Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 1 January 1983 — KOKUA FOR IWA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

KOKUA FOR IWA

"W'hat is the Oliiee ol Hawanan Atlairs? a question trequentl> asked It is people helping people. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is Maile Reigh, aconcerned Hawaiian alerting the Office of the critical needs of Hawaiian sun i\ ors on the Wai'anae Coast. The Office of Hawaiian \ffairs responded to her request and our Human Ser\ ices Officer. along \\ith Maile Reigh, met with the O'ahu lsland I rustee. Hayden Burgess. Between them adefinite course of action \\as developed. They sought information and advice from community leaders who had the'pulse" of the residents of Wai'anae. such as Francis MeMillen. Center Manager of the Wai'anae-Nanakuli Community Ser\ ices Center: Representative Peter Apo. who made the first report on the extent of damage experienced in Wai'anae; Aunty Agnes Cope, Director of the Wai'anae Coast Culture and Art Society: and heard concerns from se\eral unnamed Hawaiian residents. After identifving the needs. the\ \\ent looking for help. whieh was plentiful and readily a\ailable. The problem was that those with the resources did not know what was needed. where it was to go. and how to ensure that materials to be distributed would get to those who needed it. So how does the Office of Hawaiian Affairs work? With people! The Office. during the recovery after Hurricane Iwa. acted as a liaison between those who helped and those who needed help. Ed Webb of the Honolulu Chapter of the American Red Cross with staff help from Gordon Willoway. Toni Strauch and Jean Park were the major source help. The staff ol the Wai'anae Coast Culture and Art Society together with the Alu Like staff from Hale Ola pooled their energies under the direction ol Aunty Agnes Cope and distributed food. cooking supplies and candles to Nanakuli and Ma'ili residents who were without electricity. The next night.the Honolulu Community Action Program staff established a food distribution point in Wai'anae. While this was going on. Representative Joseph Leong was surveying the Mokule'ia and North Shore Areas. Senators Charles T oguchi looked over hurricane damage and needs of the Windward Coast. Again. based on eommunit\' input, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs representatives established a food distribution point at the Hale'iwa Community Center. There Mathilda and her staff in conjunction with volunteer senior citizens got food for those electricity black-out victims of Mokule'ia. Waialua. Pupukea and scattered points on the North Shore. As O'ahu stabilized. filtering food and help to the eommunit\ disaster \ictims. the Office of Hawaiian Affairs \\ent to Kaua'i and Ni'ihau. On Kaua'i. Trustee Moke Keale and Carmen "Boots" Panui spearheaded the eoordinating of Red Cross support to the communities. This experience of helping \ictims of Iwa is a typical example of the Office and how it works. Just plain people helping people. Like Bobbie Chai who delivered all the food to all the O'ahu food distribution sites seven days a week. working way into the night taking in return only the smiles and thank you's of grateful people. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is. . .Hawaiians looking out for their community members.

The remains of the Koloa Landing. (Photos hy Boots Panui, Kauai Office of OHA)

Damage caused by Humeane Iwa at the previous!y restored Kuhio Park. Restoration was funded hy the Office of Hawaiian Affairs under an 'ili'ili grant.