The National Dislocated Worker Grant (NDWG), which provided good paying jobs for those impacted by the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires and labor at no cost for sites doing recovery work, was shut down Monday, Feb. 24, 2024, due to funding issues, Maui Economic Opportunity announced.

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) informed program administrator MEO on Monday that DLIR did not have enough funds to cover MEO's January payment request for reimbursement and that continued funding through the U.S. Department of Labor remained uncertain. This program is structured with MEO fronting payments and DLIR reimbursing MEO.

Following the news from DLIR, MEO CEO Debbie Cabebe said “that left us no choice other than shutting down immediately to prevent incurring further potentially non-reimbursable expenses.”

“We do not have an abundance of discretionary funding to cover potentially millions of dollars in expenses,” she said, noting that MEO had hoped to continue NDWG through Sept. 30.

For the 131 NDWG workers who lost their jobs Monday, MEO is “committed to placing all participants” in regular jobs, working with Employers Options and the Maui County American Job Center, she said.

MEO also will be hosting a resource fair for NDWG workers from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, March 1, at MEO in Wailuku, 99 Mahalani St., behind the J. Walter Cameron Center.  

There were 27 host sites performing wildfire cleanup, recovery and humanitarian work on Monday. Because of the way the program was structured, host sites were not the employers of record; Employers Options was.

NDWG participants must contact Employers Options to ensure receiving eligible benefits – including unemployment compensation. Failure to update resumes and apply for jobs may disqualify workers from unemployment benefits.

Employers Options can be reached at (808) 877-6555. The Maui American Job Center is located at 110 Ala‘ihi St., Ste. 209, Kahului and can be accessed online at https://www.mauicounty.gov/1116/Maui-American-Job-Center.

MEO Community Services Director Cassi Yamashita is another resource and can be reached by email at cassi.yamashita@meoinc.org or by phone at (808) 243-4359. Host sites with questions may contact Cabebe by email at debbie.cabebe@meoinc.org or by phone at (808) 870-1906.

“We are deeply saddened by this unfortunate turn of events related to the federal funding environment,” said Cabebe. “We had plans and expectations to run the program through September 30.”

NDWG was announced on Oct. 18, 2023 and since then has placed more than 300 individuals in temporary jobs, ranging from $20.50 to $27 an hour, at 51 host sites.

“NDWG was launched with the best of intentions in the midst of the suffering, devastation and chaos in the aftermath of the wildfires,” said Cabebe. “The goal was to stand up the program quickly to help those impacted by the wildfires gain footing as they made decisions about their future.”

“Looking back, the program was a win-win for participants and host sites providing important and necessary services. MEO will continue to support and look for ways to assist those impacted by the wildfires.”