Barrett Family and Community Relief from Maui Fire

First of all, WE ARE SAFE!

Sweet, sweet, sweet friends and family. I have gotten so many messages of love and support. I'm beyond grateful for each of you.

Here's the details...

Yes, our house was incinerated. It's a total loss nothing but small ashes left, along with most of the town.

On the day of the fire, Madelyn and Dianne had been watching the sky. There was no phone service, so no orders to evacuate were being delivered. Oddly, neither did the warning siren go off to warn folks there was a problem.

Madelyn intuitively knew to round everyone up and get OUT of our house, not go to where they were telling people to go for safety, but to go further.

While living in the car for two days with 4 cats, two dogs, and our dear friend Dianne... They ate what they had which was a few oranges, a chocolate bar, and very limited water. Totally against the advice of everyone physically around her...she made the decision to leave town and the relative safety of her friend network. She was resolved to try and make her way over the back of the west side of Maui. All of the gas stations had exploded or were out of fuel and this is a very narrow one-lane, sometimes dirt road along the cliffs of the mountain. They drove for an hour and a half in deep darkness with limited gas, and on fumes, with sheer determination and love towards the end.

The very next day, they closed off that road as an exit too.

I had spent that day flying to the island to try to help them. I landed at 9pm and she found her way to me in Kihei at about 11.30pm. It was a very sweet moment to get my hands on all of them.

Mad is pretty shell shocked. She's now been in two natural disasters inside of one month. She was present and experienced evacuation during the New York and Vermont flooding in July. This time, not only was she effected, she lost absolutely everything she had collected during her adult life and her cat.

How we go forward...

We found one of Madelyn's best friends, Mary (a single mom that lived down the story) and her little boy. We are sheltering them during this challenging time. We are beyond grateful for that little one keeping us present everyday.

There are still almost 1000 people missing. Hundreds already known to have lost their lives and many more confirmations to come. They are still combing through the ruble to locate victims. This is a tightknit community of about 10K, everyone is traumatically effected.

There is so much loss and the need for a mass number of funerals. We are beyond blessed to not be having one of those inside our family but heartbroken for everyone who does. I can't describe the sense of deep resounding loss for everyone and even Maui herself.

If you feel called to HELP the people of Kula and Lahaina on Maui... Both communities lost so much, I do too!

Much of the funding we have recieved will be put back into supporting our Maui neighbors who are in need.

I so appreciate the amazing hearts that have reached out.

Thank you again for all your kindness and support. We feel well loved and we are sending piles of love back to you all.

Our hearts are heavy but open and loving. We just have a lot we are processing while also counting our blessings in every moment. ️

Hug your family, friends and furbabies for me today.

Aloha and Mahalo