Maui Economic Opportunity (MEO) received the prestigious Promise of
Community Action Award from the National Community Action Partnership
(NCAP) for the agency’s work in the aftermath and the recovery phases of
the devastating and deadly 2023 wildfires.
MEO CEO Debbie Cabebe accepted the national award Thursday evening at the
NCAP gala in Detroit, Mich. MEO was one of five agencies and individuals
recognized at the gathering.
This national award recognizes Community Action Agencies that have been
diligently caring for the entire community and remain dedicated to helping
people help themselves and each other amid a catastrophe. These agencies
are working to build resilient communities.
“Debbie, thank you to you and your team for all that you did post-fire and
that you do every day,” said Denise Harlow, NCAP CEO, in presenting the
award to Cabebe, who was joined on stage by Transportation Director Patty
Copperfield and Chief Fiscal Officer Wil Torricer.
Harlow, who observed the work of MEO firsthand during a visit in May, noted
how MEO brought funds directly into the community from foundations and
private donors nationally to assist in the recovery and partnered with
landlords on housing options for families.
In her remarks, Cabebe thanked NCAP for the award, noting that MEO has
infused $30 million into the community to assist in the recovery.
“When federal, state and local leaders need information or help, they call
MEO,” said Cabebe.
In the immediate aftermath of the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires, MEO joined a
caravan transporting visitors and residents out of the west side, helped
arrange Airbnbs for thousands of displaced residents in shelters, hosted
the Mexican and Chilean consulates on document recovery.
By November, MEO was operating the National Dislocated Worker Disaster
Recovery Program that employed 300 survivors in 50 host sites performing
recovery work and the Maui Relief TANF Program that has provided recovery
assistance to 6,500 households. By the end of 2023, MEO’s Business
Development Center was distributing short-term recovery grants to 700 small
businesses.
“At MEO, we understand that success is achieved through constant effort,
resilience in the face of setbacks and refusal to give up, highlighting the
power of tenacity and achieving goals,” said Cabebe. “The staff and the
board truly live The Promise of Community Action.”
The awards ceremony capped a week of workshops and networking at the NCAP
event. MEO is one of a thousand Community Action Agencies formed in the
mid-1960s as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty.
This year is MEO’s 60th anniversary, having formed in March 1965 with two
programs. Today, MEO operates more than 30 diverse programs, offering
paratransit rides, preschool at no cost to families, rental and utility
assistance, business planning courses and micro-lending, and intermediate
and high school drug/alcohol/smoking, bullying, suicide prevention.
MEO operates on Maui, Moloka`i and Lana`i and in East Maui with a staff of
275. More than 55,000 residents annually are assisted.
MEO’s Patty Copperfield, Wil Torricer and Debbie Cabebe accepted The Promise of Community Action Award.
Maui Economic Opportunity received The Promise of Community Action Award from the National Community Action Partnership on Thursday in Detroit.
MEO CEO Debbie Cabebe (from left), Chief Fiscal Officer Wil Torricer, and Transportation Director Patty Copperfield, pose with The Promise of Community Action Award and NCAP CEO Denise Harlow and NCAP Board Chair Dalitso Sulamoyo.