FOR MANY, THE FIRE IS STILL
BURNING ON THE INSIDE.
Maui is in the midst of a massive mental health crisis due to the horrific trauma from the fires.
THE PROBLEM
The stress from the fire will start spiraling into chronic PTSD after
6 months and there is a serious shortage of mental health care professionals on the island.
The clock is ticking as chronic PTSD can last for years or even decades and often includes a range of other ailments including depression, suicidality, addiction, and insomnia.
If the trauma from the Maui fires is not addressed and becomes chronic, the current medical model will most likely end up medicating many of Maui's residents on a regimen of highly addictive pharmaceuticals that will only serve to temporarily numb the pain and anxiety.
THERE'S STILL HOPE.
On the island of Maui, a perfect storm of talent, experience and vision is driving a whole other way to quickly and effectively help the community.
THE VISION
Free Clinical Float Therapy for anyone on Maui who is suffering from the trauma of the fires.
Floatation therapy requires a custom-built pool where individuals effortlessly float on a bed of water that has been saturated with over a thousand pounds of Epsom salt. The water and air are kept at skin temperature, all outside sound and light are reduced, and the forces of gravity are minimized in order to reduce stimulation of the nervous system.
This perfectly peaceful and calm environment reflexively reduces stress and hyperarousal, allowing an overstimulated and shocked nervous system to enter a state of equilibrium.
Clinical float therapy is a safe and non-invasive treatment that has been shown to help people with trauma, anxiety and PTSD.
Dr. Justin Feinstein is an expert in the neuroscience of fear who is trailblazing a new path forward for the treatment of anxiety and PTSD. He has over 50 peer-reviewed publications in some of the world's top scientific journals and has received extensive training in treating PTSD while at the San Diego VA hospital. In 2021, he started the Float Research Collective, a Maui-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Before moving to Maui to be closer to his family, Dr. Feinstein was a professor in the Oxley College of Health Sciences at the University of Tulsa, as well as the founder and director of the Float Clinic & Research Center at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research where he spearheaded the first studies to show how floating could rapidly and reliably ease the suffering in patients with anxiety and PTSD.
The nation's leader in clinical float research lives on Maui and wants to help.
Dr. Feinstein's float research has been featured in the popular press including:
WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME
We have started building emergency response float pools in shipping containers.
These containers can be rapidly deployed to Maui and placed near Lahaina and Kula in order to make the therapy as accessible as possible to everyone who has been traumatized.
The International Float Community has already started galvanizing around this project to help heal Maui. Floataway is the world’s top manufacturer of state-of-the-art clinical floatation pools, including the specialized open float pools that were used in all the prior research studies with PTSD.
Soon after the fires, Dr. Feinstein contacted Floataway and they immediately started to work on designing the system. The first shipping container recently arrived at Floataway’s factory in England and they are in the process of engineering all of the custom elements to fit three private open float pools inside.
The goal is to have the first shipping container arrive on Maui by early next year, allowing us to start floating Maui's residents before the major milestones of long-term PTSD start taking place.
THE IMPACT
Our Proposal in Numbers
1
Shipping Container
3
Private Float Pools
300
People Per Week
15,000
Floats Per Year
In order to keep the momentum going, we need two things: endorsements and funds.
THIS IS OUR ASK
We have a simple form to voice your support for this project.
If you are a float therapy specialist, mental health professional, government representative, Maui resident, scientific researcher, first responder, someone who has used float therapy to relieve trauma or anxiety, or anyone else who can speak to how this project could make a real impact to ease the suffering from the tragic Maui fires - please take a few minutes to let us know!
Endorse The Maui Calm Project
To anyone who hears our message and has the means to contribute, we send you our appreciation in advance!
We need to raise $250k ASAP in order to get our first float pool container built and shipped to Maui. We will need an additional $250k to provide FREE clinical float therapy to the residents of Maui for an entire year (or more)