Maui Mental Health Relief

How Kaiser Permanente and local nonprofits are working to help Maui families with keiki take care of their mental health.

Published: April 2024

Mental health support is a top concern on the island of Maui. Though the Lahaina fire occurred eight months ago, the grief and emotional effects from the disaster have taken their toll on survivors, who are still healing.

Hawai‘i nonprofits are working together to support Maui residents and their keiki, who are experiencing psychological distress, such as stress, anxiety, and depression as a result of the wildfires.

“Our goal is to support every keiki who has been impacted by the fires, which number in the thousands,” says Nicholas Winfrey, president and chief professional officer of Maui United Way. “We understood the mental health aspect is one of the key focal points that the community has to work on, especially as you look into the future with addiction and suicide rates increasing after disasters.”

Maui United Way’s program focuses on filling in the gaps of support for keiki survivors by bringing in licensed practitioners to have conversations with the children at the hotels where they are staying and at after school programs, then getting them the help they need. It is also bringing in additional support for teachers so that they can understand and identify who needs help. “When we collaborate with partners like Kaiser Permanente, they’re working hand in hand with us,” says Winfrey. Both Kaiser Permanente and Maui United Way look outside of the box to find ways to compound efforts. The intent is to help as many people as possible. “What we want to do is just empower them,” he says.

Social emotional development

Among the Maui nonprofits rising to meet the needs of keiki is the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui. Its Lahaina clubhouse has been closed since the fire, but the organization has been providing outreach activities to West Maui youth through mobile and pop-up services.

Moving from a park to a hotel lobby and a school, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui modified its services to emphasize social emotional development activities, like outdoor recreation, to support physical and mental well-being.

“For many families, these outreach efforts served as the only free, fun, and safe activities available for youth on the West Side, allowing kids to just be kids and giving parents some peace of mind that their keiki were well-cared for in a desperate and hectic time,” says Ashley Mason, director of impact and development for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui. 

Kaiser Permanente supported the West Maui outreach services, specifically the Halona Kai Satellite Club Site at the Hyatt Regency Resort in Kā‘anapali through Thanksgiving and the temporary site currently at Lahaina Intermediate School. The assistance has allowed the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui to reinstate after-school programming, and create fun events, such as the Keiki Fest.

“The staff, programs, and activities have been my safe place, the one constant in my world of relentless change,” says youth Christopher Leslie of the Lahaina Club. 

Mason said the West Maui outreach operations have served 622 youths. It continues to serve West Maui youth every day, after school at Lahaina Intermediate. 

Additionally, Kaiser Permanente brought its national Educational Theatre program to Lahaina Intermediate. School students and staff for six workshops. The 40-year-old Educational Theatre program uses theater and social emotional arts, such as drumming, as a tool to help children, teens, and adults to make informed decisions about their health. 

The Educational Theatre team gave small workshops with Lahaina Intermediate School teachers and school staff, covering stress awareness, regulation, and how to apply it to the classroom setting. Then they conducted experiential workshops with students and staff together sitting in a circle.

“Each student is given an instrument of some type and the way that we keep interest up is through drum facilitation,” said Shanna Beauchamp-Hill, program supervisor for the Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre. “It’s not a drumming class or anything like that, but we utilize the drum as a nonverbal tool to get students talking about their feelings and learning different regulation activities.” 

Beauchamp-Hill said they taught the students how to identify and redirect thought. They also worked with gratitude and had a lot of breathing activities. “When we’re in the room with our participants, our students, our wonderful teachers, you can really feel the energy,” said Beauchamp-Hill. “You can really hear and see and feel the impact happening.

Caring for parents

Parents needing a support system for themselves and their children can turn to Surfing Moms, a national nonprofit locally formed in 2021, that connects moms, or any male or female caregiver with other moms and their children.

The Surfing Moms are paired with another surfing mom and they split a two-hour surf session. One parent paddles out, while the other watches the kids, and then they swap turns. It has an active group on Maui and is waiving all costs for participants for one year.

“What it does is it really creates this community of people who are there all to show up for one another,” said Elizabeth Madin, founder and president of Surfing Moms. “There’s someone there [and the] whole reason they’re there is to help you take care of yourself, and to help you take care of your children.”

Kaiser Permanente awarded Surfing Moms a grant to launch its program in 2024 and it will be used to create wraparound services for the mothers and children. “We’ll also be providing one-on-one counseling services through the generous grant from Kaiser Permanente with licensed Hawaii-based counselors,” said Michelle Gorham Dasic, strategy and development leader for Surfing Moms.

Also this year, Surfing Moms is offering two surf therapy cohorts. This provides caregivers some time with a trained surf therapist, who uses the ocean and therapy to support healing.

“Another thing that I think is quite important is having the children see the mothers, or the parents engaging in self-care and looking after themselves and keeping themselves fit and healthy,” said Madin. “That sets a really good example for the children.”

For the latest updates regarding where the Maui community can get resilience and emotional support, medical services (including at our clinics), community resources, and more, go to kp.org/maui-fires, or follow us on Instagram @kphawaii or Facebook facebook.com/KPHawaii.