{"id":7622,"date":"2026-04-27T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7622"},"modified":"2026-04-27T18:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:30:00","slug":"va-helps-veteran-recover-from-maui-wildfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7622","title":{"rendered":"VA helps Veteran recover from Maui wildfire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2026-04-27T18:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p>For more than 80 years, VA has stood beside Veterans and\u00a0service members through life\u2019s\u00a0defining moments, including times of profound loss.\u00a0For one Native Hawaiian Veteran, VA\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/housing-assistance\/home-loans\/loan-types\/native-american-direct-loan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Native American Direct Loan (NADL) program<\/a>\u00a0helped\u00a0turn devastation into recovery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 8, 2023,\u00a0a\u00a0wildfire swept through the historic\u00a0seaside\u00a0community\u00a0of Lahaina, Maui. Believed to have been sparked by a downed power line, the fire destroyed\u00a0homes, consumed neighborhoods and changed lives forever. Among those affected were\u00a0Native Hawaiian Veteran Ruben and his\u00a0wife,\u00a0Sue, whose VA-financed home\u00a0sat\u00a0directly in the path of the fast-moving blaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Their daughter and grandchildren were inside\u00a0the home\u00a0as the wildfire approached. With power and internet down, communication was\u00a0nearly impossible.\u00a0Through a friend, Ruben relayed a simple message: Take the children and pets and leave everything else behind.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOrdinarily, our daughter would not have had a car, but I left my car at home that day and drove Sue to the airport so she could catch a flight,\u201d Ruben said.\u00a0As\u00a0the flames\u00a0closed in, she escaped with the children, two dogs and a cat. Tragically, not all their neighbors or their\u00a0pets\u00a0survived.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When Ruben later returned in a hazmat suit, hoping to salvage keepsakes, he found only ashes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After months\u00a0of\u00a0staying with family and\u00a0nearly two\u00a0years in a rental home, they\u00a0were ready to rebuild. As a Navy Veteran, Ruben knew he could use his VA home loan benefit.\u00a0He learned that,\u00a0as a Native Hawaiian, he qualified for VA\u2019s NADL program.\u00a0Through that\u00a0program, Ruben and Sue\u00a0were approved for a new home in a developing community, marking a\u00a0turning point in their recovery.\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Both Sue and Ruben\u00a0grow\u00a0emotional when\u00a0reflecting\u00a0on\u00a0what could have happened that day.\u00a0\u201cAfter the fire, we realized that things don\u2019t mean anything,\u201d Ruben said.\u00a0\u201cHaving this new home allows us to spend time with what\u00a0does\u00a0matter\u2014our family and friends.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Established through\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/uscode.house.gov\/statutes\/pl\/102\/547.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Public Law 102-547<\/a>,\u00a0the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/?s=nadl\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/?s=nadl\">NADL\u00a0<\/a>program was designed\u00a0to address long-standing barriers\u00a0that Native communities have faced in obtaining\u00a0mortgages on federal trust lands.\u00a0Eligibility extends to\u00a0Veterans and\u00a0service members who are\u00a0Native Americans,\u00a0Native Hawaiians,\u00a0Alaska Natives and those who belong to certain\u00a0Pacific Islander communities, including American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The program offers several advantages designed to make homeownership more accessible, including low interest rates, no down payment requirement and no private mortgage insurance, among others.<\/p>\n<p>Sue\u00a0encourages other\u00a0eligible Native American Veterans and service members to explore the NADL program.\u00a0\u201cIt saved us money, and we could afford to replace the furniture we lost,\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Native American Veterans\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0limited to NADL, though:\u00a0those\u00a0purchasing\u00a0homes on fee-simple land\u2014property owned outright outside federal trust lands\u2014can\u00a0still use a traditional <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/?s=home+loan\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/?s=home+loan\">VA-guaranteed home loan<\/a>, ensuring flexibility based on individual needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>VA housing benefits are about\u00a0more than\u00a0mortgages, they\u2019re\u00a0about resilience, recovery and the chance to rebuild after loss. Through programs like the Native American Direct Loan, VA\u00a0helps ensure that\u00a0Veterans and their families have a place to call home, no matter what challenges arise.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>VA is committed to working with tribal communities\u00a0across\u00a0the country to expand the NADL program. You\u00a0can learn more about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/housing-assistance\/home-loans\/loan-types\/native-american-direct-loan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NADL\u00a0program <\/a>online. VA\u00a0also\u00a0created a video guide\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)\u00a0process\u00a0that\u00a0can be accessed on the VA\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefits.va.gov\/homeloans\/training\/index.asp#Available%20Training\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Loan Guaranty Training Website<\/a>\u00a0under \u2018Available Training \u2013 Native American\u00a0Direct Loans.\u2019\u202f<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/146341\/veteran-recover-from-maui-wildfire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VA\u2019s\u00a0Native American Direct Loan (NADL) program\u00a0helped\u00a0turn devastation into recovery for a Native Hawaiian Veteran&#8217;s home after the Maui wildfires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VA helps Veteran recover from Maui wildfire - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VA\u2019s\u00a0Native American Direct Loan (NADL) program\u00a0helped\u00a0turn devastation into recovery for a Native Hawaiian Veteran&#039;s home after the Maui wildfires.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7622\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA helps Veteran recover from Maui wildfire - 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