Puna Rising Ohana; 2025 Wrap-Up

By Dawn Hurwitz, Managing Editor for Talk Story

2025 has been a stellar year for Puna Rising Ohana. Here are our highlights in review. The year started with a bang, a new political climate to navigate, and much to look forward to. We begin with the accounting of our audience. Our Facebook Group, “Puna Happenings,” which serves as a showcase to inform the community about upcoming events and activities, now has 20,000 members, with 72k page views. Subscriptions to the Puna Happenings newsletter are now at 2451. Our “Puna Rising Ohana” Website has had 4k page views, and our growth is encouraging.

In 2025, Puna Rising Ohana’s dedication to our community went into overdrive. A grant was received from Hawaii County and Hawaii Community Foundation to create “A Moveable Feast,” a series of events designed to help budding Puna businesses and residents, allowing them an opportunity to showcase their ideas. A Moveable Feast for Puna takes its name from Hemingway’s memoir, where he describes experiences so nourishing that they travel with you wherever life leads. In that spirit, this program offered mobile, community-rooted gatherings that fed Puna with creativity, culture, connection, and resilience, while laying the groundwork for Puna Ola: a future community resource hub. We received an astounding number of applicants and created a platform for over 60 events and 1500 participants to take place at various venues from Volcano to Kalapana. Our core team members recount their favorite experiences of some of the highlights below.

“Attending the Butterfly workshop in April was a pivotal moment for me. I had been wrapped in a kind of cocoon since the start of COVID, isolating myself and hiding my potential. The workshop was the bright light that allowed me to finally emerge. For the first time in years, I felt seen, heard, and valued. The experience awakened a clear sense of purpose and belonging within me. It helped me awaken the gifts and talents I had been withholding from my community. That event sparked a transformation that continues to ripple outward.”  

Maria Sherow, Treasurer Puna Ohana Administrative Assistant for Puna Rising

“I find hope in getting to know those in our community who are making a difference.  One example of that is Moku o Keawe Mālama Nā Kūpuna,  Petronila Blanc, Kaʻonohiokalani Jeremiah, and Merlin Foreman create kūpuna lunch events throughout Puna to feed and empower those who may not have the means or will to gather with like-minded folk.”

Beth Block, Videographer, Talk Story

“The Imu event was great because it promotes collaboration and community resilience building, and is a place-based process that encourages all hands in some capacity to participate together to work towards an end goal.

Volcano Ren Faire: A fantastic offering in upper Puna, I saw many enjoyers of the Honoka’a Ren Faire participate in this event, attracting visitors from all over the island.“

Kai Stephen Manner, Co-Founder & Vice President, Puna Rising Ohana

“The implementation of the Entrepreneur Hub last year and the second cycle starting this year can be life-changing for those aspiring to develop their own businesses and offer their products and services to their community. I am honored to be a part of this impactful program.”

                                          Sylvia “Maya” Dolena, Director, Puna Rising Ohana,                                 Director, Puna Rising Entrepreneur Hub

“It has been a great joy to attend numerous activities and events for Puna Rising. I have loved all of my assignments, but the article “Huna: Hawaiian Shamanism” is my all-time favorite research project since I got to dive deep into learning about Hawaiian Kahunas, straight from several Kahuna who lived in Puna. The Bowl of Light regarding the incredible Hale Makua was an amazing resource.”

Karyn Chambers, Writer for Talk Story on the Puna Rising Ohana Webpage

“The most inspiring event I wrote about was as a participant at Moku o Keawe Malama Na Kupuna, the free luncheon for Seniors. From the moment I arrived, I felt welcomed and honored for being an elder by the smiling, friendly women who greeted me at the registration table, continuing with the gracious way I was served my lunch. All the volunteers and staff members made me feel special as a Kapuna (elder). Hawaii is the place that I have felt the most respected for my wisdom of years being on this planet.” 

Raydiance Joy Grace, Writer for Talk Story on the Puna Rising Ohana Webpage

And finally some thoughts from our fearless leader Robert-

“The Moveable Feast offered the community an open invitation into shared creative experience, each gathering opening a different doorway into connection, expression, and belonging. A Brush with Words felt like a rare and distinctly literary multi-cultural evening—something I had not experienced before in Puna. People read their original works in a space that carried the intimacy of a Moth Hour, a true night out. Art was displayed and sold, conversation moved gently, and there was a quiet elegance in the room—a collective presence that felt intentional and alive. In a similar spirit, the 24-Hour Puna Play Festival unfolded like an off-Broadway theatrical experiment right here at home—unexpected, brave, and vibrantly human.

