We Belong Here: How Communities Shape Hawaiʻi’s Resilience

Vibrant Hawaiʻi was thrilled to feature our Resilience Hub partners at the 2025 Hawaiʻi State Association of Counties (HSAC) Conference. These community leaders shared their expertise in designing community-led emergency action plans and advancing household disaster readiness.

Resilience Hubs strengthen Hawaiʻi’s disaster management system by equipping neighborhoods with the resources, knowledge, and skills to care for themselves and one another. These hubs support continuity of lifelines, promote local leadership, and serve as anchors in both times of crisis and recovery.

Each Resilience Hub begins its Community Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) with No ʻAneʻi — “We Belong Here.” This foundation emphasizes our deep connection to the ʻāina and our kuleana to care for it. Grounded in values of belonging, stewardship, and responsibility, the process calls on communities to honor kūpuna knowledge, traditional place names, and moʻolelo that remind us how people have cared for these lands for generations.

As Chauncey Hatico of the Waipiʻo Resilience Hub shared, “When community voices are honored from the start, it builds trust and encourages greater participation. Place-based knowledge also reminds us of what has worked before — systems of mutual aid, communication, and food sharing — that can guide modern emergency response.”

At HSAC, these community-rooted insights were echoed and expanded upon in dialogue with government leaders, funders, and change-makers. It was also especially beneficial for our Youth Ambassadors to witness these collective exchanges, seeing firsthand how collaboration across sectors can shape stronger, more resilient systems. Reflecting on this experience, Vibrant Hawaiʻi Ambassador Lucas Klaus shared, “Seeing leaders and public figures come together to discuss what can and must be done provided a broader perspective on the unique challenges facing the island.”

Together, these perspectives demonstrate that through an integrated, community-based framework, Hawaiʻi is building more than preparedness — we are advancing a statewide culture of resilience where communities are connected, lifelines are protected, and local voices are respected partners in shaping their future.

Mahalo to HSAC for the opportunity to share this work. We look forward to continued collaboration and collective action.