My name is Jaeneise Sales, and I am one of Arjhell Salmo Grace and Isaiah Naboa’s coworkers at East Hawai‘i Health Clinic Ka‘ū. I am creating this GoFundMe on behalf of Arjhell, Isaiah, and their 1-year-old son, Asher.

Knowing Arjhell and Isaiah personally, I know they are not the type of people who will ask others for help, even when they truly need it. After seeing everything their little family has gone through because of Hurricane Lala, I wanted to step in and help take some of the weight off their shoulders while they try to recover and rebuild.

During Hurricane Lala, what started as a normal night quickly became a terrifying experience for their family.

Arjhell, Isaiah, and Asher were asleep in their home when floodwaters began rapidly rising onto their property and entering their garage and laundry room. They had no idea how serious the situation had become until their neighbors began shining lights toward their home, trying desperately to get their attention and warn them.

Isaiah immediately rushed outside, unaware that the water had already risen all the way to the steps of their home. As he stepped outside, he fell into the floodwater. With their seven dogs still outside and the water continuing to rise, Isaiah began swimming around their flooded property to find and rescue every single one of them.

Meanwhile, Arjhell was inside trying to gather whatever she could for Asher, who had just celebrated his first birthday in July, along with a few necessities for herself and Isaiah. There was no time to properly pack or think about everything they were leaving behind. Their only priority was getting their baby, their animals, and themselves somewhere safe.

Their home is located on the makai side of Koali Street, where the flooding became so severe that the road had literally turned into a river. With water surrounding their property and no way of knowing how much higher it would rise, they were forced to evacuate to higher ground.

They left their home behind not knowing what they would come back to.

Thankfully, Arjhell, Isaiah, baby Asher, and all seven of their dogs made it out safely. However, the flooding caused devastating damage, and their family has been left dealing with the loss of so many of their belongings and the difficult process of recovering from the damage to their home.

I am asking our community, family, friends, coworkers, and anyone who may come across their story to please consider helping this young family during this difficult time. Any donation, no matter the amount, will help them replace necessities, recover what was lost, and begin putting their home and lives back together.

If you are unable to donate, simply sharing their story and this GoFundMe would mean just as much.

Arjhell and Isaiah would never be the ones to ask for this themselves, which is exactly why I felt it was important to do it for them.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to read their story, for sharing it, for donating if you are able, and most importantly, for keeping Arjhell, Isaiah, Asher, and their entire ‘ohana in your thoughts and prayers as they recover from Hurricane Lala. ❤️