The grant will go to PIDF’s latest project, Piha me ka Pono, a new initiative at the Kohala Schools Complex on Hawaiʻi Island that cultivates partnerships to bring needed academic, health, and social support services for the students and their families.

“The Complex’s three schools are Title I eligible and it has been recognized that so many of the students are coming to school with excess baggage,” says Alison Masutani, PIDF Vice President of Operations and the Program Manager for Pili a Paʻa. “Unless we help to remove that baggage, no matter how strong the instruction is, the students will have difficulty learning.”

That ‘baggage’ Masutani is referring to includes poverty, food insecurity, and poor physical, mental or emotional health. One of the Project’s goals is to increase academic achievement of disadvantaged and under-served students through the development of after school enrichment programs that provide positive alternatives for students’ free time. Support from the Nā ʻŌiwi Kāne Fund will go towards two different mentorship programs: sports conditioning and music.

The Piha me ka Pono Project is an offshoot of the existing Pili a Paʻa program, which was created to build teachers’ skills in instructional delivery in order to raise student achievement, particularly for the Native Hawaiian students, and it is also at the Kohala Schools Complex.

The Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HCF) is a 501(c)(3) public charity with over 100 years of community service and is the leading philanthropic institution in the state of Hawaiʻi. HCF is a steward of nearly 800 funds – including more than 200 scholarship funds – created by donors who desire to transform lives and improve communities. HCF distributes over $47 million charitable dollars to support improvements in our local communities annually. HCF also serves as a resource on community issues and trends in the nonprofit sector. For more information, visit their website.

Despite having received a FLEX Grant from HCF in the past, PIDF was no less thrilled to such a generous amount to help support its mission and programs serving Hawaiian families.

“We are ecstatic to receive this grant from the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation,” said PIDF President Jan Hanohano Dill. “They provide much needed unrestricted funds that allow nonprofits like ours to take vital programs to the next level by enhancing or expanding services, developing new programs, securing additional funds for staff trainings and conferences, and more.”

The importance of unrestricted funds cannot be understated. While restricted funds are designated for a special or particular purpose (such as an individual program or project), nonprofits can take unrestricted funds and allocate them to wherever they are needed most.

PIDF was selected as a grantee because of its demonstrated strengths in accountability, achievement of results, and “community connectedness.”

The funds from HCF will go to PIDF operations statewide, programs on specific islands, and PIDF programs supporting healthy development of Hawaiian children and young adults (birth to 20 years old). The specific funds granted to PIDF are as follows:

Jean I. Fennimore Fund
Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Fund
Annie Sinclair Knudsen Memorial Fund
Marisla Fund
Reverend Takie Okumura Family Fund
Tai Up Yang Fund
Henry A. Zuberano Early Education Fund

The FLEX Grants Program would not be possible without the generous sponsorship from these partners and many others.

For more information, contact our communications office at (808) 595-5290.

PIDF’s Nā Pono No Nā ʻOhana’s (Nā Pono) Program was awarded $15,000 to maintain the accessibility and delivery of its comprehensive Family Education program housed at Blanche Pope Elementary School in Waimānalo Homestead Land. Nā ʻŌiwi Kāne Funds received will support program activities such as Nā Pono’s high school equivalency portion of its Adult Education (AE) component, as well as other Family Education components including Home Visiting. The AE component focuses on reaching the 639 Homeless or at-risk individuals in Waimānalo, including approximately 40-45 Competency Based students, 92% who are Native Hawaiian and range in age from 16-77. Home visiting brings additional one-on-one support for children and families, many of who are considered “hidden homeless,” families who stay with others because they cannot afford rent/mortgage on their own and would otherwise be homeless.

PIDF’s Ke Kama Pono Safe House (KKP) was awarded $10,000 to maintain its Education Component, which includes Department of Education (DOE) certified teachers who teach the residents and provide necessary curriculum on site. Through this component, KKP residents are able to receive credits and letter grades for completed assignments of good quality while they are going through the program, which are then transferable to public schools affiliated with the DOE to ensure they stay on track and are able to graduate. KKP is a twelve-bed residential facility for adjudicated male youth between the ages of 13-17. With an average length of stay at six to eight months, all residents receive guided care and instruction during this time from adult role models in order to make positive changes in their lives. Native Hawaiians make up 40% of residents who have gone through the program. The total recidivism for the KKP program currently stands at 29%, whereas the national average for this same age group remains at an alarming 75%.

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ABOUT NĀ ʻOIWI KĀNE
Na Oiwi Kane (NOK), is a nonprofit Native Hawaiian Organization as defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) incorporated in 2002 to serve the needs of the Native Hawaiian Community. NOK’s mission is to serve at-risk families in the Hawaiian Community who are missing a responsible male role model within their households. It is through the family that children learn to be responsible men and woman in our communities. It is through the family that children learn to respect and care for each other and their communities. NOK provides for program support to like-minded organizations in the Native Hawaiian Community who share our mission and values.

ABOUT HAWAIʻI COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
With over 100 years of community service, the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HFC) is the leading philanthropic institution in the state. HCF is a steward of more than 850 funds, including more than 250 scholarship funds, created by donors who desire to transform lives and improve communities. In 2017, HCF distributed more than $59 million in grants and contracts statewide, including more than $6 million in scholarships. HCF also serves as a resource on community issues and trends in the nonprofit sector.

Annie Sinclair Knudsen Memorial Fund
Restricted to support programs/projects benefitting Kauaʻi.

Marisla Fund
Funds restricted to support programs/projects benefitting Kauaʻi.

Reverend Takie Okumura Family Fund
To support programs that support healthy development of Hawaiʻi’s young children (birth to 5 years old) and youth (ages 6-20 years old).

Richard Smart Fund
Funds restricted to support programs/projects benefitting Waimea.

Tai Up Yang Fund

Henry A. Zuberano Early Education Fund

Funds received will benefit PIDF’s Tūtū and Me Traveling Preschool, Hui Hoʻomalu Foster Care program, Ke Kama Pono Safehouse for adjudicated youth, Nā Pono No Nā ʻOhana Family education program on the islands of Kaua‘i Hawai‘i and Oʻahu, as well as PIDF operations statewide. We are most grateful to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and FLEX Grant funders for supporting our work within the many communities in our state.

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With over 100 years of community service, the Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) is the leading philanthropic institution in the state. HCF is a steward of nearly 800 funds, including more than 200 scholarship funds, created by donors who desire to transform lives and improve communities. HCF distributes over $47 million charitable dollars to support improvements in our local communities annually. HCF also serves as a resource on community issues and trends in the nonprofit sector. For more information, visit www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org.

PIDF, a nonprofit public charity incorporated in 1997, serves at-risk families and communities in Hawai‘i through a wide range of free programs in early childhood education, parent education, adult education, support for adjudicated youth, and other social services including civic engagement. The organization consists of nearly 300 employees and 10 programs. All of our programs have collectively served over 80,000 people in over 50 at risk communities across the state. PIDF’s mission is to inspire and equip families and communities for success and service, using timeless Native Hawaiian values and traditions. To learn more, visit pidf.org. Serving Hawai‘i’s Families, Living Hawaiian Values.