Hau‘oli Mau Loa Foundation established Hope for Kids to expand opportunities for children to build hope and a positive future. The initiative provides multi-year funding to, initially, nine nonprofit partners in Hawai‘i who are working with children in programs that promote resiliency, develop life skills and instill a sense of environmental stewardship. They include:

‘Aha Pūnana Leo
The ‘Aha Pūnana Leo, best known for the Language Nest Preschools, is the leading entity in Hawai‘i and the United States for indigenous language revitalization. In the past twenty years, the ‘Aha Pūnana Leo has moved the Hawaiian language from less than forty children speakers to over 2,000 children speakers. ‘Aha Pūnana Leo is committed to use of the Hawaiian language at all times—in ‘Aha Pūnana Leo programs, from preschools to graduate school, and from canoe sailing lessons to contemporary computerized offices.

Hope for Kids funding will help stabilize the systems and processes for using the māla (garden) at the campus of Ke Kula ‘o Nāwahīokalani`ōpu‘u, a Hawaiian Language Medium school in Kea`au, Hawai`i.

Funding will support the māla as a living laboratory for students of the Pūnana Leo o Hilo and the younger elementary students of Ke Kula ‘o Nāwahīokalani`ōpu`u so that it can continue to be a learning environment for traditional and contemporary knowledge.

Friends of the Future, Nā Kahumoku
An environmental youth leadership program at Kealakehe Intermediate School on Hawai`i Island, Nā Kahumoku strives to instill environmental awareness, leadership skills and cultural education to students through the use of community service projects and visits to historic sites.

The program is a collaborative effort between Friends of the Future, the Department of Education and the numerous nonprofit entities that host students as they perform service, such as invasive species eradication, reforestation and site cleanups.

Friends of the Future has served Hawaii Island for 20 years, offering a variety of programs including Tutu’s House, a community health and wellness resource center; Earl’s Garage, an after-school hands on exploration center for kids ages 7 and up; and Baby Steps to Stronger Big Island Families, an initiative to ensure our children have the best possible start in life.

Hope for Kids funding will add staffing and service opportunities for program participants in year one.

Hoa ‘Āina O Mākaha
Hoa `Āina O Mākaha, located on property adjacent to Mākaha Elementary School in Leeward O‘ahu, delivers five different but interrelated programs that engage students, families and teachers in a lifetime of learning. The programs are: Nā Keiki O Ka ‘Āina; Ke Ala or the Learning Center; Mālama Mākaha Credit Work Program; the Container Garden Program; and the Peace Center.

Funding from the Hope for Kids initiative will provide core operating support and funding for building improvements.

Ka Honua Momona International
Ka Honua Momona is based on the island of Molokai. The mission of the organization is to be a model of sustainability mauka a makai (from the mountains to the sea), reflecting the organization’s belief that Molokai can again return to abundance. They accomplish their mission by developing indigenous education systems, revitalizing natural and cultural resources, perpetuating traditional knowledge and stewardship and evolving with modern technology, which will result in a self-sufficient model for all nations.

Ka Honua Momona is currently leading a community based effort to restore and manage two ancient loko i`a (fishponds) on Molokai. The names of the fishponds are Ali`i & Kalokoeli.

Funding from the Hope for Kids initiative in the first year is aimed at providing core operating support to Ka Honua Momona.

Ka`ala Farm, Inc.
“To reclaim and preserve the living culture of the Po`e Kahiko (people of old) in order to strengthen the kinship relationships between the `āina (land, that which nourishes) and all forms of life necessary to sustain the balance of life on these vulnerable islands”, is the mission of Ka`ala Farm, Inc, located on the Wai`anae Coast of O`ahu. The strategies to achieve the mission are three interrelated strands: transmission of cultural knowledge from kūpuna to `ōpio; protection and restoration of the ahupua`a with an emphasis on attendant rights and responsibilities; and integration of cultural knowledge, wisdom and practices into educational institutions that serve children.

