From Aloha to Action: Help Us Officially Launch Ohana Malamalama

We didn't start with a grant or a strategic plan. We started with a shared refusal to watch our neighbors get priced out of the community we love.

Aurea escaped domestic violence as a single mom with two toddlers and lived the reality of housing instability firsthand — hotels, temporary rooms, always one crisis away from nowhere to go. Afa grew up on the North Shore of Oahu where ohana means nobody gets left behind, and carried that spirit to Mount Shasta where he's been a fixture for years — driving trucks, building community, singing Hawaiian chants at Headwaters.

When we found each other in 2024, we saw the same thing: good people, working hard, being forced out of Siskiyou County because they couldn't afford to stay.

So we got to work.

In just 9 months, the YEAH Movement has:

• Helped pass the Tiny Houses On Wheels Ordinance at Mount Shasta City Council — unanimous support
• Secured a donated parcel of land in Lake Shastina for a 3-unit affordable housing development
• Mobilized record community turnout at City Council meetings
• Launched monthly community dinners bringing neighbors, officials, and families to the same table

Now we're ready to take the next step — officially forming Ohana Malamalama, the 508(c)(1)(a) faith-based organization that will serve as the legal home for all of this work. Ohana means family. Malamalama means light. Together, they mean nobody gets left behind, and everyone gets to shine.

This is what your donation funds: Filing fees, legal formation costs, and the administrative groundwork to make Ohana Malamalama an officially recognized organization — unlocking our ability to apply for grants, accept tax-deductible donations, and scale what we've already proven works.

We're not asking you to believe in a vision. We're asking you to invest in results that are already happening — and help us build the legal foundation to make them last.

Every dollar gets us closer to official. And official means more families housed, more ordinances passed, and a replicable model that rural communities across Northern California can use.

Ohana means nobody gets left behind. Help us make that official.