Programs in place to help provide relief to families and businesses

It’s encouraging to see Maui County pull together to combat the spread of COVID-19 and its devastating economic impacts.

I would like to thank Maui County Council Chair Alice Lee and council members for quickly passing legislation to appropriate $2 million for the Hawai‘i Emergency Laulima Partnership (H.E.L.P.) program.

This program will provide immediate relief to as many families as possible and help them cope with job losses or reduced hours caused by business closures in the wake of COVID-19 impacts.

Mahalo to Maui Economic Opportunity Inc. for managing the H.E.L.P. program in a partnership with Maui County.

Residents can apply for assistance to buy food and personal hygiene products or make payments for rent, mortgages, utility services, phone or internet services, car payments and other necessities.

To qualify, applicants need to show a reduction of income of 25 percent or more after March 4, and they can have no more than $5,000 in liquid assets.

Application guidelines and a list of required supporting documentation can be found at www.meoinc.org.

To encourage social distancing, applications can be submitted online or in drop boxes at the MEO office at 99 Mahalani St. in Wailuku and at the front entrance of the Kalana O Maui Building in Wailuku. The Molokai drop site is at 380 Kolapa Place in Kaunakakai, and on Lanai, applicants can go to 1144 Ilima No. 102 in Lanai City.

People can also call MEO at 249-2990 or 249-2980 to have applications sent to them.

Another important step for COVID-19 relief is a new farmer assistance and food distribution program, which will provide $30,000 weekly, for the next four to five weeks, to purchase food from local farmers and distribute it to residents.

Another $20,000 will be provided to the Maui County Farm Bureau to purchase food for food distribution sites, similar to the produce giveaway organized by Pukalani Superette on Monday.

And, $10,000 will go to the Hawaii Farmers Union United to set up and run online/pick-up food hubs and purchase food from farmers for distribution.

This week, 300 bags of food were handed out to residents in Pukalani. I would like to thank Pukalani Superette, Sysco Hawaii, Mahi Pono and all the volunteers who worked so hard to make it such a successful effort to help our community. I look forward to other food distribution events across the county in the near future.

I would also like to thank the Maui Economic Development Board and the County of Maui, Small Business Development Center, for working to make federal programs available to small businesses hit by COVID-19. Step-by-step instructions on how to apply for assistance are available at www.medb.org.

For more information and one-on-one assistance, contact MEDB at info@high techmaui.com or call (808) 270-6803.

There’s also a new micro business loan program to assist Maui County businesses with 10 or fewer employees. Applicants must be sole proprietors, partnerships or corporations with sales revenue of $750,000 or less. The goal of this program is to create full- or part-time employment for low- to moderate-income residents.

This program is not available for agricultural businesses, internet-based businesses, bed-and-breakfast operations, transient vacation rentals or nonprofits.

As this COVID-19 crisis plays out, partnerships are increasingly important. I was pleased to announce that $100,000 in grant funds has been awarded to MEDB to support local production of ventilators.

Two locally owned technology companies — Maui Innovation Group and HNu Photonics — are redeploying their engineering and machining capabilities to manufacture ventilators on Maui.

Meanwhile, others are stepping up to the plate to help our community in its time of need. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are being made by Maui Brewing Co., Hali‘imaile Distilling Co. and Hawaii Sea Spirits, the maker of Ocean Organic Vodka. Farmers are donating their produce to food banks and pantries, and others are sewing their own protective cotton face masks while there’s a severe shortage of medicalgrade personal protective equipment.

I’m inspired by all these efforts to support our community, level the curve of COVID-19 and prevent our frontline health care professionals and medical facilities from being overwhelmed. I’m confident we will emerge from this crisis stronger, more unified than ever before.

“Our County,” a column from Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino, discusses county issues and activities of county government. The column usually appears on the first and third Saturdays of the month.