Project Purpose: The American Red Cross Youth Preparedness program offers free educational programming in schools on personal and family preparedness for region-specific disasters. Since Fall 2017, the American Red Cross of Hawai‘i has been partnering with UH School of Nursing’s Community, Public & Global Health Nursing class to conduct Pillowcase Project (Red Cross education program designed for youth in grades 3-5) and Prepare with Pedro (designed for children in grades K-2) presentations. This partnership is a win-win situation which provides the nursing students real world experience in community engagement and manpower for the Red Cross to carry out its program. To address disaster preparedness among children and their families, the Red Cross Youth Preparedness Program provides direct services to children through schools, consisting of the following: 1) Prepare with Pedro: A preparedness pilot presentation designed for children in grades K-2. 2) The Pillowcase Project: Our signature youth preparedness education program designed for youth in grades 3–5; 3) Monster Guard: A free app designed for children ages 7-11 to help prepare for real-life emergencies in a fun and engaging game; and 4) Red Cross Clubs: Running the Youth Preparedness Program through high school Red Cross Clubs.

Project Purpose: The Best Buddies in Hawai‘i Inclusion Project for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities would create opportunities for greater access to community-based inclusion, subsequently providing the type of environment that will help middle and high school students with IDD develop the social and emotional skills needed for their successful transition into post-secondary education and the workforce. Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities spend most of their school day in separate classrooms, preventing them from developing the social and emotional skills they will need for success in the community and the workplace after school. Best Buddies overcomes this separation by creating one-to-one friendships between students with disabilities and their typical peers, a proven model that is not duplicated by any other organization. The project would support 37 Best Buddies chapters at middle and high schools in Hawai‘i, providing opportunities for friendship and leadership development to a minimum of 978 students with IDD and their typical peers and engaging them in 272 inclusive activities throughout the year.  The 978 project participants will have a positive impact on the lives of 9,780 people in Hawai‘i.

Project Purpose: Blood Bank of Hawai‘i (BBH) is planning to construct a new headquarters that will be a critical part of Hawai‘i’s emergency preparedness plan while also accommodating technological advances, consolidating space and improving operating efficiencies. The project will include the construction of a 19,000-square-foot, FDA Biosafe Level 2 facility with unrestricted access to collect, process, test, store and distribute blood. This facility will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition, the new facility will have required temperature controls, reliable data connectivity, a bio-waste storage area and other technologies to ensure that BBH is able to respond to any new pandemic or emergency, in addition to securing an uninterrupted blood supply. BBH is the sole blood provider for all of Hawai‘i’s hospitals, and this new facility will serve patients on every island in Hawai‘i.

Project Purpose: The Great Futures After School Youth Program provides wraparound afterschool programs for youth in Hawai‘i. The program is based on the Boys & Girls Club of America's “Formula for Impact,” a nationally recognized, research-based theory of change that centers on providing a wide variety of activities so members stay engaged, motivated, and inspired throughout the year and over longer periods. Members are encouraged to attend the club every day, either in person or virtually, where they find structure and support to complete homework, study, and prepare for classes; a safe place to spend time with friends; programs to learn about mental, physical and emotional health; access to mentors and caring adults; opportunities to develop leadership skills and goal setting; a range of athletics and fitness activities; and the chance to just have fun. Boys & Girls Clubs fill the gap between school and home, providing welcoming, positive environments in which kids and teens have fun, participate in life-changing programs and experiences, and build supportive relationships with peers and caring adults.

Project Purpose: The Great Futures After School Youth Program provides wraparound afterschool programs for youth in Hawai‘i. The program is based on the Boys & Girls Club of America's “Formula for Impact,” a nationally recognized, research-based theory of change that centers on providing a wide variety of activities so members stay engaged, motivated, and inspired throughout the year and over longer periods. Members are encouraged to attend the club every day, either in person or virtually, where they find structure and support to complete homework, study, and prepare for classes; a safe place to spend time with friends; programs to learn about mental, physical and emotional health; access to mentors and caring adults; opportunities to develop leadership skills and goal setting; a range of athletics and fitness activities; and the chance to just have fun. Boys & Girls Clubs fill the gap between school and home, providing welcoming, positive environments in which kids and teens have fun, participate in life-changing programs and experiences, and build supportive relationships with peers and caring adults.

Project Purpose: The CANE Program is an orientation and mobility training program, incorporating basic adaptive technology to provide blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals with the means to become more independent through tech aids, social activities, staff, and program supplies and operations. The goal is to provide BVI individuals with the means to become more independent and assertive about their own place in the world. The CANE Program will be conducted in two phases. The first phase will focus on the City and County of Honolulu since, as is the case statewide, 70-75% of BVI individuals in Hawai‘i reside on the island of Oahu. This will allow Guide Dogs Hawai‘i (GDH) the opportunity to beta-test and fine tune the program before expanding it to the neighbor islands.  Phase 2 will then address the needs of additional clients registered on Oahu and expand services to neighbor islands.

