Nearly three months after the devastating Maui fires, University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu spring 2022 graduate Alejandra Guadalupe Ramirez remains committed to helping with relief efforts on her island home.
The Wailuku resident, 24, is a co-founder of Maui-based Roots Reborn, a multilingual hub for impacted immigrants, connecting them to whatever aid and resources they qualify for during the long rebuilding process.
Since the Maui fires crisis, the Roots Reborn team has been coordinating and mobilizing a multi-lingual volunteer base to respond to immigrant needs identified and yet emerging, according to the organization’s website.
“As a Maui resident, I feel as if it is my responsibility to give back and help my community after the fires,” said Ramirez, a daughter of immigrants from Jalisco, México. “Whether it is helping with something big or small, I feel as if I am making a difference in the lives of those who need help the most.”
In the immediate days following the fires and in the midst of relief efforts, Ramirez and Roots Reborn were featured in an Aug. 21 Hawai‘i Public Radio (HPR) story, “Multilingual community steps up to translate for displaced immigrants in Lāhainā.”
The story described how Ramirez, while at an emergency shelter at the War Memorial Gym in Wailuku, saw Spanish speakers in need of translators. Ramirez, who speaks Spanish, helped call their employers and landlords to get information.
According to the HPR report, which cited the 2020 census, more than 13% of Lahaina’s population are Latinos, also the fastest growing population in Hawai‘i.
“Meeting these individuals and families who were displaced, gaining their trust, and ultimately assisting them is very special to me,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez graduated from H.P. Baldwin High School in Wailuku in 2017, then attended UH Maui College, where she graduated with her associate degree in Liberal Arts as well as Administration of Justice.
A UH Presidential Scholar, Ramirez continued her schooling through UH West O‘ahu’s Distance Learning program. She graduated in May 2022 from UH West O‘ahu with honors with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration degree with a concentration in Justice Administration.
Today Ramirez works full-time as an Outreach Program Associate with the Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) at UH Maui College. The program, where Ramirez has worked for two years, is dedicated to assisting first-generation immigrants and low-income students of the island.
While Ramirez was not directly affected by the fires, she said she has friends and students who were impacted, and knows at least 15 to 20 individuals who lost everything.
“A few students have reached out to the program I work for to see if they can qualify for additional assistance through UH Maui,” she said. “It is devastating to see a good chunk of the place of where you grew up destroyed.”
As Roots Reborn’s lead coordinator and frontline organizer during the Lahaina fires crisis, Ramirez continues to volunteer when and where she can, mostly assisting with running the Roots Reborn Instagram account, @rootsrebornlahaina.
Currently, Ramirez is on the planning committee and is responsible for marketing for Roots Reborn’s upcoming inaugural celebration of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), one of the most important holidays in México and a time to remember departed loved ones.
The event will “honor those who passed during the Lahaina fires,” Ramirez noted.
The Dia de los Muertos celebration (see flyer below) is from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12, at the J. Walter Cameron Center in Wailuku. It is a free, family-friendly event with entertainment, activities, and food. For details or to register for the event, click here.
Visit the Roots Reborn website for more information about the organization. To donate to Roots Reborn, click here. Those on Maui who are interested in volunteering for the organization, please fill out this Google Form.
“Our team really benefits from volunteers who are fluent in Spanish, Ilokano, and Tagalog,” Ramirez said.
