Every woman’s journey through loss looks different. For some, it begins with a wildfire. For others, it’s the slow unraveling that comes with housing instability, family hardship, or grief. What connects these wahine is not what they lost, but how they chose to rebuild.
Each of them found a way to start again — returning to school, restarting a business, finding work that gives purpose, or simply taking the next step forward. Their stories remind us that hardship isn’t a sign of failure. Sometimes life shifts beneath you, and you just need time, stability, and belief to find your footing again.
Recovery is not just about moving on, it’s about moving with intention. These women are rebuilding their careers and their confidence, proving that healing and hope can grow from even the hardest seasons.
Chiara’s life is rooted in Lahaina and in music. Her small studio beside the house was where she wrote, sang, and found her voice. The fire took it all in one day. Her home. Her instruments. Her town.
Her family turned to Ka La‘i Ola in the aftermath. There they found shelter and stability, enough to begin imagining a future again. That time gave them the strength to rebuild. They became the second family to move out, returning to their own land in Lahaina to start again.
Music has carried her through it all. Writing and composing helped her through grief and reminded her of her own purpose. Today she is creating again, holding to the belief that music can bring healing to herself and to her family.
Aura has faced the challenge of raising two sons with serious medical needs while experiencing homelessness. For years, stability seemed out of reach. At Ka Malu Ko‘olau Kauhale, she finally found a place to start again, a space where she could focus on her education and her family’s future.
Now a second-year microbiology student at Windward Community College, Aura is pursuing a career in gene therapies, inspired by her sons’ genetic blood disorder. “If it wasn’t for this opportunity, I probably would have been derailed,” she says.
Having a door to close, her own space, has given her safety, dignity, and direction. Her studies have become a pathway forward, offering purpose and hope. “I’m most proud of not quitting,” she says.
For Aura, the Kauhale model is more than housing. It is a foundation for rebuilding lives through education and being able to give back.
Zoe was born and raised in Lahaina. After the fire, she and her family left for the Big Island, unsure if they would ever return home. The cost of housing and the uncertainty of what lay ahead made it nearly impossible to come back.
Ka La‘i Ola opened that door. Moving there gave her family the stability they needed, and the chance to return to the community they love. The space is smaller than what she was used to, but the light, the neighbors, and the sense of belonging made it feel like home. Her children thrived, and she could begin to breathe again.
Through it all, Zoe continued her work in marketing and social media. Her company’s commitment to community gave her a purpose beyond just earning a paycheck. It allowed her to contribute, to be creative, and to stay connected to others who were rebuilding as well.
Zoe says without Ka La‘i Ola, her family would not have been able to return. It gave them more than a place to live. It gave them a way back to Lahaina and the possibility of rebuilding their future on their own land.
Iuni is a mana wahine. With her husband, she founded South Pacific Island Art to keep alive the knowledge of the seven Polynesian nations. The carvings and stories they create are more than art. They are the history of a people who once had no written language, a truth carried forward from generation to generation.
The Lahaina fire took their gallery and all they had built. They tried to begin again on the mainland, but the distance from their materials and their roots made it impossible. For years her husband carved beneath a tent while they lived with uncertainty. What carried them through was their commitment to preserve the art of their ancestors.
At Ka La‘i Ola they found a place to call their own. They found the chance to breathe and begin again. That stability gave them the strength to return to their work.
Today, Iuni stands in her purpose. She is not only rebuilding a business. She is carrying forward culture. She is helping to restore Lahaina.
Julia lost her only child and her father on the same day five years ago, a grief so heavy it nearly consumed her. She was broken, overwhelmed with loss, and had returned to drinking after more than a decade of sobriety.
What changed everything was finding a kauhale, a place of healing where she could process her trauma, go to therapy, rediscover purpose, and slowly rebuild her life.
Today she works as a cook at a nursing home, waking before dawn to prepare meals with care. She finds meaning in knowing she is providing comfort and nourishment for people in their final days, pouring love into every dish she makes. The structure of her work helps her stay grounded and hopeful. “My goal is to be functional and feel functional and productive and I can take care of myself again.”
She is proud to pay her own rent, make progress in recovery, and be an example for her nieces who call her for advice and support.
These journeys show us that stability is what turns survival into recovery. A home, a steady job, and the chance to plan for tomorrow are the foundations that allow people to rebuild their lives with dignity and purpose.
This is why we build with values. When we invest in people, we strengthen families. When we strengthen families, we sustain communities.
