WAILUKU >> Hawaii residents sharing their homes with people displaced eight weeks ago by Maui wildfires stand to receive some help themselves financially.

Three nonprofits have committed $4 million to pay households statewide up to $1,500 a month for sharing their residences with family, friends and others who lost their homes in Lahaina and Upcountry Maui.

Under the program announced Tuesday, hosts can now apply to receive $375 a month for every fire evacuee living with them, with a monthly cap at $1,500.

“This program is there to put resources into the pockets of households who have graciously put out the welcome mat for people to stay with them,” said Sheila Sarhangi, a spokesperson for Hawaii Community Foundation, one of the program’s nonprofit backers. “The way we see it at HCF is this is Hawaii people helping Hawaii people.”

The two other financial backers of the Host Housing Support Program are the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement and the American Red Cross.

Amanda Ree, executive director for Western wildfire recovery at the Red Cross, said such home-share support is unique for U.S. disaster recovery in her experience, though she knows of some similar programs internationally.

“With this program, we are hoping to honor what makes Maui unique, what makes Hawaii unique, supporting the communities of Maui to share their ohana,” she said.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen, who helped announce the program, said the goal is in part to help keep fire evacuees with family and friends and also to encourage more sharing of homes with those displaced by the fires.

The Lahaina fire driven by gale-force winds killed at least 98 people, making it the worst natural disaster in state history and the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century. It also destroyed or damaged about 3,500 residences. The Upcountry fire destroyed about 20 homes.

Bissen also said that sharing homes in residential neighborhoods with nearby schools, churches and stores provides benefits for recovering guests, and that the kindness shown by hosting families who have taken in people with great needs deserve support as well.

“The idea here is to create, or to foster, the aloha spirit and the camaraderie that’s already existing in our community,” he said.

About 7,000 people displaced by the fires are staying in hotel rooms under a Red Cross contract with the state or other noncongregate shelters. In other cases, fire evacuees have been renting from landlords who get paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or paid by evacuees directly using disaster aid benefits.

CNHA estimates that about 850 households with 2,000 people who were displaced by the Aug. 8 fires have been staying with friends, family and other households mainly on Maui but also in other parts of the state.

“The hope here is to have options — for families to have more options than what is currently available,” said Kuhio Lewis, the organization’s CEO.

Homeowners, who will have living conditions and guests in their home certified, can apply online at HawaiianCouncil.org/Host Family or at CNHA’s Kako‘o Maui Resource Hub at the Maui Mall in Kahului.

The $4 million commitment should provide financial help to hosts accepted in the program for at least six months, officials said. Depending on results, the program could be extended, according to Lewis, who described it as a pilot phase.

In a separate announcement Tuesday, the county said it is lifting disaster area restrictions in three more residential zones to allow property owners and residents with vehicle passes to visit from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The move will bring to seven the number of residential areas in Lahaina that have been cleared for reentry. Additionally, five commercial zones have been reopened to the public.

The latest residential zones cleared for visits are 2-A (Malo Street and Kalani and Kekai roads), 2-B (Aina­kea Road) and 2-F (Malanai Street).

Vehicle reentry pass applications and distribution for those three zones will be done from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Thursday at both the Lahaina Civic Center and the Kalana o Maui county building lobby in Wailuku. Optional personal protective equipment kits and instructions will be available from nonprofits during pass distribution.

Vehicle passes will be required at the checkpoint during the first two days of supported residential reentry. Two vehicle passes will be available per property owner, and two per rental dwelling. After Saturday, vehicle access through the checkpoint will be available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily for residents of the area with a vehicle pass or ID.

Zones 2-C, 2-D and 2-E along Kuuipo, Aa and Lokia streets were reopened Monday to people who lived or own property there, and Zone 1-C along Kaniau Road on Sept. 25 was the first cleared for reentry. According to county officials, about half of residents and property owners have visited Zone 1-C since it reopened, and about 66 passes were initially issued for Zones 2-C, 2-D and 2-E.