Hawaii Community Foundation

Promising Minds Spotlight: Papa Ola Lokahi.

Since 2023, Papa Ola Lōkahi has been at the forefront of integrating Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) principles into health care settings. POL’s work with three Native Hawaiian Health System partners has made a significant impact:

Hui Mālama Ola Na 'Oiwi (Hawai'i Island) launched a five-week Healthy Hāpai Program, focusing on pregnancy transitions, postpartum support, and culturally relevant nutrition.

Hui No Ke Ola Pono (Maui) offered Makua workshops to enrich cultural and clinical knowledge, emphasizing support for expecting parents.

Na Pu'uwai (Molokai) introduced an Ohana Meal Kit pilot program, providing free meal kits to foster family bonds and promote healthy lifestyles.

POL exemplifies the integration of IECMH principles in holistic and innovative ways, from community workshops to home kitchens.

Join the UH Better Tomorrow Speaker Series for "The Breakthrough Years: The New Scientific Framework for Raising Thriving Teens" with guest speaker Ellen Galinsky.

🗓️Saturday, September 14, 2024
🕛 Noon
📍Art Auditorium, UH Mānoa Campus
✅ Register: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/speakers/ellen-galinsky-2024/

Ellen Galinsky is the author of hundreds of research reports, articles, and books, including the bestselling Mind in the Making and the just-published The Breakthrough Years, which critics have called a “masterpiece” and a “superb contribution to science and society.” She is president of Families and Work Institute, an advisor on youth mental health to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and she formerly served as chief science officer to the Bezos Foundation.

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation is a proud supporter of the UH Better Tomorrow Speaker Series.

Ellen Galinsky (2024) - UH Better Tomorrow Speaker Series September 14, 2024 | Researcher, Author, Advocate

We are pleased to announce the award of $2.128 million to the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation, to be used for the purchase of four new fire trucks for the Maui Fire Department. For this grant, $1 million has been distributed from the Maui Strong Fund, with an additional donation of $1.128 million made by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez.

The Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to providing essential equipment and training to the Hawaiʻi County Fire Department serving the Hawaiʻi community, and more than 1.5 million visitors per year from around the world.

“The mission of the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation is to save lives. Hawaiʻi’s first responders need to have the tools to keep them safe and to make it more feasible for them to be doing rescues instead of recoveries,” says Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation executive director Laura Mallery-Sayre. “The needs are enormous. Hawaiʻi has terrain unlike anywhere else, and we are already dealing with the effects of climate change. And so we’re looking ahead at how we can be better prepared when the next disaster arrives.”

After the August 2023 wildfires on Maui, the Sayre Memorial Foundation reached out to Maui County to learn how they could assist in building capacity for future fire-fighting efforts. The Maui County Fire Department identified four trucks: a 3,500-gallon tanker truck, a 4x4 1,250-gallon tanker truck, a Skeeter-brand brush truck, and a 1-ton pickup with a skid.

Maui County Fire Department Chief Brad Ventura says, “Most standard fire trucks are not made to go off-roading, but these are nimble. The vehicles are able to leave the pavement and get closer to a wildfire that’s just starting up and prevent it from spreading and getting as large as it would otherwise. That’s a big bonus.”

HCF CEO and president Micah Kāne says, “We mahalo Jeff and Lauren for their generous contribution to strengthen the capabilities and resources of Maui’s first responders, for the long-term safety and wellbeing of our island communities.”

Learn more about the Maui Strong Fund at https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/maui-strong-fund

Join the University of Hawaiʻi Better Tomorrow Speaker Series for a free lecture and public conversation, "On Earning Hope for the Future" with guest speaker Julian Aguon.

🗓️September 4, 2024
🕡6:30 p.m. HST
📍Orvis Auditorium, UH Mānoa Campus
✅ Register: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/speakers/julian-aguon-2024/

Julian Aguon is an Indigenous human rights lawyer and writer from Guam. A prolific essayist, he is the author of No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies (2022), which Junot Díaz calls “a breathtaking book ... alive with passion, wisdom, and heart.” Aguon is the founder of Blue Ocean Law, a progressive firm that works at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice, and he serves on the Global Advisory Council of Progressive International.

