Buried under the 24-hour news cycles of the last few months, recovery in Lahaina is progressing, one tiny house at a time.
William Fincher, an owner of two restaurants in the historic Maui town which tragically burned down this August, is receiving help from neighbors and friends to build a pair of tiny homes for his family of a wife, two kids, and two dogs.
Fincher lost both restaurants and his home in the fires, but within three or four days, local builder Juan Ricci was ordering materials to help the Fincher family construct the tiny houses. He did it all from his own pocket until the build team, including Fincher, Ricci, and some more friends had to set up a GoFundMe to look for the money.
Javier Barberi, a close friend, told Good Morning America in no uncertain terms that Fincher was Lahaina through and through, and he simply had to stay in order to help rebuild and recover the spirit of the town. Barberi gave Fincher space on his land to build.
With Barberi’s help and Ricci’s instruction, the tiny homes started coming together. Fincher knew a bit about woodshop, but laying insulation, framing doors, and roofing, were all skills he didn’t have. Ricci and his workers provided free labor and instruction.
“He [Ricci] started building these homes out of the goodness of his own heart and paying everything out of pocket. He trusts that the money will come,” writes volunteer Andreas Alfaro on the GoFundMe page which has so far raised $13,000 of its goal of $100,000.
What started as a few guys coming together to support their neighbor in Fincher has turned into a bold grassroots effort to raise money to build small, long-term homes for displaced residents, and pay locals who lost their jobs in the fires to do it, with Ricci providing on-the-job training from 20 years experience building on Hawai’i.
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“That’s the idea, to raise some money and keep going and start paying the guys that have been working,” Ricci told GMA.
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“Lahaina is the best place in the world without a doubt, and now it’s still there,” said Fincher.
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