Blanche McMillan | 72 Years Old
Blanche McMillan is the founder of Hui Mahi‘ai ‘Āina, which provides village-style housing to the houseless in Waimānalo. Currently, 96 people live there, in 59 temporary homes and 14 tents, including 26 children, 20 kūpuna and four cancer patients. Having grown up in a family of 17, McMillan credits her parents for instilling her with the kuleana to care for others.
Without governmental permission, McMillan started sheltering homeless people during the pandemic, after public facilities at Waimānalo Beach Park shut down. But after officials visited and saw residents growing food and taking care of the property, grants and funding followed, allowing McMillan to expand both the village and her vision.
As told to Diane Seo:
When the pandemic came, they shut down showers, toilets, water, everything, and I said, “My people not gonna survive. They’re gonna die out there.” My heart was saying, “Help my people.” So I went to the beach and brought them home. I told them, with God’s help, nobody’s gonna bother me because God wants his people home. I said, “We’re gonna work hard. We’re going to work this land, and the land is going to take care of us the old Hawaiian way.”…