Winter 2012

A gathering place for those who serve vulnerable children and families

Volume 2 Number 4

The kukui tree planted at our 2009 blessing is thriving – and so is the Kukui Center

The Kukui Center has become “the place to be” for service programs interested in col-laboration and the benefits of co-location. Many learn of us for the first time by attend-ing meetings hosted by tenant agencies and have added to a growing list of applicants for building space as it becomes available. Recent newcomers to the Center are Hawaii Literacy who will be joining us in 2013, and the Pacific Survivors Center who will share space with Kids Hurt Too Hawaii in the coming year. These exciting new programs will significantly expand the wide spectrum of services currently provided at the Center. We will be bidding a fond aloha to the Consuelo Foundation, a strong supporter from the start providing a variety of services to abused children. Their beautiful Consuelo Family Center will be missed by the many who were generously permitted to use the space for community meetings and classes. Mahalo too for Consuelo’s addition of the Kukui Center playground area, and for their ongoing support for the Center and its goals in partnership. The Hawaii Foster Youth Coalition will be moving from their second floor suite to the larger, more flexible area vacated by Consuelo, bringing with them their computer lab and game tables, and plans to add exercise programs, dance lessons and other resources for their active teen clients. The past year has also witnessed a gratifying growth in our Community Partners Pro-gram under the direction of Coordinator Lorraine Gershun. We are pleased to welcome new partners, Trees of Hawaii and the Luke Center for Public Service at Punahou School, for a total of thirty-three dedicated and supportive partners representing an impressively wide variety of community interests.Luke Center's Chondra Peters and Director Carri Morgan meet

with KCF’s Tookie White and Judy Lind at the center

Karen “Tookie” White and KCF Board President Jack Dwyer

Family Promise of Hawaii guests under the kukui tree

Sadly, this year has also brought the retirement of found-ing member and board secretary Karen “Tookie” White, whose vision for the Kukui Children’s Foundation will continue to inspire and guide the foundation for years to come. She was a model board member and a great friend to the Kukui Center, and will be remembered in a special way with the naming of the Karen “Tookie” White Conference Room, a lasting trib-ute to her years of tireless service and invaluable insight.

Aloha to Tookie--please don't be a stranger

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Although there is still much to be done, this year has gone

by so quickly. I smile when I think about the families that have

moved into housing this year - the proud faces of the parents and

the beautiful, excited smiles of the children. Since 2006, we have

now served 1,055 parents and children on Oahu. As always, I am

humbled by the generosity towards our families. This year, there

were backpacks and school supplies for the children in August, a

new van for transporting our families, complimentary haircuts,

donation drives with much needed family supplies and of course,

our daily volunteers providing shelter and meals.

In October, we celebrated our volunteers with our annual

Volunteer Appreciation dinner at Catholic Charities. Close to

200 of our volunteers were in attendance and it was a wonderful

opportunity to remember how far we have come. One of our

graduated families came to share how much Family Promise

has done for their lives. This special family has continued to

come back and volunteer with the program by bringing meals,

transporting donated goods and even helping other families to

move into their new homes.

It warms my heart to see it come full circle. With the holidays

upon us it will be a busy, but wonderful time here at our centers.

The children will soon be on vacation and hoping for a joyous

holiday. Thanks to the generosity of many, I am sure it will be

wonderful and memorable for all of our families.

As we close this year, Hale Kipa celebrates three years of provid-

ing housing assistance to former foster youth through our Step Up

Program. To date we have helped over 80 youth in securing indepen-

dent housing through the Section 8 Program. We continue to process

applications for multiple youth every month.

The Independent Living and Step Up programs continue to provide

Financial Literacy training for foster youth and former foster youth,

allowing them enrollment into the Hawaii Youth Opportunities

Initiative and establishing an Individual Development Account to

match savings toward asset purchases including a car, computer, edu-

cation, and more. A total of 30 youth will be enrolled in 2012.

We recently had our Annual Dinner where the CEO further com-

mitted to trauma-informed and motivational interviewing training

so staff may be most responsive to youth we service.

