Our Programs

We work to restore cultural harmony for Native Hawaiian youth and families.

A 2020 Office of Hawaiian Education (OHE) study finds Cultural Dissonance (the lack of cultural harmony and identity) as the core reason for Native Hawaiian student challenges leading to incidents, suspensions, or dismissals with a high probability of incarceration.

OHE finds that Native Hawaiians account for 24% of the student population, yet 45% of all incidents with 38% of total dismissals. This leads to where we see Native Hawaiians in jail, with an average incarceration rate of 50% for juveniles and 38% for adults.

Critical to the restoration of identity is the proliferation of the Hawaiian language. UNESCO ranks the Hawaiian language as critically endangered. A Hawaii Community Foundation 2021 report finds that of the 1.4 million residents in Hawaii, only 18,610, or 1%, are native speakers!

Without cultural harmony and the use of language, THE CULTURE WILL BE LOST.

 

BELONG - THE ROYAL HAWAIIAN GUARD

Nā Koa Kiaʻi Aliʻi Hawaiʻi – “The Royal Hawaiian Guard” serves as a symbol of resilience and Native Hawaiian identity. Youths learn values, cultural perspectives, and native-sourced history. In addition, they conduct community activities as an honor guard, becoming a living symbol of Aloha. The program aims to allow youth to belong to a group that strives to live positive values, identify passions, and support personal growth.

Three services are offered through the Royal Hawaiian Guard program

  1. Hawaii Drill Competitions services - supporting all aspects of JROTC drill team competition with civilian and US Military stakeholders.

  2. Community Honor Guard services - supporting all community events with priority for Native Hawaiian events with protocols and ceremonial functions as an Honor Guard.

  3. Hawaii Military Style Drill coaching and exhibition services - providing High School level coaching in the art of Hawaii Military-style Drill.

Population(s) Served: Military personnel, At-risk youth, Young adults, Veterans, and Native Hawaiians.

IDENTITY - the ALOHA MEANS PROGRAM

The Aloha Means program is formed to challenge people to discover the meaning of Aloha and apply it to their lifestyle.

The program focuses on three services.

  1. Hawaii Aloha project - an interactive learning map featuring cultural stories developed in partnership with Hawaii schools.

  2. Farm Feed Empower project - a work/study program for youth 15-24 years old that teaches how to live Aloha and Pono by providing meals for our elderly food insecure from resources they learned to grow, harvest, and prepare for consumption in partnership with local farms and restaurants.

  3. Hoʻokahiko project - a youth and family service connecting to the Kanaka ʻŌiwi kahiko practices and traditions of Hawaii.

Population(s) Served: Young adults, Adolescents, Native Hawaiians, Economically disadvantaged people, and Farmers.

opportunity - the hoʻomāhua initiative

Formed to Harness Smart, Regenerative, Community-Based Tourism to create thriving communities. The initiative has five key goals

  1. Advance Native Hawaiian economic resiliency;

  2. Perpetuate Native Hawaiian culture;

  3. Improve tourism management and community planning;

  4. Grow the Hawaii circular economy;

  5. Positively impact communities through tourism and technology.

Utilizing cutting-edge technology, we look to connect visitors directly to our native community businesses and organizations while easing the burden placed on our resources through a common-sense approach of providing real-time data of flow and traffic to all areas tourists heavily visit.

The technology will provide opportunities for sector growth in coding, GIS, GPS, LiDAR, Data Analytics, and IoT devices as we identify solutions to address the needs of the County and State to manage tourism and spur a circular economy to obtain then reach beyond a steady-state economy within our communities.

Population(s) Served: Economically disadvantaged people, Native Hawaiians, and Academics.