council adopted Ordinance 2020-028 on April 8, 2020, to allow community nonprofit organizations to access recovery funds. Grants had to serve disaster relief, recovery, mitigation or remediation assistance for physical damages or losses suffered by the 2018 Kīlauea eruption.

Grants totaling $3.7 million have been approved. The program is supported by recovery funds provided by the State. Nonprofits receive up to $500,000 to support projects.

The application deadline was July 24, 2020. No decisions have been made about doing a second round of applications through this program.

To learn more about each project, view this PDF.

Phase 1 Grants Approved

• Big Island Resource Conservation and Development Council – $500,000 to support infrastructure development for displaced orchid growers.
• Habitat for Humanity – $500,000 to build five affordable homes for families who lost their homes during the eruption.
• Hooulu-Lahui – $500,000 to assist Kua O Ka Lā Public Charter School with bringing its leased property into code compliance.
• Malama O Puna – $375,000 for road repairs in Leilani Estates.
• Food Security Hawaii – $350,000 to assist farm damaged by the eruption.
• Fellowship for Perpetual Growth – $280,000 to assist farming cooperative damaged by the eruption.
• Grassroots Church – $275,000 to support job creation, sustainable agriculture and community engagement for the Kuleana Project in Pahoa. 
• Hawaii Rise Foundation – $250,000 for Kapoho Vacationland project planning.
• Pahoa Lava Museum – $175,124 to restore road access to 16 properties isolated by lava in Malama Homesteads.
• O Maku‘u Ke Kahua Community Center – $154,000 to assist Hawaiian families move from subsistence to commercial farming, strengthen farmer’s market, and address safety and security issues.
• Ono Seeds – $120,000 to assist a farm damaged by the eruption.
• Kapono Red Road – $104,500 to support historical preservation, stewardship and land conservation. (Grant declined by applicant.)
• Self Discovery through Art – $40,750 to support a recovery, resilience, re-creation facilitator training program.
• Yeshua Outreach Center – $25,000 to build capacity as a viable Red Cross shelter.
• Pahoa Lava Museum – $23,584 to open Puamana Road.
• Pahoa Lava Museum – $22,000 to restore road access to Kapoho Crater.
• Polestar Gardens – $7,500 to restore greenhouse, water and irrigation systems for a farm.
• Church of the Holy Apostles – $5,000 for repairs of water lines damaged by earthquakes.

Hawai‘i County and Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) announced on Jan. 7, 2021, the launch of the Puna Strong grants program to build community resilience following the 2018 Kīlauea eruption. In May 2021, they announced the award of $380,000 to 26 nonprofit organizations and partnerships leading community-driven projects. Funding is sourced from the County's Kīlauea recovery funds and HCF’s Hawai‘i Island Volcano Recovery Fund.

Below are the 26 grantees of the Puna Strong grants program and their intended use of funding:
 

• Ahava ‘Āina will address the long-term mental and emotional effects of Puna residents impacted by the 2018 Kīlauea eruption through a series of talk story and wellness events led by social workers and faith leaders. Grant amount: $10,000.

• Arts & Sciences Center will increase capacity to coordinate a variety of networking and learning opportunities for families and students of Hawai‘i Academy of Arts & Sciences and other surrounding schools, such as mentoring, yoga and hula circles. Grant amount: $25,000. 

• Big Island Invasive Species Committee will coordinate neighborhood teams within Puna to educate and help treat for invasive pests, leading to the development of positive relationships between neighbors and strengthened resilience. Grant amount: $20,000.

• Boys and Girls Club of Big Island will offer academic support, critical needs resources, healthy lifestyles, substance and alcohol abuse prevention programming, and nutritional supplementation services to Puna youth. Grant amount: $15,000.

• Equality HI will host biannual Virtual Resource Fairs targeting LGBTQ+ individuals that are open to all Puna residents providing information and access to employment and financial literacy, housing resources, healthcare, domestic violence and human trafficking resources, community-building activities, cultural services, and LGBTQ+ history and awareness in Hawai‘i. Grant amount: $8,000.

• Fern Acres Community Association will continue constructing a resilience hub for the community that will include a Food Basket site, internet access and activities for keiki. Grant amount: $15,000. 

• Food Ingredient and Health Research Institute will collaborate with Hawai‘i Academy of Arts and Sciences (HAAS) and Men of Pa‘a to provide healthy diet education to students and Native Hawaiian adults living in Puna. Grant amount: $8,090.