As we prepare for the holiday season, a time that can be especially

difficult for youth who are or have been in out of home care, the

Hale Kipa staff will be putting on their elf hats and planning several

events to help our youth celebrate a whole week of events that in-

clude various holiday traditions. We will be doing some holiday bak-

ing and cookie decorating, making holiday ornaments and crafts that

can be given as gifts, and wrapping it all up with a holiday party and

gifts for the youth. The party will include lunch, karaoke, a holiday

movie, and bingo! The staff will be providing homemade holiday

treats as part of a baking contest with the youth as judges.

As we wrap up the year, we wish everyone a safe and joyous holiday

season!

Graduating family returns to volunteer and give back

Financial literacy training helps foster youth save for the future

By Mary Saunders

By Michelle Kinimaka

Families from FPH give thanks to Hawaii Community Foundation for donations

Hale Kipa Staff: Melissa Wilke, Pomai Villalon, Kelsey Tsuneda, Becky Rafferty, Angela Bohe, Rachel Whipple, Matt Jugran , Danielle Danskin, Bryanna Turner, Michelle Kinimaka

Kukui Center Program Highlights

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Hawaii Foster Youth Coalition is made up of young people who

are in or have been through the foster care system. We work to

improve youths’ lives and services by providing the voice of youth.

HFYC is a great way for the youth to meet other youth just like

themselves. On July 15, 2012, we held the Real World Event.

We put the foster youth through exercises like what the real life

throws at us, paying bills, budgeting, money management, job

experience……etc. The next day we threw an after party at the

Kaneohe sand bar. It was an epic way to end the hard work. On

August 13, 2012 we attended the annual event called the Ohana is

Forever Conference at which HFYC led workshops for youth and

participated as speakers and mentors. It’s the biggest event each year

with 125 youth and 250 adult workers and caregivers attending.

We also did several big shindigs partnering with HPD, Habilitat,

and others so youth have a chance to connect in fun ways, meet

community support people, and learn healthy lifestyle skills. We

did over 72 monthly chapter meetings statewide bringing 152

youth together to get their opinion on how to change the foster

system for the better. HFYC did community service projects, fitness

activities like hiking, surfing, and other fun outings. But that’s not

where we’ll end, HFYC plans to go further helping youth create

goals for their futures and learn skills for implementing goals with

the volunteer help of Seymour Kazimirski. We have taken a hard

look at our successes and are looking to make changes that build on

that to better the lives of youth and the work of HFYC.

Kids Hurt Too Hawaii conducted 68 peer support group meetings and nearly 85 mentoring activities this year engaging 270 children and 82 families on Oahu. We were fortunate to have

34 volunteers work with the support groups and 94 help with mentoring. An important aspect to what we do for children and families is engaging a wide network of supporters. It has been a tremendous blessing to have the help of the Kukui Children’s Foundation and their Community Partners Coordinator helping us to connect with more partners, expanding our circle of collaborators. All the support from the community communicates a lot of love and support to the children. They see a larger community that provides safe places and people who care. As the holidays approach and caring people reach out to help bring joy into the lives of grieving and traumatized children, we are happily busy working like elves to pass on the gifts and opportunities to enjoy the season that tends to be the hardest for our families and children. We reap the benefit of donors because we have receive the blessing of seeing the children’s little eyes light up and hearing their squeals of surprise. All that we have done this year is share the love so abundant in the great state of Aloha and on the gathering place island of Oahu. Thank you one and all.

