Take Care of Other People, and Be Bold About Showing Your Aloha
Blanche McMillan chose to shelter houseless people in her community during the pandemic despite lacking government approval.
Our Kūpuna: Stella Shimabukuro | Edward Kuba | John Waihe‘e
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.”
When they told me I could only put seven homes, I went up to 14 homes. After the 14 homes, I went to 27 homes. They say, “You need to stop.” I said, “No, I’m not stopping. I’m bringing home more people.” When I brought people home, my heart became bigger. My answer is never “no.” Even if we’re full here, I always find a way to bring them home and put up another tent.
I believe that being Hawaiian, we always had the aloha in our hearts, so that’s what we’re doing today. I wasn’t scared at all because I did my environmental assessment, brought in archaeologists, did the soil conservation, and I took it up to the DLNR, but there was no word from them. So I said to myself, “I’m not going to listen. If I did something wrong, forgive me, but I did it for my people.”
I always tell my people here, “Love one another, be one family, and always pick each other up and never let go.”
I always tell my people here, “Love one another, be one family, and always pick each other up and never let go.” Today’s young generation does not know how to give back, how to take care of each other. Bringing kids here, some of them don’t even know the Hawaiian culture, how special it is.
Never lose hope. If people have no hope, they aren’t going to be free. They need to find hope, faith and love. I always tell people the only way that you can do the correct thing is to put the Lord before you. Because when you do that, everything will open for you. If you’re gonna wait to do something, it’s not gonna work. But if you follow your heart, you will get where you want to go. And you will believe in yourself that things can work. And that’s why I tell people: “Believe in the things that you care about and love.”
