ABOUT HOʻI MAI
Built from the
inside out.
Distance should never stand between a family and the care they need — or between a loved one and the moment that matters most.
We built Ho'i Mai so no family has to navigate that alone.
THE NAME
In the Hawaiian language,
hoʻi mai means to return home.
It is an invitation — come.
That meaning is at the heart of everything this organization does. When a patient must travel far from home for care they cannot receive on their island, the journey itself becomes part of the burden. Hoʻi Mai exists to lift that burden — to stand beside families every step of the way through thoughtful, end-to-end coordination of medically complex travel.
From the first call to the moment you walk back through your own door — you will never carry this alone.
THE GAP WE EXIST TO CLOSE
One phone call.
Everything taken care of.
When families face a medical crisis that requires travel, the logistics rarely keep pace with the urgency. Flights, hotels, ground transportation, travel insurance, companion coordination — each piece requires time, energy, and resources that families in crisis simply don't have.
Some services exist to help. But most are partial. A family managing a terminal diagnosis or multiple out-of-state treatment cycles is juggling far more than a single plane ticket. What they need — what they deserve — is to make one phone call and have it taken care of. Completely. With care.
That is what Hoʻi Mai was built to be—for every family who needs it.
"Distance should never be the barrier to healthcare. And no family should have to piece it together alone."
Hoʻi Mai was founded by a native Hawaiian who knows the weight of that inter-island flight when someone you love is sick — and who spent nearly a decade inside nonprofit healthcare, watching families try to navigate a system that wasn't built for them.
"After spending years at the intersection of healthcare and institutional philanthropy, I saw firsthand how often families were left to navigate the hardest moments on their own. I came to understand where support existed—and where it didnʻt—and how quickly the burden of travel became part of the crisis itself."
Hoʻi Mai is the answer that should have existed all along.
MISSION
No family should be separated from a loved one during a medical crisis because of the cost or complexity of travel.
VISION
A world where distance is never a barrier to care — and no family has to navigate lifeʻs hardest moments alone.
OUR VALUES
This is how we care for every family we serve.
What we believe.
How we show up.
ʻOhana
Every family we serve is family. We show up the way family does — fully present, deeply invested, and unwilling to leave anyone to navigate alone.
Care
We handle every detail with intention. Nothing is an afterthought when someone's most important moments are on the line.
Compassion
We meet every family where they are — in the fear, the uncertainty, and the hope — and we hold space for all of it.
Empathy
We know what it feels like to need help and not know where to turn. That knowing shapes everything we do.
Dignity
Every family deserves to feel seen, supported, and valued — regardless of their circumstances or what they can afford.
At Hoʻi Mai, every family is ohana. That is not a value we practice.
It is who we are.