• Girls to Women Mentoring Hawai‘i will increase capacity to help Puna girls grow resilience, relationship-building skills and confidence. Grant amount: $15,000.

• The Green Will Conservancy will teach life skills and provide counseling to Puna youth through hands-on backyard gardening and community service projects. Grant amount: $20,000.

• Grassroots Church Pāhoa will continue construction on its 14-acre parcel of land that is currently being cleared with funding from the County of Hawai‘i Kīlauea Recovery Grants Program to focus on growing fresh produce, raising livestock and establishing orchids to provide jobs and teach work and life skills as well as be a hub for houseless families during disaster. Grant amount: $20,000.

• Hawai‘i Animal Kuleana Alliance will increase capacity for its emergency rescue operations. Grant amount: $7,000.

• Hawai‘i Tracker will increase capacity to create more digital content to maintain a level of trust between emergencies. Grant amount: $15,000.

• Hawai‘i’s Volcano Circus will expand its gardening program to offer four, six-week sessions on permaculture and gardening to the larger Seaview community and establish a tree-tending/harvest program. Grant amount: $20,000.

• Kanaka O Puna will prepare its site with a photo voltaic system to support its program and provide power for the community during emergencies. Grant amount: $20,000.

• Kua O Ka Lā will provide support for programs and facilities, such as a Backyard Imu project, which teaches students and families how to grow and prepare food by Hawaiian kūpuna as a way to promote resilience through learning how to feed their families. Grant amount: $13,430.  

• Kūkulu Kumuhana o Puna will provide Hawaiian cultural learning experiences for youth and families to build relationships and practical skills in Hawaiian fishing and farming techniques. Grant amount: $10,000.

• Kurtistown Assembly of God will build a community REACH Center on its property that will provide Puna residents plots of land to learn about farming and producing their own food. Grant amount: $5,000.

• Mālama O Puna will serve as the fiscal sponsor for five projects aimed at increasing food security, including an urban garden and permaculture model, seed production and exchange, Nānāwale backyard gardening project, community fruit orchard in Hawaiian Shores, and livestock production workshops. Grant amount: $42,500.

• O Maku‘u Ke Kahua Community Center will provide classes of papa kuʻi ‘ai (poi board class), which will show participants how to make a poi pounding board and the proper protocols when working with papa, including ʻoli komo, and ʻoli mahalo. Grant amount: $10,000.

• Orchidland Neighbors will create a community center that can be used for disaster response activities such as food and supply distribution, and to support economic development. Grant amount: $10,000.

• Pōhāhā I Ka Lani will continue community feeding and food distribution by distributing plants/cuttings, trees and seeds to families, offering guidance on farming from the demonstration garden in Puna, and more. Grant amount: $10,000.

• Project Hawai‘i will establish a regular tutoring program for homeless children who do not attend school and lack access to resources such as internet. Grant amount: $15,000.

• Puna Canoe Club will repair and refurbish a historic koa outrigger canoe, which is used to teach traditional outrigger canoe paddling and builds on the relationships and networks within their paddling community; networks that have assisted families in times of disaster. Grant amount: $15,000.

• Puna Rising will develop a virtual space of community resources that serve lower Puna, allowing residents to share stories, learn from each other, ask questions, and find solutions. Grant amount: $10,000.

• Uncle’s Kōkua Center will expand its lower Puna-serving farmer’s market to help revitalize the economy and neighborhood. Grant amount: $15,000.

• Volcano Friends Feeding Friends will continue coordinating its food distribution program for non-mobile residents in Volcano, including kūpuna as well as families without adequate transportation, and support volunteers earning food handling certification to make them eligible for employment in the food service industry. Grant amount: $6,000.

The second year of Puna Strong awarded grants to various organizations in the Puna district. Of the 14 organizations that were selected through a rigorous organizational assessment and application review process this year, 13 were involved in the program last year. Grant awards varied between $20,000-$50,000 for each organization.

These 14 organizations are focused on a range of issues important to the community, including community-based disaster management, individual and family resource hubs, support services for targeted populations, protection and preservation of Wahi Pana, and community resource centers.