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation is a proud supporter of the UH Better Tomorrow Speaker Series.

Julian Aguon (2024) - UH Better Tomorrow Speaker Series September 4, 2024 | Acclaimed writer and human rights lawyer

🎉We are excited to announce that the Hawai‘i Community Foundation has awarded over $400,000 from the Richard Smart Fund to 18 programs supporting the community of Waimea on Hawai‘i Island!

The community organizations and their programs support culture, education, health, and safety in Waimea. Community organizations and residents participated in a series of conversations throughout 2023 that helped to advise the Richard Smart Fund and HCF on the top priorities and greatest needs of community members.

The proposals were evaluated based on the following criteria: what their kuleana is for Waimea’s future, how their work addresses critical opportunities for Waimea’s future, how they contribute to strengthening caring relationships, and how they effectively involve and engage with the community’s diverse people, organizations, and ‘āina.

👏🏽Please help us in supporting and congratulating the following organizations, and 👉🏽SEE some of the wonderful work they are doing in Waimea in the photos below:
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Alex & Duke De Rego Foundation
Big Island Mediation
Discover Your Kuleana / Friends of the Future
Five Mountains Hawaiʻi
Friends of the Future
Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy
Kahilu Theatre Foundation
Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra Society
Kauaʻi Music Festival
Kawaihae Canoe Club
Mala'ai: The Culinary Garden of Waimea Middle School
Paniolo Preservation Society at Pukalani Stables
Parker School
Small World Preschool
St. James Episcopal Church
Waimea Community Theatre
Waimea Hawaiian Civic Club
Waimea Resilience Hub

Learn more about the Richard Smart Fund and the grantees on our website at https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/island-by-island/richard-smart-fund

In an effort to expand the pool of providers trained in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) in Hawai‘i, HCF partnered with the Association for Infant Mental Health in Hawai‘i (AIMH HI) in 2020 to launch the Promising Minds Fellows Program—a nine-month fellowship that enhances professional skills through specialized training and peer support.

To date, more than 80 professionals, including social workers and therapists, have completed the program, with recent evaluations showing notable improvements in trauma-informed practices and increased confidence in supporting local families.

We appreciate AIMH HI’s dedication and the commitment of all participants for advancing IECMH in our community.

Crowd-pleasing brownies and homemade spicy shoyu were among the tasty treats on offer as the Elderly Affairs Division of the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Community Services put on a bake sale at their Kapālama Hale office hub, raising funds to support the people and places of Maui affected by the wildfires.

Held on behalf of their counterparts at the Maui County Office on Aging, the EAD team hopes the heartfelt effort sends a message of solidarity and support to the people of Maui, according to EAD Administrator Derrick Ariyoshi.

“While the present-day media coverage may not be as frequent or visible, we have not forgotten you, and we stand in solidarity and support of the people of Maui,” he said.

The sale raised $3,200, which EAD donated to the Maui Strong Fund.

“It was an amazing showing of generosity and aloha,” said Hawai‘i Community Foundation CEO and President Micah Kāne. “It really touched me to see the passion and aloha spirit in our government workers who serve the public with such dedication.”

Read the full story at https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/stories/sweets-and-solidarity-for-maui-from-the-honolulu-elderly-affairs-division
Photos courtesy of EAD

🎉🎉Congratulations to Diane Chadwick, our director of donor relations on Hawaiʻi Island, who was just named by Pacific Business News' as one of its 2024 Most Admired Leaders!

It's a well deserved honor, as Diane has been a powerful force for good, working with Hawaii Community Foundation for more than 30 years--and a timely one, as Diane will be retiring at the end of this month.

🩷We are abundantly grateful for all that Diane has contributed over the course of her career, and want to take a moment to celebrate her many achievements, which have had a deep and lasting impact on the communities of Hawai‘i Island, and throughout the Islands.