Building on an existing collaboration with Wai‘anae High School’s Natural Resources Academy, Ka`ala Farm will use Hope for Kids funding to enhance the educational and personal development experiences of Academy students.

The Kohala Center
The Kohala Center is a fully independent, community-based, not-for-profit center for research and education. Through the respectful engagement of the Island of Hawai‘i as an extraordinary and vibrant learning laboratory for humanity, The Kohala Center builds educational and research programs that help communities on Hawai`i Island, in the Pacific, and around the world thrive -- ecologically, economically, culturally, and socially.

As The Kohala Center has grown, its work has become focused on the very basics of life: food, energy, water, and ecosystem health. The Hawai`i Island School Garden Network (HISGN), which now involves fifty school gardens on Hawai`i Island alone, is a direct outgrowth of local and global interest in agriculture, food self-reliance, and community food production. HISGN’s work is supported, in part, through the Hope for Kids initiative.

Kōkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services - Ho`oulu `Āina
Kōkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services (KKV) is a community-organized and community-operated nonprofit corporation dedicated to health and reconciliation in the Kalihi Valley community. It was formed in 1972 by community leaders in response to an absence of accessible and appropriate health services for the valley’s large Asian and Pacific Island immigrant population.

In 2005, KKV entered into a 20 year lease with the State of Hawai`i Department of Land and Natural Resources to steward 100-acres in the back of Kalihi valley. With the support of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living by design funding, the Ho`oulu `Āina Nature Preserve was developed as a KKV program with the mission of being: a welcoming place of refuge where people of all cultures can sustain and propagate the connections between the health of the land and the health of the people.

There are four interwoven program areas at Ho`oulu `Āina: Koa `Āina (native reforestation), Mahi `Āina (gardening and local food production), Lohe `Āina (listening to the land and cultural preservation), and Hoa `Āina (providing safe and meaningful access for the community).

Through these programs the community participates in the revitalization of this 100-acre upland resource offering healthy and therapeutic activity, native reforestation and stewardship projects, local food production and food sovereignty endeavors and a wide diversity of hands-on educational opportunities. As the land is restored to health and productivity, the healing is reciprocal and a healthy, resilient community develops.

Hope for Kids funding will further strengthen and stabilize Ho`oulu `Āina and support the program’s efforts in engaging youth.

Ma Ka Hana Ka `Ike
As a construction and building skills training program in Hāna, Maui, the mission of Ma Ka Hana Ka `Ike is to provide youth with a way to learn that makes sense to them, that builds their self-esteem and shows them they have the power to change their own futures. “To watch kids who have had a record of failing classes, poor attendance, and disruptive behavior suddenly take an interest in academia and take pride in their abilities and accomplishments, tells us we are reaching them in a way they’ve never encountered in school before.” -Rick Rutiz, Executive Director of Ma Ka Hana Ka `Ike.

Hope for Kids funding will provide core program and operating support to Ma Ka Hana Ka `Ike.

Waipā Foundation
Waipā Foundation, through a lease and partnership with Kamehameha Schools, manages the 1,600 acre ahupua`a of Waipā on Kaua`i’s north shore as a Hawaiian cultural center and ahupua`a learning center. While Waipā welcomes over 2,000 learners a year from all over Hawai`i and the continent, on field trips and visits for experiential learning throughout the watershed, some of Waipā’s special programming focuses on children and families, especially Hawaiian, with long-term ties to the geographic communities surrounding Waipā. Such programs for youth and children focus on teaching mālama `āina and aloha `āina (to love and care for, preserve, the land) and incorporate education, enrichment, and leadership, as well as training in life, work and cultural skills.

Waipā Foundation is partnering with Hau`oli Mau Loa Foundation in the Hope for Kids initiative to engage more “older” youth in their programs, as well as to provide more intensive mentoring and educational support to children and youth from kindergarten through high school age in its target communities.

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