A group of Filipino families who survived the Lahaina wildfire have formed an organization to provide a voice about the problems they face in recovery.

The Lahaina Filipino Fire Survivors Association had its first meeting Tuesday night as people shared their experiences trying to find affordable rentals in West Maui and long-term housing for their families more than 21 months after the fire.

According to the association, more than 40% of people who lived in the wildfire area were of Filipino descent and many were immigrants working in the service industry. Now, many of them need assistance filling out forms and help from a language translator communicating their situation.

“That’s what we’re trying to help with,” said Nelson Salvador, executive director of Hawaii Workers Center, a Honolulu-based group that’s assisting the association.

Salvador said helping Filipino homeowners can have a big impact, in view of the large numbers of people who usually occupy their property, including tenants and extended families.

Association member Mario Acosta, who works as a painter at the Montage at Kapalua, said he and his wife, who works as housekeeper, were sharing a two-bedroom house at Kopili Street and paying $1,000 a month before the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire.

After the fire, the Federal Emergency Management Administration provided rent support until February of this year when Acosta and his wife were told they would have to pay $2,300 a month to continue renting a two-bedroom unit.

Acosta said that without any affordable housing available in West Maui, he and his wife are now living with family members temporarily.

Acosta said he’s wondering if the $1.6 billion from a federal block grant given to Maui County could be applied to assist them in finding a suitable rental.

He said he and his wife have been turned down from receiving government rental assistance because they’ve been told they earn too much money while others continue to receive support.

“It’s very frustrating,” Acosta said.

Lahaina homeowner Imelda Concepcion said she and her husband Francisco, both retired, feel blessed their home was spared, but many of the roof tiles came off of her house and her family is faced with the rising cost of repairs.

She said the materials for replacement were delayed getting to Maui, which pushed up the cost of labor to fix their house. The repairs were initially estimated at $136,000, but now the estimate for labor alone has risen to $176,000, she said.

Conception said she’s also facing a bill for $25,000 to pay for storage of the materials while she’s been trying to find financing to fix her home.

“So we have a lot of problems,” she said. “Our problem right now is mostly financial.”

Homeowner William Dagupion said he submitted his permit to rebuild his five-bedroom house and two-bedroom cottage in January and the cost keeps rising.

Dagupion, a disabled worker, said he’s paying $5,000 a month for him and his wife to live temporarily at Kahoma Village and $3,000 on the mortgage.

Once the house is rebuilt, he estimates that 10 people, mostly relatives displaced by the fire, could occupy the units including his mother-in-law.

Some 1,372 residential properties in Lahaina had been cleared of debris as of August 2024. But as of April this year, 361 building permits had been issued and 302 were being processed. Dagupion said that if the permit to rebuild his home is issued in a timely manner, his contractor thinks he could finish the job by the end of this year.

“I need the permit now ASAP,” Dagupion said.