QUESTION: Whatever happened to the multimillion-dollar Hawaii NFL Youth Education Town Center, funded in part by the NFL and run by the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii, that opened in Nanakuli almost three years ago?
ANSWER: The 10,000-square-foot facility built on the edge of the Nanaikapono Elementary School campus served more than 600 kids between the ages of 7 and 17 last year, with an average of 100 to 120 kids attending each day, the program director said.
“We are making a difference with the numbers we are bringing in,” Lala Fernandez said.
The complex features a multimedia facility, recording studio, multipurpose community room, computer and technology center, outdoor amphitheater and Native Hawaiian garden. It is on 1.3 acres owned by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and has been operating since March 2009.
“Every year as our presence gets known here, we get bigger in the amount of kids we service,” Fernandez said, adding that one out of every eight students enrolled in Nanakuli schools uses the complex.
The National Football League contributed $1 million to the $5.4 million project. Federal and state grants provided $3.3 million in funding, and the rest was covered by corporate contributions.
Kids receive homework assistance and tutoring there, take part in sports and fitness activities, attend ukulele classes and photography workshops, participate in an outdoor gardening program or learn about video production, among many other activities that rotate on an hourly basis each day.
A Hawaii Literacy bookmobile rolls in once a week, too.
“Here in our Nanakuli community, they don’t have a library,” Fernandez said. “The closest one for them to access is about 20 minutes away.”
The activities are designed not just to entertain kids and keep them busy, but to promote health and fitness, sustainable living, creative expression and education, career, leadership and character development, Fernandez said.
“Their future starts here as soon as they enter our doors,” she said. “It kind of encompasses the whole child. … We are not a baby sitter or a day care type of program.”
Fernandez said many of the children call the Boys & Girls clubhouse their second home or family, and some who come from exceptionally fractured homes even consider it their first.
The club is meant to change the lives and perspectives of the kids and “service youth with prevention programs to deter them from risky behaviors” such as truancy, delinquency and dropping out of school, Fernandez said.
Parents or guardians interested in having their children participate in NFL Youth Education Town Center activities can complete a membership form at the clubhouse or at www.nanakuliyet.net. A copy of the child’s birth certificate and an annual membership fee of $1 are all you need.
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This update was written by Sarah Zoellick. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.