Here are just a few of Diane's career highlights:
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Shortly after the Kīlauea eruptions in 2018, Diane worked with several HCF donors to create the Hawaiʻi Island Volcano Recovery Fund. The impact of this fund and a similar fund to address the flooding on Kaua’i was an impetus for the creation of Strong Funds in each county across the state. Through Strong Funds, HCF was ready to assist during the COVID pandemic and most recently the fires on Maui.

Through her collaborative work on the Puna Strong grant program, Diane was an early adopter of the trust-based philanthropy model, which has since been widely adopted at HCF in our grantmaking.

Diane helped establish Vibrant Hawaiʻi, which has successfully grown collaborative networks across Hawaiʻi Island, helping local communities connect and address their unique community needs.

Diane also embraced HCF’s systems’ change concept of elevating community voices in the redesign of the Richard Smart Fund grant program resulting in a community-driven process for strengthening relationships and supporting each organization’s kuleana for the people and ‘āina of Waimea.

No matter what project she has worked on, Diane has always led with aloha, bringing together community partners, donors, and nonprofits to create positive, meaningful change. We canʻt express our appreciation enough.

Mahalo, mahalo, mahalo, Diane!

Do you live on Maui?

Please consider taking this survey, which aims to better track and publicly share the community's wildfire recovery. Taking this survey will help guide effective relief efforts and hold agencies accountable in their recovery efforts.

This survey is brought to you in partnership between the Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund, Uhero and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.

To participate in the survey, please email [email protected].

Mahalo!

Are you an organization in Hawai‘i working to improve the lives of foster children and their families?

🗓️An important deadline is approaching for several funding opportunities from the Victoria S. and Bradley L. Geist Foundation. The deadline to apply is September 16, 2024, at 4 p.m. HST.

👉🏽For more info and learn how to apply, visit https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/grants/open-applications.

Funding opportunities include:

𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: Supporting projects to increase the capacity of organizations and programs to deliver and grow quality services to foster children and their families.

𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: Supporting the enhancement of the lives of foster children by providing items and services that allow them to enjoy a quality of life similar to that of their peers.

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬: Supporting foster children and their families.

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡: The Foundation supports the Hawai‘i Youth Opportunities Initiative, a Co-Investment site with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.

𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬: The Foundation is funding organizations leading initiatives and services that aim to prevent families and young people from entering the foster care system. These programs often operate with family strengthening strategies and prevention-focused initiatives that strategically address some of the key reasons Hawai‘i children are entering care.

Open Applications - Hawaii Community Foundation Hawai‘i Community Foundation invests charitable funds in communities across the State primarily through nonprofit organizations. Our core programs are designed to support a stronger nonprofit sector as we believe that these organizations are one corners...

Are you interested in working in a job where you can make a positive difference in conserving, recharging, and reusing Hawaiʻi’s precious fresh water resources?

Applications are now being accepted for the first cohort of the Hawai‘i Water Workforce Fellowship Program! Founded in partnership by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Hawaiian Islands Environmental Finance Center and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, this new, year-long fellowship program aims to support the development of a sustainable water workforce in Hawai‘i.

Cohort participants will gain invaluable experience through full-time positions within local government agencies and various water-related organizations and will get the chance to participate in peer-to-peer mentorship and professional development sessions. Positions are available across the state, and are open to a wide age-range and experience-range of applicants from college students to those well into their careers who are looking to make a pivot.

For more information, please visit https://www.usdn.org/employment-opportunities/hawaiian-water-utilities-fellowship.html #/

HCF strengthens Hawai‘i’s communities by creating partnerships with funders, nonprofits, community, and government leaders, because we believe the resulting alliance of partners working together on common goals is more powerful than the sum of its parts.

On this , we would like to know, what nonprofit making a difference in your community would you like to give a shout out to?

🏝️The ocean and its resources are central to Hawai‘i’s livelihoods, culture, health, and lifestyle.

🐟🐙🦈To ensure that there are healthy marine ecosystems and abundant nearshore resources that allow the people of Hawai‘i to enjoy coastal waters, support livelihoods, and feed our families, today and for future generations—collaborative action is needed.

