Hawaii Wins $1.7 Million in Federal Grants for Economic and Social Assistance to Native Peoples

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Honolulu, Hawaii – Hawaii is receiving a total of $1.7 million in federal grants for economic and social development programs helping Native Hawaiians and other native people in Hawaii.

These grants from the Administration for Native Americans in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will foster economic and social development for Native Hawaiians and other native peoples on Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii Island through a variety of innovative community efforts. Collectively, they will strengthen our people’s ties to their native cultures and values and thereby assure not only the sustainability of those endangered cultures but of our diverse Hawaii as a whole.

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For example, grant recipients such as Kaala Farm in Waianae offers young Native Hawaiians programs that build community by teaching Native Hawaiian culture and values. The Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture’s Ka Lama Education Academy helps Waianae Coast residents to earn college degrees and to gain employment in areas such as early childhood to help the young children of the Waianae Coast.

One of the grants will help the Te Taki-Tokelau Community Training and Development program to preserve and to perpetuate the Tokelauan language and culture in Central Oahu. Tokelauan is spoken in Olohega, one of three atolls annexed by the United States and placed under the jurisdiction of American Samoa. Since 1950, Tokelauans have been migrating to Hawaii and the Mainland and four generations have thrived in Central Oahu. But the younger generations have tended to lose touch with their culture and language.

The grant recipients are:

*Hana Community Health Center (Hana), $497,132. “Sustainable Farm and Workforce Development Program.” This project is designed to contribute to the overall economic vitality of Hana through the development of a new and revitalized agriculture economic base and provide sustainable employment and training opportunities in agriculture while generating new sources of funding for Hana Health Center.

*Waianae District Comprehensive Health and Hospital BD (Waianae), $420,000. “Strengthening Families and Promoting Healthy Relationships.” This project will address the high incidence of diabetes and obesity among Hawaiian youth by initiating a healthy culinary training program. The goal is to improve the health of at-risk youth through culinary training and the involvement of family in positive healthy activities to produce lifestyle changes that reduce risk behavior.

*Hooulu Lahui (Pahoa), “Ke Ala O Ka Alakaina: A Culturally Responsive Entrepreneurial Curriculum,” $215,970. Hoolulu Lahui in partnership with Kua O Ka La Public Charter School will provide youth and families with the support skills and training experience needed in entrepreneurship through hands on projects in the field of agriculture and natural resource management.

*Te Taki-Tokelau Community Training and Development (Wahiawa), “Kalele-Native Tokelau Language Assessment,” $97,599. This project will perpetuate the Tokelauan language and culture.

*Kaala Farm, Inc. (Waianae), $284,679. Kaala Farms will work with fourth-grade teachers and students of Maili Elementary School to develop a culturally appropriate and responsive curriculum that will perpetuate Hawaiian cultural practices.

*Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (Kapolei) “Ka Lama Education Academy,” $168,245. This project will provide the opportunity for local residents to obtain the necessary training and accreditation to become teachers and to return to teach in the community. The approach will target drop-outs to receive counseling and be recruited to enroll in college.

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) was established in 1974 through the Native American Programs Act. ANA is the only federal agency serving all Native Americans, including 562 federally recognized tribes, American Indian and Alaska Native organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations and Native populations throughout the Pacific basin (including American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).

ANA promotes the goal of self-sufficiency for Native Americans by providing social and economic development opportunities through financial assistance, training, and technical assistance to eligible Tribes and Native American organizations representing nearly 4.3 million individuals.

”’Ed Case, D-Hawaii, is the U.S. Congressman representing the Second District.”’

”’HawaiiReporter.com reports the real news, and prints all editorials submitted, even if they do not represent the viewpoint of the editors, as long as they are written clearly. Send editorials to”’ mailto:Malia@HawaiiReporter.com

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