The approach to Puna Strong drives investments in the organizations of Puna to catalyze impactful projects that build community resilience. The County of Hawai’i and HCF spent months guiding each organization through interviews, assessments, technical assistance, project feasibility analysis, and site visits to help each group fully realize their potential in the community. This second round of Puna Strong also featured larger grant awards than last year, allowing for organizations to expand their capacity. In the coming year, grantees will be engaged in peer learning circles and technical assistance trainings organized by the County of Hawai’i and HCF. 

This year’s list of recipients are:

- Equality HI will develop a pilot program for an LGBTQ+ mentorship program. Through this program, LGBTQ+ individuals can receive assistance and encouragement to develop positive and authentic LGBTQ+ identities to become more resilient

- Girls to Women Mentoring Hawai‘i will provide weekly support groups for girls guided by trained adult mentors that prioritize physical, emotional, relational/social safety.  These groups offer a safe, welcoming and inclusive community that offers caring, support, healthy connections and skills to develop resilience and navigate personal, relational and social-emotional challenges so girls can thrive and grow into connected, healthy, engaged and authentic young women.

- Grassroots Church Pāhoa will accomplish key infrastructure improvements to support agricultural sustainability, especially completion of their greenhouse.  Secondly, team health and capacity building through assembling a strong team to accomplish project management, assistant work, promotions, and grant writing.  In addition, bringing greater clarity and unity to the executive team will allow the organization and project to succeed.

- Hawai‘i Animal Kuleana Alliance will develop a multi-agency animal disaster action plan for Hawaii County.  HAKA will engage with community agencies, nonprofits, and stakeholders to create an actionable framework from which to operate. 

- Hawai‘i Tracker will develop a Hawaiian Volcano Education and Resilience pilot program consisting of a Volcano Science STEM Pilot Program to produce educational modules in collaboration with local schools and nonprofits, a second program to implement a Digital Resilience Hub to complement Vibrant Hawaii’s resilience hub program, and third will develop a Social Media Moderation Pilot Training program.

- Hawai‘i’s Volcano Circus will be focusing on aligning their permits and land use status to better reflect the role they play in community, restructure their organization’s HR function to build capacity, and draft a 2-5 year plan to achieve goals in infrastructure, capacity, fundraising and programming.

- Ho`oulu Lāhui will develop 3 resilience hub sites (Nanawale, Nani Mau, Kahuwai) to build community capacity through engaging Kua O Ka Lā ‘ohana and community collaborators in the development of site based plans as well as training for our ‘ohana in disaster preparedness, response and cultural capacities.  They will also be distribution sites for available resources and will provide experiential education and opportunities for ‘ohana to perpetuate and document cultural practices.

 - Mālama O Puna will expand its Food Security programs by working with Hawaii’s Volcano Circus on their gleaning project and working with USDA, State, County, elected officials, hunters, farmers, and homeowners impacted by the feral pig population explosion to develop a wholistic and sustainable solution to the problem.  

- The Men of PA‘A will hire a Programs Director to research plan, develop and implement all programs for MOP and a Programs Manager to coordinate and implement all programs including tracking, data collection, data monitoring, compliance coordination, volunteer recruitment, training, communications, and grant writing.

- Na Maka Haloa o Waipi‘o will design and implement online cultural and environmental learning through Hua ‘Aina Online Design for the broader community and Puna as well as youth mentorship and training experiences through a two week in-residence immersion program and four session Kūkulu Kumuhana o Puna internship for youth training.

- O Maku‘u Ke Kahua Community Center will nurture and sustain local knowledge and wisdom, cultural practice and heritage, and cultural places, values and identity through their Mala Ho‘oulu ‘Ike program which includes the Papa Ku‘i ‘Ai project.

- Pohaku Pelemaka aims to protect and preserve cultural and natural resources along the Puna Coast through culture-based education and community-based security to mitigate the impacts of visitor and resident traffic within wahi pana.

- Puna Rising will be creating a virtual incubator hub for mentoring budding entrepreneurial ideas, grow new businesses, develop new leaders, and establish a program for youth to learn an entrepreneurial mindset. 

- Volcano Friends Feeding Friends will be encouraging members of their community to increase their knowledge and ability to become more independent and self-sufficient by developing skills to grow their own food, reduce their reliance on imported food, and increase healthier attitudes towards physical self by growing through culturally accepted practices.

For information on the launch of the second year of the program, click here. For the latest updates on grantees as they receive their funding, click here.