Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 9, 1 September 2010 — The Faces of OHA in your community [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Faces of OHA in your community

By Howard Dashefsky, Melissa Moniz, Kathy Muneno and Lisa Asato OHA's Community Outreach Coordinators, or COCs, serve as the agency's representatives on the Neighbor Islands. With six Community Resource Centers, or CRCs, serving East Hawai'i, West Hawai'i, Maui, Moloka'i, Lāna'i and Kaua'i/Ni'ihau, OHA's Community Outreach Coordinators "play a vital role in providing a critical communication and service link to our beneficiaries through the Community Resource Centers," said Dirk Soma, Community Outreach Manager. "Our staff has the knowledge and skills to assist beneficiaries in a multitude of areas and provide OHA with a true pulse of the communities in whieh they serve. We encourage individuals, 'ohana and community groups and organizations to contact our COCs and stop by the CRCs." Here, we highlight OHA's Neighbor Island staff, including longtime staffer Gladys Brigham in Hilo, a full-blooded Hawaiian who was brought up on the principle of helping others, and Noalani Oba, on Kaua'i, who says of her work: "It is an absolute pleasure and privilege to be a part of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Since my time here I have learned and gained so mueh that I have been able to educate myself and others with the different Native Hawaiian issues, views, insights and perspectives within the culture of the Native Hawaiian community. I am so thankful to know that OHA has made it their mission to protect Hawai'i's people, environmental resources and OHA's assets toward ensuring the perpetuation of the eulture, lifestyle and protecting the entitlements of Native Hawaiians while building a strong and healthy Hawaiian people and nahon, recognized nationally and internationally."

Gladys W. Brigham Years at OHA: 20 Job title: Community Outreach Coordinator I Helping others isn't just one of Gladys Brigham's job duties as Conununity Outreach Coordinator at OHA's East Hawai'i office - it's a philosophy she lives by. "Growing up we were taught that you help others," says Brigham. "That's how we were brought up." Raised in Kalapana, Brigham, who is of full Hawaiian descent, recalls that she "lived the Hawaiian culture - playing 'ukulele, making poi, fishing."

And it was church that kept her closely connected to the Hawaiian language. As a teen, Brigham attended Pāhoa High School, where she was honored with the title of May Day Queen in

1 967 and placed in the top 5 at Pāhoa High School's Disco Talent Show. This year, Brigham celebrates two decades with OHA. "I'm thankful to be here at OHA for our beneficiaries," she says. "I'm here to help the people in our eommunity and I want to make myself available to everyone who needs it." She adds, what's most rewarding is providing assistance to our beneficiaries, getting to know their needs and how OHA ean assist. Outside the office, Brigham volunteers feeding the hungry and also donates her time, clothes and food to Salvation Army, the food bank and Keaukaha Elementary School. And she's been active in the Hawaiian Paradise Park Neighborhood Watch Patrol since 2002, where she and her husband, Craig, live. — Melissa Moniz Ruby McDonald Years at OHA: 28 Job title: West Hawai'i Community Outreach Coordinator Walk into the Community Resource Center in Kona and chances

are you'll see Ruby McDonald talking story. And with more than 28 years of service with OHA, there are few stories or inquiries she hasn't heard. "We get so many types of questions because we do everything out here," says McDonald, "from grants and loans to providing advocacy for people." Then there are the days where she provides something more personal. "Right now I'm meeting with a

man who just lost his wife and he needs money for funeral expenses." McDonald says it's that human connection that makes her job fulfilling. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't rewarding. I enjoy my job and I enjoy people." McDonald also loves talking story on her own time. And with five children, 16 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, she never has to look far for a conversation. "We just had a family reunion and we had 500-plus people. Even we were surprised. It was really great." And whether it be guiding her own family members or helping those who walk into her office in search of answers, McDonald says there nothing better than playing the role of teacher. "People eome in and they have nothing," says McDonald. "So I infonn them what we have available and they leave with more knowledge and a better understanding of what OHA offers. I just ask them to eontinue to do what they're doing and never give up. That's the best part." — Howard Dashefsky > Dawn Tanimoto Years at OHA: 5 Job title: West Hawai'i Community Outreach Coordinator I Dawn Tanimoto has her hands full well before she begins eaeh day in her Kona office. After all, she has seven hungry mouths to feed.

Onee at work, she dishes out information - the kind she wishes she knew about back when she was still in school. "I could have used help with the scholarships to help further my own education," says Tanimoto. "Being able to facilitate scholarships is the most rewarding part of the job because beneficiaries need that money to further their education." And perhaps the greatest education is the one Tanimoto provides. "Many of them who eome in are often very lost, and it's our job to guide them," says Tanimoto, a Kawaihae resident. "So we infonn them about what's available and what they qualify for, and where they ean go and get it. Then they leave with a

sense of empowennent." Although she has served more clients than she ean remember, Tanimoto fondly recalls one mother who eame back to see her three times. "She eame back for all her kids

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Kaimana, Pua and Nohea are just three of Dawn Tanimoto's brood of seven Jack Russell Terriers. - Pholo: Courtesy ofDawn īanimoto

to go to college, so it's wonderful to play that special role for her family. I've met the kids. She's trying to put three of them through college, and two more have already graduated." As for Tanimoto's own super seven, there's no college in their future. But that's just fine with Lanakila, Kaimana, Ohea, Pua, Puny, Little Boy and Trouble. They just want to eat, play and sleep. "They are my babies. laek Russell Terriers," says Tanimoto. "So I stay busy at work and at home." — Howard Dashefsky īhelma M. Shimaoka Years at OHA: 28 yrs Job title: Community Resource Coordinator III īhelma Shimaoka holds the

distinction of being one of the lon-gest-serving employees at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. With 28 years of service, the beneficiaries she serves on the island of Maui have eome to know her as someone who gets thejob done. The reward, she says, is "when conununity and OHA work together to complete any project for the betterment of their community." Shimaoka, who is more than 50 percent Kanaka Maoli, grew up in a Filipino culture through adoption. "It wasn't until later years when I was returned to my biological parents did I know my culture (a little), and language was never spoken to any of my siblings," says Shimaoka, who grew up in a more innocent

time when toys were homemade and "our candy was coconut or Hawaiian plums down by the river." "When I went back to my real parents, to me culture was in the taro patch. We learned how to pull taro, elean taro, make kūlolo, make haupia - the foods of Hawaiian taste," she says. She learned the importance of culture and language - and it's something her family benefits from. "My children were brought up with my grandmother on the father's side so they learned the culture," she says. "Fortunately, my grandchildren they're brought up in Pūnana Leo on Moloka 'i, so that made a big difference for them." As for the well-being of the larger 'ohana of the Hawaiian community, Shimaoka says: "OHA has always invited others to be part of the 'