Hawaii Wildfires Assistance

The Red Cross provides your hotel room as part of the non-congregate shelter program, and we need to ask you some questions so that we can continue to provide lodging for you. In the next few days, a member of the Red Cross will contact you and ask questions about:

• Your pre-disaster address, and whether you owned, rented, or had another housing arrangement before the wildfires.
• The number, age and gender of all the people in your household.
• Health, financial, transportation and other recovery-related needs.

We will protect your personal information. By staying in your hotel room, you are consenting to the Red Cross sharing your information with the Hawaii State Government, the Maui County Government, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency as necessary to support your recovery. 

Non-congregate shelter is available for everyone who had a primary residence on Maui that was destroyed or made uninhabitable by the recent wildfires, regardless of citizenship status. We do not share or allow your information to be shared with immigration authorities. If you are a citizen or non-citizen national of the United States or a qualified alien of the United States, then you must register with FEMA to remain eligible for the non-congregate shelter program (you can register by calling 800-621-FEMA or by visiting disasterassistance.gov).

The Red Cross is deeply committed to providing support to Maui wildfire survivors in the non-congregate shelter program and we will work with our partners to ensure that people who are eligible and enrolled in this program continue to have a safe place to stay. In the next few weeks, you will be assigned a Red Cross Shelter Resident Transition worker who will assist you with your recovery. You will need to remain in regular contact with your assigned Shelter Resident Transition worker to remain in the non-congregate shelter program.

We are here for you around the clock. If you have any questions or concerns while you are in the non-congregate shelter program, please contact your Shelter Resident Transition worker, or any Red Cross staff at your hotel, or call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767).

Enrollment for the initial phase of Red Cross financial assistance ended on September 18, 2023. However, if your primary residence was destroyed or is uninhabitable due to the wildfires and you have not enrolled to receive financial assistance from the Red Cross, please call 1-800-RED CROSS or make an appointment to meet with a Red Cross worker using the link below. You may still be eligible for financial assistance and recovery resources.

The initial phase of the financial assistance program will end on October 9, 2023, and the Red Cross will open a second financial assistance phase later in the fall. In addition to damage-based financial assistance, all non-congregate shelter residents are eligible to receive Shelter Resident Transition financial assistance as part of the non-congregate shelter program. 

We ask that people apply for federal Disaster Assistance:

• At disasterassistance.gov
• Or by calling 800-621-3362

However, approval for FEMA assistance is not a requirement to receive the Red Cross financial assistance. 

All Red Cross services, including financial assistance, are available to individuals regardless of nationality, race, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, class or political affiliation. The Red Cross is a charity, not a government agency, and people do not need to be American citizens to receive our help.

Red Cross financial assistance is not a loan and will never need to be repaid.