Project Purpose: Hale Makua is a skilled nursing facility that is expanding its services on a 2.8 parcel of land that is part of a 34 acre senior-focused master planning project to address social determinants of health for the community and enable easily accessible services for seniors. The planned expansion funded by this project will address the growing need for easily accessible health services, skilled nursing services, and short-term rehabilitation services for seniors. The comprehensive plan will consider complete street projects, an integration of services that focus on senior health and wellness, housing, options for food accessibility, and space and opportunities for the entire community.

Project Purpose: Innovative high school health certification programs that encourage high school students to enter the health care industry and support them in their efforts to grow in their careers would help to build a stronger health care workforce pipeline in Hawai‘i, which currently experiences a significant shortage of medical professionals. The Hawai‘i Hospital Education and Research Foundation will use the requested funding to increase the number of high school health certification programs in the state that offer paid clinical experience and a direct path to employment in the health care field, with a particular emphasis on serving Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island (NHPI) students in order to increase the representation of NHPI individuals in the health care workforce. Funding for these programs would help alleviate workforce shortages in Hawai‘i, thereby increasing access to health care for residents living in medically underserved and rural areas in the state.

Project Purpose: Through the requested funding, the Hawai‘i Hospital Education and Research Foundation will create an employee development and growth hub for post-acute care facility staff to improve staff development, retention, and recruitment at post-acute care facilities in Hawai‘i through programming that develops technical, communication, and leadership skills.

Project Purpose: The J. Walter Cameron Center (JWCC) plans to replace a 12 year old air conditioner chiller. This project will help provide a safe location for 30,000 low and moderate income individuals to receive health and other social services at the JWCC each year.

Project Purpose: This project will permit emergency backup power and continued operation of the air conditioning system for long-term care facilities during power grid outages, emergencies, and disasters. The funding would be used to connect two new emergency generators from Kuakini Medical Center, an acute care hospital, to Kuakini Geriatric Care, a nonprofit long-term care facility that operates a skilled nursing facility, intermediate care facility, and residential care home. The replacement of this emergency generator will allow Kuakini Medical Center to be more resilient and to be able to continue to provide health care services during power outages and emergencies.

Project Purpose: The Kaohi Program aims to offer in-and out-of-school activities on the island of Molokai to reduce alcohol use among youth and increase family communication about the consequences of substance abuse.

Project Purpose: This funding will be used to establish 13 Telehealth Access Points in rural areas in Hawai‘i to improve access to health care.

Project Purpose: The Work with a Future program would engage unemployed youth aged 17-21—particularly those exhibiting high risk and disruptive lifestyles—in productive training and jobs. This pilot program will be developed for youth in Kalihi (with the hub at Kuhio Park public housing) where there are majority populations of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders with low incomes, high rates of unemployment, and higher rates of court involvement. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth in Kalihi are often not adequately served by Hawai‘i’s public schools or other currently available systems—resulting in dropping out of school, high incidences of substance abuse, chronic unemployment, high crime rates and disruption for families.  In addition, tangible skills and solid employment opportunities with living wages are possible for these youth if there are programs in the state build the training programs and assemble supports that substitute for those resources unavailable to them.  Furthermore, while workforce development for high risk populations is not without cost, the benefits are quickly recognized and have long-term positive effects on community resources.

Project Purpose: The project—Kiapu: A Navigation and Work Collaboration (KNAV) to support Justice-Involved Youth and Young Adults—would provide educational and workforce development for justice-involved youth ages 14-24, especially at-risk Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. This proposal represents a collaboration of community-based and state and city entities to: offer re-entry services; serve at-risk youth and at-risk young adults; and serve families of incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated opportunity young adults (OYA).  Wraparound case management and navigation services will ensure youth stay engaged with the program, have basic needs met, receive mentoring and culturally relevant programming, and have access to immediate support to remediate skill gaps.  Youth will have opportunities to access education and training to obtain living wage jobs in in-demand fields such as: nursing, food services, hospitality, agriculture, custodial, and construction. KNAV will target three high poverty, high crime regions in the state.  Windward Oahu is home to the state’s youth correctional facility, the state’s only Women’s Community Correctional Center, a residential shelter and access center for homeless OYA and drop in services for young street youth, a safe house for commercially and sexually exploited minors, and a vocational training program for opportunity youth who are disconnected from school and work.  The Leeward coast of Oahu is home to some of the country’s poorest census tracts and the lowest educational attainment in the state, including Waianae where the poverty rate is 24.4% compared to 9.3% statewide.  Partners include Ke Kama Pono Safehouse, Leeward Community College, American Job Center, and others.  On Molokai, poverty and unemployment rates are typically the highest in the state, unemployment was 6.6% compared to 2.7% statewide pre-COVID.  Collaborators include Maui College, Partners in Development Foundation, Hale Kipa, Wahi Kanaaho, and key community-based partners.

Project Purpose: This funding will be used to purchase a sophisticated air handling system for The Queen’s Health Systems’ Cath Labs and Electrophysiology Labs to provide the safest environment for patients and caregivers, prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and better control any risk of airborne infection. These Cath Labs and Electrophysiology Labs will significantly increase the accessibility and quality of cardiovascular care services for the residents of Hawai‘i.

