Maui Housing Hui is grateful to the journalists, community partners, and national housing advocates who have elevated the experiences of Maui renters and wildfire survivors. These stories document the real-world impacts of the housing crisis, amplify community voices, and show how resident-led organizing, research, and education can advance housing stability.
Our media coverage reflects several connected areas of work: responding to displacement after the August 2023 wildfires, documenting the consequences of FEMA’s Direct Lease Program, defending renters’ rights, supporting community education, protecting open space and public access, and advocating for policies that keep Maui residents housed.
Featured Coverage
- ABC News: “Maui Strong 808: Maui fire survivors upset with living conditions from FEMA’s housing program”
ABC News featured Maui Housing Hui’s concerns about the ways FEMA’s Direct Lease Program affected both wildfire survivors and long-term renters. The story includes Nara Boone’s perspective on rising rents, nonrenewals, and the broader threat that housing instability poses to the fabric of Maui’s community. It also examines reports of unsuitable placements, delays, and displacement connected to the recovery housing system. Read the story: ABC News - ABC News Video: “Wrongful evictions and increased rents plague victims of Maui fire 10 months later”
In this ABC News Maui 808 video report, Maui Housing Hui co-founder Nara Boone discusses the devastating housing pressures experienced after the fires. The segment explores concerns that high disaster-recovery payments and limited rental supply contributed to rent increases, lease nonrenewals, and homelessness among residents who were not directly displaced by the fires. Watch the video - 2026 Primary Broadcast
This broadcast appearance highlights Maui Housing Hui’s ongoing public engagement around housing policy, community priorities, and the issues shaping the future of Maui residents. We are proud to participate in public conversations that ensure renters, working families, and directly impacted community members are represented in civic decision-making. Watch the broadcast - Maui Now: “Hotel rezoning amendments would shrink housing inventory envisioned by vacation rental phase-out, critics say”
Maui Now covered Maui Housing Hui’s testimony opposing efforts to expand hotel zoning exemptions for apartment-zoned vacation-rental properties. Nara Boone explained that adding more exemptions undermines the intent of Ordinance 5909—formerly Bill 9—which aims to return units to Maui’s long-term housing inventory. The article reflects our position that Maui’s housing emergency requires multiple solutions centered on homes for residents, not continued expansion of visitor accommodations. Read the story: MauiNow - Community Video Feature
This community video feature shares Maui Housing Hui’s work and the voices of residents navigating Maui’s housing crisis. Media like this helps extend renter education and community testimony beyond formal meetings, making housing information and organizing more accessible to people throughout the island. Watch the video: HNN - Hawaiʻi Public Radio: “Future of FEMA housing on Maui is uncertain, leaving fire survivors in limbo”
Hawaiʻi Public Radio interviewed Nara Boone about the uncertainty facing households reliant on FEMA housing assistance after the Lahaina fires. The story centers the emotional and practical toll of living without clear answers, as hundreds of families faced the possibility of losing temporary housing amid an already unaffordable and scarce rental market. Read the story: HPR - Hawaiʻi Public Radio: “Maui’s eviction moratorium ends soon. What does that mean for tenants and landlords?”
In this HPR report, Nara Boone explains the stakes for renters as Maui’s eviction moratorium approached its end. The coverage addresses the transition to mandatory mediation under Act 202, the continuing prohibition on rent increases, and the uncertainty facing tenants and landlords alike. Maui Housing Hui emphasized the urgent need for clear information, meaningful protections, and community-wide solutions. Read the story: HPR - Honolulu Civil Beat: “Maui Renters Face ‘Increasingly Hostile Housing Market’ Despite Eviction Moratorium”
Civil Beat reported on the worsening rental market after the wildfires, including concerns that lucrative disaster-housing payments could encourage landlords to displace existing tenants. The article features Maui Housing Hui tenant advocate Jordan Hocker, who described the “waves of displacement” facing residents as rental inventory shrank and housing costs rose. Read the story: CivilBeat - Honolulu Civil Beat: “Renters Fear Unintended Consequences of Tax Breaks to Help Maui Fire Survivors”
This early report documented Maui Housing Hui’s warning that financial incentives intended to house wildfire survivors could also intensify displacement for long-term renters. Tenant organizer Jordan Hocker raised concerns that above-market payments and tax incentives could motivate lease nonrenewals and contribute to further rent inflation, demonstrating why disaster recovery must include safeguards for all renters. Read the story: CivilBeat - ProPublica and Honolulu Civil Beat: “Maui Residents Have Been Forced From Their Homes to Make Room for Wildfire Survivors. Property Owners Are Profiting.”
This national investigation examined how high rental payments and tax incentives connected to post-fire housing programs could contribute to tenant displacement and escalating rents. Jade Moreno, identified as Maui Housing Hui’s researcher and policy analyst, explained that the organization repeatedly heard directly from tenants facing these pressures. The reporting elevated the importance of tenant testimony, public accountability, and stronger protections during disaster recovery. Read the investigation: ProPublica - Maui Now: “Title issues complicate Maui County’s planned purchase of 82 acres near Paʻuwela Lighthouse”
Maui Now featured Nara Boone’s advocacy for the County’s acquisition of oceanfront land near Paʻuwela Lighthouse. The story connects housing and land issues by highlighting the importance of protecting community access, preserving open space, and preventing further privatization of places that hold cultural, environmental, and generational significance for Haʻikū and the North Shore. Read the story: MauiNow - Maui Now: “Maui Housing Hui brings free Renter’s Rights Training to the North Shore”
Maui Now announced Maui Housing Hui’s free Renter’s Rights Training in Pāʻia, an accessible community event designed for both tenants and landlords. The training provided practical information about housing rights, approaches to resolving housing problems, and resources for navigating landlord-tenant challenges; free dinner and childcare were included to reduce barriers to participation. Read the announcement: MauiNow - Maui Now: “Free Renter’s Rights Training offers education to local tenants and landlords”
This Maui Now announcement spotlighted another free renter education event hosted by Maui Housing Hui in Kahului. The training focused on renter rights, disaster-recovery responsibilities, housing-problem strategies, and local resources, reflecting our commitment to practical education that helps tenants and landlords navigate difficult housing conditions with clearer information. Read the announcement: MauiNow - National Low Income Housing Coalition: “Maui Housing Advocates Release Report on Community Impact of FEMA’s Direct Lease Program”
The National Low Income Housing Coalition featured Maui Housing Hui’s FEMA Direct Lease Program Community Impact Report, a community-based qualitative research project documenting how the program affected renters, homeowners, and wildfire survivors. The report drew on 141 participant responses and identified concerns including lease nonrenewals, displacement, rent increases, unsuitable placements, and the risk of residents being pushed into homelessness or off-island. Jade Moreno, the report’s principal researcher, described the project as social science used as a tool for advocacy and informed decision-making. Read the feature: NLIHC - NLIHC’s On the Home Front: “NLIHC Recognizes Maui Housing Hui as an Organizing Awards Nominee!”
Maui Housing Hui was recognized as a 2025 National Low Income Housing Coalition Organizing Awards nominee for tenant-led advocacy following the August 2023 wildfires. The feature highlights our work to improve emergency housing policy, document renter experiences, connect tenants with legal information and representation, distribute legal form letters, and build housing stability for communities most vulnerable to displacement. Read the recognition: hrfront
Media coverage is one way community members’ experiences reach decision-makers, neighbors, and audiences beyond Maui. We remain committed to elevating renter voices, strengthening housing protections, advancing community-led research, and working toward a Maui where local residents can remain safely and securely housed.