The Holomua Marine Initiative Fund is a pooled fund at Hawai‘i Community Foundation that supports the state’s Holomua Marine Initiative, a community-based planning approach that will ensure local knowledge is guiding marine resource management planning at every step in the process.

We recently released the 2024 Holomua Marine Initiative 2024 Impact Report. Want to learn more about the work being done in coastal communities throughout the Islands? Check out the report athttps://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/file/2024-Holomua-Public-Impact-Report.pdf

💦Join us for an engaging panel focused on the vital topic of water conservation in Hawai’i, with “The Waiverse,” a virtual learning circle series focused on Fresh Water strategies in Hawai‘i.

The Waiverse webinar series continues with, “The Waiverse: Fresh Water Learning Circle Series | Reuse Strategies in Hawaiʻi.” The third webinar session in a series of four will be on Wednesday, August 28, noon to 1:15 p.m.

Join us as our panel of Waiverse Super-Stewards shares their personal water stories and navigates us through the currents of critical water reuse strategies across the islands. We’ll plunge into traditional reuse approaches, emerging technologies, water quality management, and innovative water reuse practices in agriculture and cesspool conversion.

Panelists include:
Tereariʻi Chandler-ʻIao, board member, Malama Maui Nui

Stevie Whalen, executive director, Hawaiʻi Agriculture Research Center

Roger Babcock, director, Department of Environmental Services, City & County of Honolulu

Kaleo Manuel (moderator): director of water resources at Kamehameha Schools

✅To register, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlce2uqjwrHNOKjFtFsiUk9WHbHHZ5EQtk #/registration

📤Do you know someone who would be interested in attending? Please share this!

This series is brought to you by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Natural Environment Team in partnership with Kamehameha Schools ‘Āina Pauahi and co-hosted by Funder Hui.

🌱Whenever Butch Haase sees an ‘iliahi plant in the wild, he makes sure to plant a few seeds. “Each ‘iliahi fruit has a single seed inside it,” he says, squeezing out a dark purple pulp that stains the tips of his fingers. “We found that you can take that seed, find a little location that’s protected, and poke it right into the ground, just one joint of your finger. And it’ll take root and flourish, no need for a nursery!”

“Hawai‘i is a genetic hotspot like the Galapagos or Madagascar—so isolated that everything has become unique and interdependent. Unfortunately, the introduction of invasive species has also given us the title of endangered species capital of the world.”

Butch Haase is the executive director of the Molokai Land Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring the island’s land and natural and cultural resources.

To remedy this situation, in 2009, MLT launched the Anapuka Dune Restoration Project, with the goal of converting an arid, invasive-species-covered landscape back into a thriving native ecosystem. This is where student and visitor volunteers are helping make a difference.

📄Read the full story, “Restoring ‘Āina, While Visiting ‘Āina” on our website:

Stories of Impact - Restoring ‘Āina, While Visiting ‘Āina - Hawaii Community Foundation Restoring ‘Āina, While Visiting ‘Āina Whenever Butch Haase sees an ‘iliahi plant in the wild, he makes sure to plant a few seeds. “Each ‘iliahi fruit has a single seed inside it,” he says, squeezing out a dark purple pulp that stains the tips of his fin...

Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the incredible loss of Twinkle Borge, leader of Pu‘uhonua O Wai‘anae, a village of approximately 250 people including children, working families, and kūpuna living unhoused on the edge of the Wai‘anae Boat Harbor. Twinkle was known for her aloha and dedication to helping those around her—her years of work serving the unhoused community on the West side of Oʻahu helped pioneer a new model for addressing the issue of homelessness with dignity and grace.

Twinkle would always say: “You give someone kuleana and bam—you wake up their mana.” Her message was one of responsibility. She inspired people to discover their gifts and use them to make things better.

We will always remember her light—and carry her guidance of how to serve others with us.

We miss you already, Twinkle.

Led by the communities of Lahaina and Kula with the support of the County of Maui, Kuhinia Maui is a series of remembrance events marking one year after the catastrophic fires that devastated our Maui communities.

