$6 million to aid Native Hawaiian efforts

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ board of trustees last week approved $6 million in grants to 23 organizations to underwrite efforts related to housing, income, health, education and culture.

The funds will be disbursed for fiscal years 2018 and 2019.

The largest grant will go to Goodwill Industries of Hawaii Inc., which will receive $720,000 to provide education and training and career support services in partnership with University of Hawaii community colleges. The goal will be to improve the ability of Native Hawaiians to upgrade their wage-earning and increase their economic self-sufficiency.

Other grants will go to:

>> Hawaiian Community Assets: $470,000 to provide culturally relevant financial literacy education and housing counseling to low- and moderate-income Native Hawaiians to improve their capacity to own or rent homes.

>> Effective Parenting and Innovative Communication Inc.: $92,000 to provide financial literacy training and matching housing assistance for young people ages 14 to 25 who were in foster care.

>> Habitat for Humanity Maui: $120,000 to educate Native Hawaiians on Maui and Lanai in financial literacy with the aim of economic self-sufficiency and homeownership.

>> Nanakuli Housing Corp.: $318,000 to provide financial and homeownership training to Native Hawaiian households with low to moderate income.

>> Young Women’s Christian Association of Oahu: $280,000 to help Native Hawaiian ex-offenders and other low-income women with opportunities related to employment, financial literacy and work/life balance.

>> Kualapuu Public Conversion Charter School: $267,849 to a project that helps students and families improve their health through physical activity and nutrition.

>> Malama Kauai: $170,000 for a nutritious and culturally relevant school meal program at two Hawaiian public charter schools.

>> The Salvation Army-Family Treatment Services: $180,000 to improve the health of Hawaiian women recovering from substance abuse and addiction; to prevent obesity; and to reduce weight gain and tobacco and drug use.

>> The Queen’s Medical Center: $382,151 to a project that aims to reduce the rate and severity of obesity among Native Hawaiians, improve well-being and reduce cardiovascular risks.

>> After-School All-Stars Hawaii: $490,810 for a program that works to improve the proficiency of Native Hawaiian middle school students in reading and math.

>> Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island: $250,638 for the Mohala Ike Project, which provides culturally responsive academic support at five clubs in Hilo, Keaau, Pahoa, Pahala and Kealakehe.

>> Educational Services Hawaii Foundation: $258,552 for culture-based instruction in math and reading for Native Hawaiian students in foster and kinship care.

>> Awaiaulu: $353,600 to train translators with a skill set for future generations of Hawaii and to translate a key historical narrative resource.

>> Hui Malama o ke Kai Foundation: $133,638 to perpetuate Hawaiian cultural practices and educational methods while strengthening family bonds in Waimanalo.

>> Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services: $189,720 to increase and perpetuate traditional childbirth knowledge and cultural practices.

>> KUPA Friends of Hookena Beach Park: $97,741 to perpetuate the customary Hawaiian cultural practices of traditional opelu fishing in South Kona.

>> PAC Foundation: $73,810 to increase the number of cultural practitioners in the area of ieie basketry.

>> PA‘I Foundation: $178,532 to perpetuate hula through instruction.

>> Halau Ke‘alaokamaile: $240,697 to plant and maintain a 6-acre plot of native Hawaiian plants for use by cultural practitioners and their students.

>> Hawaii Forest Institute: $172,262 to tend a sanctuary for the native dryland lama forest of Kaupulehu utilizing educational stewardship, traditional ecological knowledge and scientific methods.

>> Ka Honua Momona International of Molokai: $500,000 to work with Waipa Foundation of Kauai to grow and tend environmental resources, cultural practices and financial sustainability.

>> Pacific American Foundation: $60,000 to restore Waikalua Loko Fishpond and other related services.