Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 9, 1 September 1993 — Alu Like: Working together to improve the Hawaiian condition [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Alu Like: Working together to improve the Hawaiian condition

'E Alu Like mai kakou, e nā 'oiwi o Hawai'i, nā pua mae 'ole..."

Are you looking for a job? Do you know someone with a drug abuse problem? Would you like to start your own business? Alu Like Ine., a non-profit, multiservice agency serving native Hawaiians, might be able to help. Alu Like services range from substance abuse counseling eenters, to entrepreneurial training, to ex-offender rehabilitation. Projects, 17 in all, fall under four different categories, social development, education, employment, and eeonomie development. A significant portion of Alu Like funding comes from federal and state souces. OHA supports Alu Like with over $700,000 to offset administrative costs, and provide salaries for island representatives and business specialists.

Social Development Alu Like's social development projects include providing assistance for adult and youth drug abusers, and programs to improve the lives of the elderly. Youth ATOD projects Alu Like's youth program, Youth ATOD (aleohol, tobacco and other drugs) prevention project, and its Community Youth ATOD Prevention Project are new and aim to tackle the problem of substance abuse at a young age by using kūpuna, kāko'o (support persons), and peers as counselors. The youth project is aimed specifically at adolescents and teenagers. In the future Alu Like hopes to establish a program for children.

Ex-offender project The ex-offender program coordinates with the job placement program to help get prisoners off drugs and on the job. Explains Alu Like executive director Haunani Apoliona, "When we began working with ex-offenders in job placement we recognized there was a need for substance counseling." Elderly services project Alu Like's kūpuna program is a federally funded statewide operation that provides elderly Hawaiians with information about legal and social services, education programs and health assessments. It also provides meals and a wide variety of eultural activities. Education Under education, Alu Like offers computer training classes to prepare Hawaiians for careers in business, promotes the use of information services through its library project and works with the Department of Education to improve vocational education opportunities available to Hawaiian. Vocational education program Alu Like's work with the DOE aims at making vocational education more accessible and successful for Hawaiians. Apoliona says, "Our goal is to advance the success of Hawaiians in vocational education. We work with the DOE and the University of Hawai'i community college system to help them improve the vocational education system, especially for Hawaiians." Apoliona believes vocational education in Hawai'i has lagged

behind the rest of the country and that in today's economy, having the technical education it provides ean be an important asset. Computer training center Alu Like's computer training center is a partnership with IBM and a number of other corporate and educational sponsors. At the end of the course Alu Like helps to find work for graduates. Placement rates for the 18 courses offered to date have been high. Explains Apoliona, "When we begin the course we have a ho'olauna and talk about Hawaiian values. .. We try to reinforce and reawaken many things that these Hawaiian students have brought with them including elements of Hawaiian culture. They start to feel good about themselves and what they are doing. We try to instill some basic technical skills and revitalize their can-do spirit." Native Hawaiian Library project Alu Like's library project encourages the use of information with a traveling van that takes books and audio-video equipment into remote areas of the islands. Part of its activities include community promotions at libraries where they give lectures and put on displays. They also have fellowships for librarians that encourage Hawaiians to get master's degrees in library scienee. Employment Alu Like's employment projects include its flagship Employment and Training procontinued on page 1 7

PUBLIC NOTICE All persons having information concerning possible unmarked human burials outside of designated cemeteries between the Land of Kahului lst on the north to the Land of Keauhou on the south; within or adjacent to the 300 ft wide road alignment corridor of the proposed Ali'i Highway, North Kona, Island of Hawai'i, are hereby requested to contact Mrs. Ruby McDonald, Liaison, Office of Hawaiian Affairs (West Hawai'i), (808) 329-7368, 75-5706 Hanama Plaee, Suite 107, Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i 96740; Mr. Alan T. Walker, Hawai'i Projects Director, or Kepā Maly, Cultural Resources Specialist, at Paul H. Rosendahl, ine. PHRI, (808) 969-1763, 305 Mohouli Street, Hilo, Hawai'i 96720; and/or Mr. Edward Halealoha Ayau, Burials Program Administrator, Department of Land and Natural Resources - State Historic Preservation Division (DLNR-SHPD), (808) 587-0047, P.O. Box 621, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96809.

continued from page 7 gram, administering of the Moloka'i branch of the statefunded J.O.B.S Project, and job assistance for prisoners and former prisoners. Employment and Training Its employment and training programs (On the Job Training, OTJ, Work Experience WEX, Classroom Training) usually work with students, home-mak-ers, prisoners or former prisoners and allow individuals the opportunity to get valuable work experience, a more developed work ethic, and an understanding of the demands of employers by working with a company. "The employment and training program allows for a wide range of options in work experience," says Apoliona, "and gives the client a handle on the expectations of the employer." Alu Like's OTJ (on the job training) works with employers interested in hiring and training individuals, providing half the salary for six months of work with the understanding that they

will take over full responsibility for the salary after the six months. Their WEX (Work Experience) program offers no guarantee of future employment but does give the client an opportunity to gain important job experience. Alu Like's Classroom Training is a financial assistance program that provides support for people going back to school. Moloka'i J.O.B.S The Moloka'i J.O.B.S is a state contract Alu Like administers that works with individuals on Moloka'i to gain needed job training and find employment.

Eeonomie Development Alu Like's eeonomie development projects include an extensive entrepreneurship training program both for adults and young people, a management and technical assistance project to assist these entrepreneurs, and a business service center to provide competitively priced services to

help entrepreneurs with the running of their business. Entrepreneurship Program The entrepreneurship program teaches basic skills, provides opportunities for hands-on experience, and offers instruction on how to put together a business plan. The project works closely with OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund to help ensure that budding business people have access to startup funds. Explains Apoliona, "The NHRLF proved to fill a critical gap because what we were finding was that people were leaming how to go through the process of making a business plan but then they couldn't get financing." OHA now provides funding for the salaries of business specialists, staff that are part of Alu Like's Management and Technical Assistance project, who provide specialized support and help clients carry out the business plan. Business Service Alu Like's business service area provides a variety of support services for their entrepreneurs

including graphics, book-keep-ing, messages and desktop publishing. The youth entrepreneurship program focuses on the schools, training teachers and eommunities in areas with a large Hawaiian population about how to start a business. This year Alu Like is beginning a family business education program in an attempt to copy some of the family business success of immigrants in Hawai'i. Moloka'i Farm Development Poject Alu Like also administers the Moloka'i Farm Development project, a farmers eo-op, that helps in the transportation and processing of farm produce on Moloka'i. To help coordinate the myriad of services, not only that Alu Like provides, but also that are available at the state and federal level, Alu Like, with funding from OHA, has hired five island representatives to help refer individuals to different programs.