Cover Features

Grantee Showcase

August 2, 2017

922

Read The Cover Story: Granting Change

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has awarded $6 million in grants over the next two fiscal years to 23 organizations whose projects benefit the Native Hawaiian community.

The grant awards were announced at the end of June, just in time for the start of the new fiscal year. “After a thorough vetting by staff and our board, we are proud to announce the selection of these highly qualified programs to receive OHA funding,” said OHA Chairwoman Colette Machado.

The Programmatic Community Grants Program supports nonprofit organizations whose projects and programs align with OHA’s strategic priorities in the areas of culture, land & water, economic self-sufficiency, education and health.

“We understand that of the many services we provide to our beneficiaries – including research, advocacy and managing our lands – these community grants are especially critical because they make a difference in the lives of individual Native Hawaiians and communities that need kōkua the most,” said OHA Ka Pouhana/CEO Kamana‘opono Crabbe.

Education

After-School All-Stars Hawaiʻi
Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island
Educational Services Hawaiʻi Foundation

Culture

Awaiaulu, Inc.
Hui Mālama O Ke Kai Foundation
Kōkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services
KUPA Friends of Hoʻokena Beach Park
PAC Foundation
PAʻI Foundation

Housing (Economic Self-Sufficiency)

Hawaiian Community Assets
Effective Planning and Innovative Communication Inc. (EPIC)
Habitat for Humanity Maui
Nānākuli Housing Corporation

Income (Economic Self-Sufficiency)

Goodwill Industries of Hawaiʻi, Inc.
Young Women’s Christian Association of Oʻahu

Health

Kualapuʻu Public Conversion Charter School
Mālama Kauaʻi
Salvation Army – Family Treatment Services
The Queen’s Medical Center

Land

Hālau Keʻalaokamaile
Hawaiʻi Forest Institute
Ka Honua Momona International
Pacific American Foundation

Funded projects and programs address specific community needs identified in OHA’s 2010-2018 strategic Plan:

Housing

The goal of these services is to increase economic self-sufficiency of Native Hawaiians by increasing their capacity to own or rent a home. Programming will be implemented to:

Assist Native Hawaiians in achieving homeownership, and/or
Assist Native Hawaiians in obtaining stable rental housing.

Income

The goal of these services is to increase economic self-sufficiency of Native Hawaiians by increasing Native Hawaiian family income. Native Hawaiian family income will be increased by implementing programming to:

Assist Native Hawaiian individuals in completing high school equivalency and/or vocational training, and
Assisting Native Hawaiian individuals in attaining and maintaining increased and/or higher wage employment.

Health

The goal of these services is to improve health conditions among Native Hawaiians by implementing family-centered, culturally sensitive approaches that focus on:

Reducing the rate of obesity among Native Hawaiians through Direct Services (i.e. clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and specialist referrals, etc.) and
Reducing the rate of obesity and other chronic diseases among Native Hawaiians through Prevention Services (i.e. education, advocacy, research, etc.).

Education

The goal of these services is to improve Native Hawaiian student proficiency in reading and math so they can increase standardized test scores.

Culture

The goal of these services is to support the perpetuation of traditional cultural practices and strengthen Native Hawaiian identity, ‘ohana, and lāhui through projects that focus on:

Increasing the number of cultural practitioners,
Increasing their skill level or proficiency in a practice, and/or
Providing opportunities for continued practice.

Land

The goal of these services is to support sustainable resource management and responsible stewardship of kīpuka, or parcels of land within an ahupua‘a, along the three (3) components of sustainable resource management:

Economic
Cultural
Environmental