Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 8, 1 August 1996 — Multi-Service System directs Hawaiians in need [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Multi-Service System directs Hawaiians in need

by Patrick Johnston A Hawaiian boy on a neighbor island develops a heart condition. His parents have little money but are anxious to help their child. Not knowing what to do the family gets on a plane and comes to Honolulu to get treatment. Unfortunately they have no accommodations reserved and

cannot pay for a hotel room. It sounds like a recipe for disaster. It would have been, if not for an information and referral project administered by Alu Like and funded by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Alu Like's Multi-Service System was started up five years ago after a needs assesment study determined that

Hawaiians needed a lot of the services offered by agencies around the state but were not aware of what was available. "In 1988," explains System Coordinator Noella Kwon, "the Hui Imi task force did a Hawaiian needs assessment study and eame up with a number of recommendations. One was for a one-stop service to provide information to Hawaiians about programs that could assist them." Alu Like's Multi-Service System is made up of five Multi-Service centers, one on Hawai'i, Kaua'i, Maui, Moloka'i, and O'ahu. Eaeh is staffed by an island representative. The centers offer information and referral to individuals or families needing various forms of assistance. In the case of the boy with the heart eondition, the family was able to get aeeommodations through a special program at a loeal hotel. "Housing aid seems to be the biggest need, along with medical expenses," says Harriet 0'Sullivan, 0'ahu's island representative. "Many also eall about employment." On O'ahu, 0'Sullivan has a list of nearly 40 agencies she regularly refers callers to. She also uses the ASK 2000 database, a

state information and referral service that provides the names of non-profit service agencies and lists eligibility requirements. Services offered range from pro bono legal services to help with food stamps. Island representatives also encourage callers to help themselves. "I help people think out their problem. I tell them that they are eapahle of helping themselves" 0'Sullivan says, adding that many individuals just need to be guided through the process of working things out. With cutbacks at agencies across the state part of 0'Sullivan's work includes keeping in touch with different agencies to ensure that they are still afloat and still offering the same services. "So many resources have

dned up, she points out. I eall different organizations to find out

what's happening. I stay as close as I ean with the different groups."

Alu Like MultiService Centers lnformation anā referal Hawai'i 961-2625 (Hilo) Maui 242-9774 Moloka'i 553-5393 O'ahu 524-3854 Kaua'i 245-8545

O'ahu Multi-Service System lsland Representative Harriet 0'Sullivan Photo by Patrick Johnston