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Hawaiʻi Community Foundation
The Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund

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Kūpuna Aging in Place

Responding to federal funding cuts with support for our nonprofit sector to build long-term community resilience.

The Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund was created by the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HCF) in 2020 to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, distributing $12.2 million to help meet the immediate and evolving needs of Hawaiʻi’s people.

In 2025, we reactivated the Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund with a renewed purpose. Twenty-one organizations across the islands received $1,423,247 in grants to strengthen their work—providing stability amid shifting federal funding, rules, and expectations. This support enabled organizations to chart a clear path forward while sustaining critical programs.

Strengthening Hawaiʻi’s Resilience

Hawaiʻi nonprofits are facing uncertainty from many directions including political, economic, and social changes. Those rapid shifts have exacerbated service delivery and funding challenges. Hawaiʻi organizations are exercising their creativity and determination to forge a future. Hawaiʻi organizations anticipated delayed or reduced access to more than $191 million in federal funding. Because of this, more than 500,000 Hawaiʻi residents could lose access to essential services like food assistance, housing support, and health care.

The vitality of Hawaiʻi’s nonprofits remains at the forefront of HCF’s focus, and we see an opportunity to combat the impacts of the federal disinvestment through the Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund.

  • A critical moment to act: This our chance to close the gap and ensure resources continue flowing to the people and programs that need them most.
  • An opportunity to protect what matters most: By stepping up together, we can safeguard these lifelines, strengthen our communities, and ensure families thrive.

Hawaiʻi’s nonprofit sector is a powerful force for community well-being. From ensuring families have food and housing to advancing child welfare, domestic violence prevention, and legal support, nonprofits strengthen every corner of our islands. Together, they employ more than 80,000 people—one in eight workers statewide—and generate more than $7 billion annually in economic activity, according to the Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations (HANO), fueling both care and prosperity.

Hawaiʻi organizations embody resilience and connection. Yet, with federal support shrinking, they face challenges that could limit their ability to serve. This moment calls us to stand with them, to ensure they not only endure but thrive. By investing in our nonprofits—and the networks and coalitions that serve as the tables for collaboration—we invest in Hawaiʻi’s stability, recovery, and the thriving future our communities deserve.

Responding with Resilience

While the State Legislature has set aside $50 million to support nonprofits, this does not replace the scale of federal funds flowing into Hawaiʻi. Community leaders, nonprofit organization partners, and donor input, guided our three-pronged strategy:

  • Financial stabilization – Direct nonprofit support through grantmaking (both by invitation and via open calls) to transform services and operations. Funds may be used to support mergers, restructuring, and funding innovation to promote lasting impact and efficiency.
  • Capacity-building and technical assistance – Launching a nonprofit resource hub in partnership with HANO to assist in providing coaching, legal support, strategic planning, fundraising expertise, and wellness resources.
  • Responsive and inclusive support – Targeted grants for sectors often overlooked in emergency relief, such as arts, education, and environment, along with collective communications, advocacy, and flexibility to address emergency needs.

By investing in these areas, the Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund protects the nonprofit infrastructure, ensures continuity of essential services, and equips communities, families, and future generations for long-term resilience.

Hawaiʻi Resilience Grants

To read stories on impact about the investments made in the last year, please see the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation 2025 Annual Report, “HCF Responds to Federal Funding Cuts,” on pages 24 to 28 to learn more about how donors, community members and nonprofits have come together to ensure Hawaiʻi residents have critical programs and services.

Information to Inform All of Us: UHERO Study Measuring the Impact of Federal Cuts – May 2025
As part of HCF’s response to the ongoing federal funding cuts, we made a $46,747 grant to the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaiʻi (UHERO), to fund an analysis of the Hawaiʻi nonprofit sector’s vulnerability to federal spending cuts. Nonprofits often faced several risk factors including financial and political risk to their operations in this climate of uncertainty. The findings, released in September 2025, reinforce the need for a united response to pull together our communities. We shared the information and used the analysis to inform our grantmaking.

Click here to read the full report.

Hawaiʻi Association of Nonprofit Organizations – July 2025
HCF made a $250,000 grant to the Hawaiʻi Association of Nonprofit Organizations (HANO) to strengthen HANO’s ability to support Hawaiʻi nonprofits as a sector-wide infrastructure provider. This will include adding key staff and upgrading HANO’s technology platforms. HANO engaged a pro-bono volunteer capacity building platform (Catchafire) to assist HANO members in meeting their organizational needs, and hired a Resource Hub director to develop and launch the Hub in 2026.

Strength in Service Grant Program – November 2025
We are pleased to announce the grantee partners for the Strength in Service Grant Program, funded by the Robert Emens Black Trust and Corporate Funds, Discretionary General Fund and the Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund at the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation.

HCF designed the Strength in Service Grant Program to complement—not duplicate—state resources by offering nimble, transparent, and transformative support. It focuses on building nonprofit capacity, adaptability, and sustainability beyond short-term relief. ($50 million in Act 310 funding). The following organizations have experienced substantial impact from federal disinvestment, affecting services from homelessness, healthcare, workforce development and others in underserved communities across Hawaiʻi. The grants will help cover capacity-building goals including strategic planning, training and wellbeing services for staff, and financial planning to strengthen each organization’s long-term stability. These organizations have shown dedicated leadership to continue their missions despite the federal funding uncertainty.

Feeding Hawaiʻi’s Hungry in the Government Shutdown – October 2025
We provided a $100,000 grant to the Hawaiʻi Foodbank for emergency access to food so no Hawaiʻi resident would go hungry during a 43-day federal government shutdown. An estimated 20,000 federal government employees, active-duty military members, and federal contractors in Hawaiʻi were at risk of not receiving paychecks, and the Hawaiʻi Foodbank saw an increase in hunger. At some locations, food demand was tripled. During that period, food banks provided 620,000 meals, served 55,000 individuals, and experienced a 72% increase in volunteers who showed up to assist their community with care.

Grants to Support Our Immigrant Neighbors – March 2026
One in five people in Hawaiʻi are immigrants. Currently, dedicated immigrant legal counsel is unavailable on Hawaiʻi Island, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi and Kauaʻi. Concerns for safety and connection in the communities our immigrant neighbors live, work, and go to school in have increased. We made seven grant awards from the Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund totaling $176,500 to address immigrant rights and specific needs around legal services and due process. The funding will provide more even access to legal services, decreases finance barriers to filing fees and services, and help immigrants in our communities navigate complex immigration systems with dignity and support.

Services supported by this slate of grant funding involves legal defense during deportation proceedings, bond hearings, asylum claims, and more. Priority was given to organizations that demonstrated a strong record of providing high-quality legal representation to detained immigrants or immigrants facing removal.

We will consider additional funding for the Immigrant Justice Collaborative requested jointly by a group of 12 organizations. Part of the collaborative effort is to secure sustaining funds and additional funders, and to formalize how they will work together as the Collaborative.

Join Us! Support a Resilient Hawaiʻi

The challenge is real, but the opportunity is immense. Imagine a Hawaiʻi where nonprofits don’t just weather this crisis, they emerge stronger, more adaptable, and more effective. The Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund offers a strategic, community-informed path forward. Your support enables vital services to continue, strengthens access to programs now, and helps Hawaiʻi’s nonprofits transform uncertainty into resilience.

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