As the months progressed, one of the most meaningful realizations to emerge from the Moveable Feast was that Puna Rising had become an incubator for Puna itself. People began turning toward us not simply as event hosts, but as a place where ideas, practices, businesses, and creative callings could be nurtured and brought into form. The Feast revealed what happens when a community is offered a trustworthy container: possibility begins to move.

This became especially clear through the evolution of Sound Alchemy Integration. What began as a small, intimate Sunday gathering in Tomas Mendola’s living room found a larger home through the Moveable Feast. With support, visibility, and shared trust, the weekly gathering transitioned into the Blue Room at Kalani—expanding its reach while preserving its depth. More people were able to experience the healing and integrative power of sound, demonstrating how the Feast could help practices grow without losing their soul.

The Heart Medicine workshops with Aleanu and Ixchel embodied this same spirit of emergence. These were their first public offerings in Puna, and the Moveable Feast became the vessel that helped birth their work locally. Watching fifteen people—many of whom might never have gathered otherwise—enter an intimate circle of sharing was deeply moving. It felt like a grounded and graceful beginning.

The impact on Hydroponic Hut and the work of Allison and Alan Blackard was equally inspiring. Their workshops are consistently filled, elevating conversations around food sovereignty and practical resilience. Each gathering met a clear hunger in the community for hands-on, regenerative skills rooted in care for ʻāina and self-sufficiency.

Gary Rosenberg’s Pig Butchery program revealed another dimension of incubation—one rooted in ancestral knowledge, respect for food systems, and community education. Through the Moveable Feast, his work found a wider audience and a meaningful place to land, with each offering fully engaged.

What touched me most was witnessing how the mission quietly expanded. People I hadn’t previously known began approaching me, asking if we might help support or sponsor their ideas. There was palpable passion in the community—paired with uncertainty about how to take the next step. By offering a platform, the Moveable Feast helped transform possibility into motion.

Certain moments linger still. Kumu Lei’s teachings about Pele, paired with visiting Halemaʻumaʻu Crater and witnessing cultural practices honoring her presence, were profoundly moving. Shola’s Monarch Butterfly gathering—witnessing metamorphosis, then sharing gifts in a circle—sparked new relationships and unexpected collaboration. That single event helped seed what would later become part of the core vision for Puna Ola.

Taken together, the Moveable Feast became more than a series of events. It became a living ecosystem of creativity, culture, and connection. Each offering revealed a simple truth: Puna holds extraordinary talent and wisdom, and when given care, trust, and an open invitation, those gifts naturally rise into service. The Moveable Feast did not merely showcase what already existed—it helped activate what was waiting to be born.”

        Robert Golden, President,Executive Director, and Co-Founder Puna Rising Ohana

“From my chair, it was amazing to witness the folks willing to make a difference in Puna. From the “Men of Pa’a’”, the colorful lower Puna residents organizing spiritual and entertaining events, to the traditional Volcano & HPP Art events, and the Annual Pahoa Parade. I enjoyed hosting the well-attended “A Brush with Words” highlighting Puna Storytellers and Watercolors from The Stables class. Most importantly, the team here at Puna Rising Ohana,who are constantly leaving me in awe of the length and depth they are willing to go. These efforts show a continuity in our community extending aloha, giving us hope .

This past holiday season revealed a healthy entrepreneurial spirit. Markets all over the district were filled with makers’ wares. New food pop-ups were found scattered along the Keaau Pahoa Highway. Yet on the night of December 26, only one house could be found in Pahoa town all lit up with colorful lights in celebration. New Year’s Eve was a much tamer event. No all-day-long pops and whistles from over-anxious fireworks, and it was much quieter than usual after the sun went down, and only one rogue boom the night after. It seems there is a wave of conservatism that has flowed over us. 

2026 looks to be a challenging time from the start. We have a vibrant community with a can-do attitude. Please remember your local vendors when out to shop, when you need to catch a meal, and when you need to give a gift. This way, we can help each other see through this.” 

Dawn Hurwitz, Secretary Puna Rising Ohana, Managing Editor Talk Story