A special feature of the events will be The Garden, located in the amphitheater of the Lahaina Civic Center. Set up as a special tranquil space designed for relaxation, mindfulness, hands-on activities, and talk story, The Garden will be available as a place for comfort, healing, remembrance and respite for survivors, emergency responders, and community members impacted by the devastation.

Visit kuhiniamaui.org for more information about the events, and also learn how you can volunteer.

🌟We are excited to announce that $325,000 in college scholarships have been awarded to 13 Lahainaluna High School Class of 2024 graduates, with the support of a grant from the Maui Strong Fund.

The Downtown Athletic Club Hawaii partnered with the Hawai‘i Community Foundation to award these scholarships to Lahainaluna graduates who will be attending colleges out of state this fall.

“From the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted their freshman year to the fires that impacted their senior year, the Luna Class of 2024 has endured a lot and we’re proud of their resilience, perseverance, and positive attitude under unimaginable circumstances,” said DACH President Keith Amemiya.

The Downtown Athletic Club of Hawai‘i is a nonprofit devoted to supporting youth and sports programs and initiatives in Hawaii. Learn more at downtownathleticclubhawaii.org.

The Maui Strong Fund provides financial resources to support the immediate and long-term recovery needs for the people and places affected by the devastating Maui wildfires. Learn more at https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/maui-strong-fund.

Photos courtesy of Keith Amemiya

🎨The Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s 2024 pilot program Museum Without Walls Arts Education Initiative is an expansion of our long-standing support of arts and culture in Hawai‘i.

We recently awarded a total of $72,800 to 10 teaching artists from the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Artistic Teaching Partners Roster, so they can partner with local community organizations. This program is a collaboration with the HSFCA, to help make arts education accessible to communities that often face barriers and challenges in accessing these resources. The art residencies will engage keiki, kūpuna, and adults living in rural communities to bring arts education into those spaces. Programming will include dance, music, printmaking, painting, and more.

We recently sat down with Elise von Dohlen, HCF’s Arts and Culture program director, to talk about the new Museum Without Walls Arts Education Initiative and the importance of storytelling in arts advocacy.

📄Read the full Q&A at https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/meet-elise-von-dohlen

Illustration by local illustrator and artist, Kelsie Dayna. This illustration was featured in HCF’s latest issue of Connections Summer 2024 newsletter.

Election season is here, and we encourage you to let your voice be heard, and vote!

🚨Below are a few important deadlines and dates to be aware of:

🗓️July 31
If you are not yet registered to vote, this is your deadline to register and receive a mail-in ballot for the Primary Election.

🗓️August 10
Primary Election Day. If you haven’t yet registered, not to worry, you can still walk in to a voter service center to register and vote in person, same day.

🗓️October 28
If you are not yet registered, this is your deadline to register and receive a mail-in ballot for the General Election.

🗓️November 5
General Election Day. If you haven’t yet registered, you can still walk in to a voter service center to register and vote in person, same day.

Visit the State of Hawai‘i Office of Elections (elections.hawaii.gov) for plenty of useful information including voter guides, deadlines, and FAQs.

You can also watch a video, “Hawaii Elections Explained 2024,” on the Office of Elections’ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X81ATlsLXzU

Are you an organization working to better the communities of West Hawai‘i Island?

An important deadline to apply for a funding opportunity is fast approaching for the Community Grants Program’s West Hawai‘i Fund. The deadline to apply is August 22, 2024 at 4 p.m. HST.

The West Hawai‘i Fund was established to benefit the people and communities of West Hawaiʻi, from North Kohala to Ocean View Estates. The West Hawaiʻi Fund aims to support programs that address equitable and inclusive access to services, build resilience and connection between different sectors of the community, and strengthen the long-term capacity of individuals and organizations to become healthy, vibrant, and sustainable. Preference will be given to organizations based in West Hawai‘i.

Learn more and apply at https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/island-by-island/west-hawaii-fund

West Hawai‘i Fund - Hawaii Community Foundation Understandably, people are most motivated to support organizations and initiatives close to home. When we give locally, we see the impact most readily and can take pride in having helped our friends and neighbors.