These past weeks have been difficult for the people of Hawaii. The lives of thousands of people have been changed forever. Words and images can’t begin to describe the devastation and loss. From losing homes, livelihoods and loved ones, our hearts remain heavy as we continue to grieve.

While we at the Hawai‘i Workers Center and many others continue to provide urgent emergency services, we also have turned our attention to the long-term recovery efforts. To ensure a full, equitable and just recovery, we apply these two core principles: 1. No one left behind; 2. Those directly affected must be front and center in designing the recovery efforts.

In listening to our Maui Tenants Association members and other affected families, we offer these proposals needed to meet urgent short-term needs and achieve a just long-term recovery:

We need at least a one-year moratorium on evictions, rent increases and foreclosures, and a ban on predatory buying of homes and land.

Displaced residents should be allowed to shelter in or be a guest in a dwelling for up to one year or until 2,000 units of affordable housing have been added to the housing supply.

The State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) must activate its crisis response and undertake to ensure the following for Maui’s unemployed workers: Unemployment checks must be issued to applicants within 30 days after application is made, and there should be a 60-day grace period for Maui applicants who may lack some needed documentation. During the grace period, payments should commence while Maui applicants have time to recover or replace documents. DLIR must be adequately staffed to ensure a timely application and payment process; we cannot afford to see what happened with unemployment claims during the pandemic, when thousands went without or waited several months to receive benefits. The DLIR should provide in-person assistance and go to shelters, hotels and community centers to help workers apply for UI benefits. DLIR must comply with language access requirements. For claimant eligibility and calculating payment amounts, periods of self-employment and mixed employment should be allowed and included.

This is not the time to exclude anyone. Use available community development block grant funds and private donations to provide cash assistance to members of our Maui community who are not eligible for cash assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency due to their immigration status. This was successfully done in California during the pandemic and it provides us with a workable model. This is especially important for our COFA (Compact of Free Association) migrant families on Maui, who make up a large and important part of the community.

Hawaii should immediately request the federal Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP), which can help all with food needs regardless of immigration/migration status. The federal government should immediately approve this request.

Finally, to all our local, county and state officials: Please honor the promise that President Joe Biden made during his recent visit to Maui.

“You know, we will be respectful of these sacred grounds and the traditions that rebuild the way the people of Maui want to build, not the way others want to build,” Biden said. “We’re going to rebuild the way the people of Maui want to build.”

As Maui rebuilds, may real justice and mutual prosperity replace exploitation and greed.

The Hawai‘i Workers Center remains steadfast in fighting for a just recovery and in our belief that the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness, “Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ‘Aina i ka Pono.

Sergio Alcubilla is executive director of the Hawaii Workers Center. Alan Lloyd is a volunteer organizer on Maui for the center and helped establish the Maui Tenants Association.