No moretents.
Aunty Blanche and Uncle Willie walk Waimānalo beach asking people to pack up their tents and come home with them. At Hui Mahiʻai ʻĀina they get a roof, rules, work and family. We’ve been behind them since day one.
Where
Hui Mahiʻai ʻĀina, Waimānalo, Oʻahu
When
July 2020 – now
Status
Active
Alongside
Aunty Blanche & Uncle Willie, Friends of Waimānalo, Blessings of Aloha, River of Life Mission
A home, not a handout
Drug free. Rules. Family.
Around 50 people live in tiny homes and tents on Aunty Blanche’s land. It’s drug free, there are rules, and everybody works the 22-acre garden. Residents run their own market stalls to earn money and fundraise.
It isn’t a shelter. It’s a community that teaches people how to live together again.
“Coming from the beach parks, it’s rough. Over here, you can put your head down and rest.”Resident, Hui Mahiʻai ʻĀina
When the storm hit
The foodbank that feeds 600.
In April 2023, heavy winds flipped the camp’s 40-foot foodbank container on its head. That container gives free food and toiletries to about 600 people a month.
We put the call out for roofers, framers and materials, and the community got it rebuilt.
One home at a time
Tiny homes and new skills.
Donors keep buying tiny homes for the community, one at a time, most recently in October 2025. We ran a sign-making workshop so residents could promote their market stalls, using art supplies Aunty Paula donated.
In 2026, Hui Mahiʻai ʻĀina, Friends of Waimānalo and Blessings of Aloha started free CNA and construction training, with certifications that lead to real jobs.
Groundbreaking
From tents toward permanent housing.
In November 2025, Aunty Blanche broke ground on a plan for permanent housing for more than 300 people, including shared spaces and community services. It was a milestone years in the making.
And every Christmas, the keiki still get bikes. In 2025 it was 15.
Watch ithappen.
Follow on InstagramGroundbreaking: houseless no more
Another tiny home purchased
The foodbank needs help after the storm
15 Christmas bikes for the keiki
Free CNA and construction classes
The Hui Mahiʻai ʻĀina Makeke
Serving alongside Aunty Blanche
500 meals with Aunty Blanche’s crew
500+ meals from town to the Westside
The numbersbehind this story.
Aunty Blanche is solving the problem the rest of us talk about. This is the size of it.
Help buildthe way home.
Every tiny home, every bag of groceries, every Christmas bike started with someone like you. Be part of the solution. Give, or come work the garden with us.