Community support communicates love and care to the children

Empowering foster youth to speak up and be heard

Ukulele practice with Kaleo Kwan and Hiro Ito. Makana, Brandon, Ali, Alyssa, Huri, Shenice, Audrianna, Andre, Hoku, Chardonnay, Alize, Champagne, and Naomi

HFYC board: Pono, Jo-Lynn, Brianne, Gerald, Czarina, Savannah, Jezmine, Lehua, Jay

By Cynthia White

By Cynthia White

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free person having become a citizen. I don’t have to worry anymore that I won’t be able to stay here.” Other clients celebrate successful immigration applications providing them a more stabilized immigration status and often a pathway to citizenship. The end of November marks the end of our year-long outreach to the Chinese and Chuukese communities concerning the ever important issue of housing and their language access rights. On November 17, 2012 HIJC selected a winner of the annual Chinese Family Violence Awareness Project Youth Art Contest with an awards reception held at the Kukui Center. Youth ages 3-18 were encouraged to create an art piece which reflects the theme: “What does peace/respect in the home look like?” This season of thanks we recognize some of the highlights of

2012: Starting citizenship classes at the Filipino Community Center•Conducting victim outreach at Deferred Action workshop•Providing training on Housing and Language Access to Hous-•ing and Urban Development grantees,Training law enforcement on human trafficking issues, •Beginning outreach projects to the Hispanic and Chuukese •communities to raise awareness of domestic violence, sexual assault, and relief available to victims.

E 'oli'oli mai. “Bring joy forth: let the goodness shine forth.” This 'olelo no'eau framed Joyful Heart’s September fundraiser and aptly describes our first year at the Kukui Center. Since relocating our Kona office to Honolulu last fall we have served 300 individuals from around the state, growing from a Hawai'i staff of one to three people along the way. In January, in partnership with the Hawai'i Children’s Trust Fund, we launched One Strong 'Ohana, a comprehensive child abuse prevention campaign that will reach over 98% of all Hawai'i adults by the end of 2012. In February, we joined with PACT to provide Namelehuapono Wahine, a program for adult survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse that integrates Hawaiian practices with other healing modalities. In April we hosted a Well-ness Day that created a restorative session for survivors, providing them an opportunity to nurture their healing through creative expression, movement and meditation. More than 15 organizations participated in our Heal the Healer’s programming this year where they learned how to address the needs of staff affected by trauma

exposure -- the cumulative pain of bearing witness to the suffering of others. We closed the year with a visit from Mariska and a successful inau-gural Hawai'i fundraiser. Called “Joyful Mele,” it was a celebration of our nā mele, the stories that tell of our origins and especially our love of Hawai'i. A fitting culmination of all the goodness that has come to us and that we have been able to share with the community this past year!

As Hawaii Immigrant Justice Center at Legal Aid Society of Ha-waii (“HIJC”) wraps up 2012 we give thanks for a productive year of training, reaching out to the community, and assisting clients step out of abusive, unhealthy situations and into a more flourish-ing, fulfilling life. For several of our clients 2012 Thanksgiving will take on a deeper meaning as their successful naturalizations enable them to celebrate America as their own country this year. One client HIJC was able to assist to become a citizen this fall appreciates the freedom the United States provides, “I’ve been here for 20 years, and now I have the chance to vote. This is what makes it really worth it to be a citizen. For me, I feel like I am a

Kata Issari, JHF Hawaii Regional Director, Mariska Hargitay, JHF Founder and Presi-dent, Kalei Kanuha, JHF Board Member, Maile Zambuto, JHF CEO

Joyful Heart Foundation founder visits the Center

Expanding services for immigrants who are in need

By Kata Issari

By Marissa Llamido

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2012 was a year of growth for the Mediation Center of the Pacific. By the end of December, approximately 1,700 cases will have been managed by the staff, with two hundred sixty three cases mediated at the Kukui Center. In addition, new programs and partnerships have been created to better serve the needs of Oahu’s communities, particularly families and children. To address the growing backlog of cases at Family Court

involving unmarried couples with children, in March the Mediation Center created an on-site court paternity mediation program. After four months, 79% of the cases resulted in written agreements. 96% of the participants reported that mediation was a useful process. Comments about the Program included: “mediation was helpful and a great way to deal with uncooperative parents to reach a fair agreement.” In October, the Mediation Center joined EPIC, the Department of Education, Department of Health, Family Court, Department of Human Services and the Office of Youth Services on a new pilot project to assist youth in the child welfare system. Through the project, WRAP, the Mediation Center facilitates meetings involving the various partners, to develop plans for the provision of WRAP services for youth and families who are or have been under the jurisdiction of Family Court, are at risk of Family Court involvement, or are served by more than one state, county or private agency. These programs are just two examples of the many activities initiated and conducted by the Mediation Center’s staff and volunteers over the year at the Kukui Center to better assist Hawaii’s families and youth and help more people prevent and resolve conflicts peacefully.

