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Aloha kākou, hi everyone – September 4th Update from Lahaina, Maui
We’re shifting our focus.
The immediate needs — food, clothing, and short-term shelter — have been critical, but now we’re trying to plan for long-term survival and stability. Specifically, we’re fundraising to get a tiny home so we can stay on Maui and begin to rebuild our lives.
We’re hoping to purchase the Skyview Model from AAA Tiny Homes, which can be ready in about three months. It’ll need a trailer, and our goal is to make it off-grid since Maui isn’t currently designed to support tiny homes easily.
Why this is so important:
It will take 2.5 to 3 years before we can rebuild our house — Lahaina’s infrastructure is totally destroyed. From sewage to water lines, everything melted. We are truly at ground zero.
Our former home, located at 201 Komo Mai Street, Lahaina, is now listed on Zillow as just ashes. Please look it up — it’s all gone. We lost not only our home, but also both of our small businesses.
Where things stand:
Despite millions being raised for Hawai‘i, we’ve received no direct aid outside of this GoFundMe.
FEMA has denied us assistance because we owned our home and businesses — yet we’ve lost everything and now have no income.
Red Cross has offered no help and refers us back to FEMA.
Mortgage payments are still expected, even though we applied for forbearance and have heard nothing back.
Rents have skyrocketed, and without income, we simply cannot afford to rent and pay a mortgage.
We’ve been doing all we can — Cy is sourcing tools to help others rebuild, and I’ve been creating resources to guide people through FEMA, SBA, and local aid forms. We’re still showing up for our community even as we try to hold our own life together.
This is personal.
I grew up homeless and in foster care — on my own since I was 13. When we won our home through workforce housing in 2017, it was the first time in my life I felt safe. That no one could take my home away. We prepared for hurricanes… we never imagined a fire like this.
Now at almost 50, I’m facing homelessness again. And it’s devastating.
That’s why I’m asking for your kokua. A tiny house is our best shot to stay on Maui, keep helping our neighbors, and rebuild a future here.
If you can help or share our story, it would mean everything.
With deep aloha and gratitude,
Gigi Gaea & Cy Gabourie
Lahaina, Maui
Venmo:
PayPal: www.paypal.com ([email redacted])
**I have lots of photos of before and after as well as videos of the destruction however, data reception is very sporadic or nonexistent.
August 9, 2023
Aloha, my name is Gigi Ga'ea, and along with my husband, Cy Gabourie, we are the owners of Hawai‘i Tasting Tours in Lahaina. Like so many others, we have lost everything in the devastating fire — our home, our belongings, our neighborhood, and our way of life. We were not properly insured for a disaster of this scale, which is why we are humbly asking for help.
Our hearts are broken — not just for ourselves, but for our entire community. Lahaina, once nearly the capital of Hawai‘i, is gone. The iconic banyan tree, planted in 1873, stands charred. It feels like the end of the world. We never imagined everything we spent years building would disappear in just a few hours.
Thankfully, our ‘ohana, neighbors, and animals are safe — and that is what truly matters. But we are in urgent need of shelter, food, medication, and basic essentials. Our focus is also on helping find housing for other displaced residents across the islands.
We would never ask if we weren’t in dire straits. Any support you can offer — your aloha, your kokua — would mean the world to us. As we begin to recover, we’ll share photos and updates, and will provide receipts to show exactly how your generosity is helping.
With deep gratitude and aloha,
Gigi Gaea & Cy Gabourie
Lahaina, Maui
Organizer
Gigi Gaea
Organizer
Lahaina, HI