{"id":558,"date":"2026-06-13T10:06:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T10:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=558"},"modified":"2026-06-13T10:06:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T10:06:37","slug":"two-day-resilience-conference-kicks-off-in-hilo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=558","title":{"rendered":"Two-day resilience conference kicks off in Hilo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Vibrant Hawaii is holding what it claims as the first resilience conference in the state.<\/p>\n

Read more Knicks erase 29-point deficit to stun Spurs, move within one win of first title since 1973<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Vibrant Hawaii is holding what it claims as the first resilience conference in the state.<\/p>\n

The conference, Friday and today at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, is described on the nonprofit organization\u2019s website as \u201ca two-day, in-person training designed to strengthen local capacity for disaster preparedness, response and recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Janice Ikeda, Vibrant Hawaii CEO, opened the conference Friday with an address to an audience of conferees that half-filled the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center \u2014 which has a seating capacity of 550. Most are from Hawaii Island, but other islands, especially Oahu, also were were represented.<\/p>\n

According to Ikeda, the guiding principle of the conference is the \u201claw of the splintered paddle,\u201d a foundational human rights decree by Kamehameha I in 1797 which is codified in Article 9, Section 10 of the state Constitution. As Hawaii\u2019s first official law, it established that noncombatants, the elderly, women and children must be allowed to travel safely without fear of harm or violence.<\/p>\n

Ikeda called the law \u201cof Hawaii and for Hawaii,\u201d while the state Constitution describes it as \u201ca unique and living symbol of the state\u2019s concern for public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reminds us that in moments of danger or disruption, our collective responsibility is to ensure that those in distress can find safety, dignity and care \u2026,\u201d Ikeda said. \u201cIt reminds us that Hawaii already has the wisdom and human capacity for community-centered public safety. Our job is to train it, coordinate it and trust it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s deadline to apply for individual assistance for those adversely affected by the two Kona low storms in March looming on Sunday, Ikeda laid out a sobering rationale for increased local response to disasters and emergencies by everyday citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are on an island that is on the end of a very long supply chain,\u201d Ikeda said. \u201cWe are in a period of increasing disaster frequencies. We overly value and rely on resources we cannot control. Year after year, FEMA has entered hurricane season with its disaster relief fund in the red zone, below the threshold the agency uses to insure it can respond to at least one major catastrophic event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past April, ahead of (the) 2026 hurricane season, FEMA has officially triggered what it calls immediate needs funding \u2014 an unprecedented action. FEMA now has to choose between long-term recovery and responding to new disasters. It cannot do both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Local sports briefs: Riders seeking new football head coach<\/a><\/p>\n

With hurricane season in Hawaii just underway and running through November, Ikeda noted the federal government\u2019s disaster relief organization was found by federal auditors to be chronically understaffed and inadequate to respond properly to a major storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the start of last hurricane season, the Government Accountability Office found that only 12% of FEMA\u2019s incident management workforce was able to respond,\u201d Ikeda said. \u201cWe overlook and often undervalue resources available to us, most especially our human resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, when a disaster hits, we look for master coordination to be stood up by someone with the right training. But what everybody outside of Hawaii calls \u2018mass care,\u2019 we just call it \u2018pa\u2018ina,\u2019 right?\u201d she added, invoking a Hawaiian word meaning \u201cparty.\u201d \u201cBaby lu\u2018au, graduation party, wedding. Every aunty who has ever organized a baby lu\u2018au has already run a mass-care event \u2014 volunteer coordination \u2026 facility-use agreements, managing the budget, clean-up, security \u2026 the ability to identify strengths and give you a role. \u2026 We all know that aunty that has the expertise to coordinate donations, manage volunteers, feed hundreds of people \u2026 . Right now, we treat disaster case management like it\u2019s a specialized skill that only kicks in after a declared emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing we are trying to build is a decentralized and coordinated system with the community at the center, the governing of the community in genuine partnership, how it is described \u2026 in our language and our law.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Ikeda\u2019s opening remarks, conferees attended specialized breakout sessions on the subjects of mental health, volunteers and donations, shelter support, medical response, food security and long-term recovery.<\/p>\n

During the volunteers and donations breakout session, Maurice Messina, Vibrant Hawaii\u2019s chief operating officer, noted the community response in West Hawaii following March\u2019s destructive Kona low storms.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Konawaena High School, when the Kona low really affected that school, it shut down their cafeteria \u2014 and that cafeteria was serving about 700 kids,\u201d Messina said. \u201cWhen the community members reached out and said, \u2018we need help here,\u2019 we started organizing a food drive, a food distribution at the Honaunau Rodeo Arena. It was the sports teams, the kids who played the biggest part of getting those donations out to the community members.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there are so many organizations that I hear about going, \u2018We\u2019re aging out, we\u2019re aging out. Where are we going to get our replacements from?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Pointing to some high school-age attendees in the room, Messina intoned, \u2018They\u2019re right there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more UH basketball coach Ganot \u2018fired up\u2019 with influx of talented recruits<\/a><\/p>\n

Email John Burnett at john.burnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-day resilience conference kicks off in Hilo – Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTwo-day resilience conference kicks off in Hilo - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=558\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two-day resilience conference kicks off in Hilo - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two-day resilience conference kicks off in Hilo - 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