Maui Economic Opportunity has been gathering community’s input on the “causes that could lead to poverty” in Maui County and encourages more submissions before the survey’s deadline of Wednesday, June 25.

So far MEO has received more than 200 responses, which will be used to develop a Community Needs Assessment and a three-year Community Action Plan to address the needs. The causes of poverty for assessment on the survey include cost of living, financial literacy, affordable housing, food insecurity, and many others.

The Community Action Plan, which has been a staple of MEO’s efforts to support people in need in Maui County, will cover 2027-30.

The link to the survey is: https://forms.gle/uq57oVKrHpHcKUvx8. Printed copies may be obtained by calling Executive Assistant Lauren Amano at (808) 249-2990 or visiting MEO at 99 Mahalani St. in Wailuku.

MEO was established 60 years ago through the American Opportunity Act, part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. The agency is one of more than a thousand Community Action Agencies across the nation (and four in Hawai`i) formed to tackle poverty.

The federal Community Action organizational standards call for Community Action Agencies to conduct a Community Needs Assessment every three years. The assessment considers the perceptions of the causes of poverty and the breadth of community needs addressing the causes.