Two hundred and fifty words are insufficient to share the highlights Learning Disabilities Association of Hawaii (LDAH) experienced this year. Receiving the grant to continue as Hawaii’s Parent Training & Information Center for our 22nd year is one of our biggest achievements. But how can we compare that to new contracts with Aloha United Way and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs supporting our School Readiness Project for another three years? We are honored to be involved in both these projects. LDAH completed a six-year research project with the Center on Disability Studies, which evaluated the benefits of a cultural approach to working with school personnel, parents and students with special needs. We also concluded our 5th and final year working with the Community Children’s Council Office providing professional trainings to benefit parents of children with disabilities, teachers and students, statewide. While we will miss both of these projects, we are on to a new adventure with Hawaii’s Department of Education (DOE) to develop a Parent Training and Consultation Support System to benefit teachers and parents of children with disabilities

involved with the Centers of Educational Excellence, also called the Po`okela Project. When it comes down to priorities, our biggest highlights are the interactions we have with our client families and the relationships we’ve enjoyed this year that help us do our work. Nothing is more important than ensuring our families are well cared for and that Hawaii’s keiki, with or without disabilities, experience success in their education and their lives.

Educational success for Hawaii's keiki and families is the priority

Volunteer mediators participate in a paternity mediation workshop, one of the many trainings they are required to complete to ensure quality services are provided to all clients

Mediators craft agreements for vulnerable chidren

Amanda Kaleikula-Velleses, Michelle Chung, Melissa Kanae, Melody Bell, Peter Ginoza

By Tracey Wiltgen

By Michael Moore

Family Promise of Hawaii

Resources for homeless families with children

(808) 548-7478www.familypromisehawaii.org

Hawaii Foster Youth Coalition

Advocacy and indepen-dent living skills training

for foster youth(808) 545-5683 www.facebook.com/

fosteryouthspeak

Learning Disabilities

Association of Hawaii

Training center for parents of

children with disabilities(808) 536-9684

www.LDAHawaii.org

Mediation Center of the Pacific

Conflict resolution for cases

involving children and others

(808) 521-6767www.mediatehawaii.org

Hawaii Immigrant Justice Center at

LASHLegal services for

immigrant victims of abuse and domestic

violence(808) 536-4302

www.hijcenter.org

Hale KipaOutreach services for

child abuse victims in, or transitioning out of, foster care to become

independent(808) 853-4660

www.halekipa.org

Board of Directors

John R. Dwyer, Jr.President

Clyde Namu'oVice President

Karen K. WhiteSecretary

John GaribaldiTreasurer

Suzanne Chun OaklandPatricia KaySue Landon

Jim Reinhardt

Judy LindExecutive Director

Kukuichildrensfoun@hawaii.rr.com

If you would like to receive this newsletter electronically, please send your email address to lgershun@kukuicenter.org.

Kukui Children's Foundation245 North Kukui StreetHonolulu, Hawaii 96817

Consuelo Foundation

Programs for abusedand neglected children

and families(808) 526-3232

www.consuelo.org

www.kukuicenter.org

Kids Hurt TooSupport for grieving children who have

lost a parent (808) 545-5683

or (808) 256-3176 www.kidshurttoo.org

Our Family Of Social Services

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Maximum Legal Services

CorporationLegal services for management of Conservatorships

and Trusts(808) 585-0920

www.maxcorp.hi-org

Joyful Heart Foundation

Helping victims of child abuse, domestic violence

and sexual assault (808) 532-3520

www.joyfulheartfoundation.org

Winter 2012