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3 I Annual Report, 2017-1l8 <br />AGING AND DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTERS <br />LAVA RESPONSE EFFORTS <br />The fast-moving lava flow from Kilauea volcano on May 3, 2018, forced 1,500 residents <br />out of their homes and in search of shelter. The following day, two major <br />earthquakes rocked Hawai'i Island and the County of Hawai'i needed an agency to <br />take the lead in providing information, assistance, and referral. This is where <br />government officials turned to Hawai'i County's Aging and Disability Resource Center <br />(ADRC) in partnership with the county's Housing Department. Together with a <br />network of over thirty community providers, the Recovery, Information, and <br />Assistance Center (RIAC) was set up to provide what the ADRC does best — provide <br />accurate and timely information, assistance, referral, and options counseling. <br />The Hawai'i County Office of Aging was established in 1966 and today it works through <br />the County, State Executive Office on Aging (EOA), and the Federal Administration on <br />Aging to get its major funding to support its mission of providing a comprehensive and <br />coordinated system of services that enable older people to live independently and <br />with dignity. The ADRC's role is to put that mission into practice. It is this long history <br />Of interaction with all three levels of government, as well as with community groups, <br />that placed the county's ADRC in an ideal position to coordinate a timely, effective <br />response to the lava emergency. <br />