The Foundation was humbled to be able to support and learn from a range of inspiring collective efforts that increased community resilience during the pandemic. These innovative efforts provided models for supporting Hawai‘i’s families, youth, and kupuna to thrive in their home communities. Here are just a few highlights of Hawai‘i grantmaking from the past year that supported inspiring collaborative initiatives:
- A capital grant to HOPE Services Hawai‘i supported a partnership with Hawai‘i Island Community Development Corporation, Hawai‘i County, and HPM Building Supply to build 12 units of permanent housing with supportive services for kupuna without housing in the rural community of Pahoa, Hawai‘i Island.
- An operating grant supported The Resilient Communities, Schools and Families project and aided in the project’s successful attainment of a $2.5 million United States Department of Education grant to advance strategies to support youth social and emotional resilience in Hawai‘i’s rural public schools. The project is a partnership between Papa Ola Lokahi, Kamehameha Schools, Ceeds of Peace, Afterschool Alliance, and Hawai‘i Kids CAN with the goal of advancing trauma-informed education to more than 1,000 students in six rural schools throughout Hawai‘i.
- An operating grant to Partners in Development Foundation (PIDF) supported a partnership with Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center, UCLA Asian American Studies Center, UH John A. Burns School of Medicine, Kamehameha Schools, Lili‘uokalani Trust, Kinai ‘Eha, RYSE, Hale Kipa, Olomana, and Hawaiʻi Youth Correctional Facility to replace youth incarceration with a Native Hawaiian system of restorative justice. The group is transforming the youth correctional facility system from a punitive model to one of healing that elevates cultural programs. The Kawailoa Indigenous Model to End Youth Incarceration has also been selected as a finalist of the Racial Equity 2030 Challenge.