Project Purpose: Lunalilo Home has been caring for seniors in Hawai‘i for 138 years. To further enhance its services and facilities to increase its impact in the community, Lunalilo Home plans to increase the square footage of its adult day care facility in order to provide essential caregiving services to seniors with dementia.

Project Purpose: The University of Hawai‘i (UH) Rural Health Research Center (RHRC) would focus on rural health workforce policy and health equity in the University’s Office of Strategic Health Initiatives to conduct high-quality and policy-relevant research and develop policy recommendations to improve rural health care in Hawai‘i. This project is part of the existing UHealthy Hawai‘i initiative and in partnership with key local rural health stakeholders. The RHRC’s primary areas of focus for FY22 and beyond are developing national, state, and local policy recommendations through evidence-based data and research to address Hawai‘i’s health workforce shortage issues in rural areas and advance health equity, including by seeking to increase physician reimbursement. The proposed new Rural Health Research Center at UH would provide a critical new hub for advancing policy and evidence-based research related to rural health and—specifically in Hawai‘i—rural health workforce policy and health equity.  The Center is consistent with the UHealthy Hawai‘i initiative, which aims to leverage the UH System to improve health and health care in Hawai‘i and the Pacific through four primary areas of focus: ensuring a robust statewide health workforce; discovering and innovating to improve and extend lives; promoting healthier families and communities; and advancing health in all policies.  UHealthy Hawai‘i has 35 community partners across the state of Hawai‘i, including from the state government, health systems, primary care providers, insurers, health associations and advocacy groups, business community, and more.

Project Purpose: The Leeward YMCA Kid’s Prep Preschool program supports Leeward community (Waipahu, Ewa, Mililani, Kapolei, Pearl City) families by providing a much-needed safe and nurturing program, particularly during COVID-19, to prepare young children to enter kindergarten. YMCA of Honolulu requests funding to expand the Leeward YMCA Kid’s Prep Preschool program by doubling the number of preschool seats from 21 to 46 by relocating their childcare drop-in center to another location. Kid’s Prep is a high quality, State-licensed program that ensures highly trained and certified teachers are nurturing the potential of our community’s young people.  The YMCA is committed to ensuring its programs are available to all community members and offers scholarship assistance to support those families facing financial barriers.

Project Purpose: The YMCA of Honolulu is requesting funds to restart its Kauhale Adolescent Substance Abuse Aftercare Program (Kauahale) after a break in programming due to COVID-19. This program offers after-care for 125 adolescents who have recently completed a substance-abuse treatment program. Kauhale provides support, structure and a re-entry point for youth who otherwise may not be able to participate in positive youth development programs based in their own communities. While in school, youth in treatment have the structure, multiple support systems (teachers, counselors, and school administrators), and resources to remain clean and sober. It is in the after school hours and when school is on break where youth are more prone to relapse. This is due to the lack of structure, adult role models, and resources the youth faces that leads to an increased risk of alcohol and drug relapse. To address this, the Kalihi YMCA created and implemented the Kauhale Program beginning in 2016. This 12-session program was designed using curricula from a variety of sources including Living in Balance by Jeffery Hoffman, Building our Beloved Community created by Puanani Burgess, Stages of Change (also called the Transtheoretical Model) developed by Prochaska and DiClemente and sessions on Healthy Living, Life Skills and Youth Development.

Project Purpose: The nationally accredited YWCA Developmental Preschool has served East Hawai‘i since the 1960s, providing an educational structure geared towards the development of the whole child. This funding will help our program and our children through the difficulties of COVID recovery by supporting technology, supplies, teacher training, curricula and accreditation support. Recent events on Hawai‘i Island (volcano eruption in 2019, COVID in 2020/2021) has resulted in the YWCA Developmental Preschool seeing additional stressors on families and the preschool had to pivot to help families deal with the stressors as well as comply with COVID related restrictions.  The resulting pivots had a positive impact on children and their families as well as with staff.  The preschool, to maintain some of the momentum of the positive results is designing the next school years to continue or modify some of the actions.  However, these changes, as well as compliance with COVID regulations, was fiscally devastating and the preschool had to put aside needs and funnel their resources to support the families and children more. The requested funding would allow the preschool to continue to keep the positive changes in place, proceed with some of the planned expenditures that have been put off, and provide additional support to participating families.

Project Purpose: YWCA Oahu’s Fernhurst Program offers both a structured re-entry work furlough program and transitional housing for the women of Hawai‘i. Both these programs offer structure, case management, life skill training, financial literacy, and a host of other program offerings all to allow the women residents the best opportunity to create and sustain their new beginnings. Fernhurst allows the women a safe place to reside while working and saving money with the goal of becoming financially self-sufficient, equipping them with the needed life skills and support network to sustain them through their life journey. Fernhurst is unique because of the provision of wrap around services it offers to its residents – to not only meet the women’s basic needs for food and shelter, but to also provide the mental and emotional support through counseling and case management, and the employment, financial literacy, and life-skills training that the women need to become more productive, contributing, law-abiding members of society. Funding will help provide justice involved and economically disadvantaged women a safe place to live as they develop the social, life and financial skills they will need for a stable and productive life. Participants will have access to a six-month re-entry program and an optional six months of transitional housing program.