Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 6, 1 June 2010 — OHA BOARD TAKES MEETINGS ON THE ROAD [ARTICLE]

OHA BOARD TAKES MEETINGS ON THE ROAD

By Ka Wai Ola staff

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees kicked off its statewide community meetings May 19 on Kaua'i in an ongoing effort to inform the public of OHA programs and listen firsthand to beneficiary concerns. To informthe public about OHA's new Strategic Plan, OHA Chief Operating Officer Stanton Enomoto highlighted the six priority areas that OHA will focus on through 2016. Besides the strategic priorities

of: Ho'okahua Waiwai - Eeonomie Self-Sufficiency, 'Āina - Land and Water, Ho'ona'auao - Education, Ea - Governance, Mo'omeheu - Culture, and Mauli Ola - Heahh, Enomoto also discussed OHA's new roles in Research, Asset Management and Advocacy. And with the state Legislature just ended and the Akaka Bill pending in Congress, OHA Chief Advocate Esther Kia'āina updated the group on state and federal legislation affecting Native Hawaiians. The meeting attracted various groups from Kaua'i, including Queen Deborah Kapule Hawaiian Civic Club, Kaua'i YWCA, Ho'omana and Waipā Foundation. At the Board meeting on Kaua'i the next day, eight graduating seniors of Kula Aupuni Ni'ihau A Kahelelani Aloha visited as the seventh graduating class of the Hawaiian bilingual charter school in Kekaha. The eight graduates were the school's last "park babies" - or students that were taught in a home-school setting at the Kekaha Community Neighborhood Center until 1998, when OHA stepped in and provided funding for supplies and renting a space for classes, at Waimea Boys and Girls Club, said Lauae Kanahele, president of KANAKA's school board. The school received its charter in 2001. "OHA was a godsend," said Kanahele, who attended the meeting with administrator Hedy Sullivan, Kaleo Stevens, a K-6 teachers aide, and Gloria Shintani, who works in food service and community outreach.

Kaua'i Island Trustee Donald Cataluna said he was proud to see that the seeds that OHA helped plant, through grants and other programs, were flowering into success - a sentiment that was also expressed by OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona and Trustee Rowena Akana. ■

MAUI > June 16-6:30 p.m. Community Meeting, Lahaina Civic Center > June 17-9 a.m. Board Meeting, Kā'anapali Beach Hotel, Kanahele Ballroom O'AHU >July 1 -6p.m. Community Meeting, Nānākuli High School HAWAI'I ISLAND > July 14-6:30 p.m. Community Meeting > July 15 — 9 a.m. Board Meeting Both meetings will be held at Hilo Hawaiian Hotel MOLOKA'I >Aug. 18-6:30 p.m. Community Meeting >Aug. 19-9a.m. Board Meeting Both will be held at Kūlana 'Ūiwi Hālau LĀNA'I >Sept. 15 — 6:30 p.m. Community Meeting, Lāna'i High School cafeteria >Sept. 16-9a.m. Board Meeting, site TBA For updates, visit www.oha. org or see future issues of Ka Wai Ola.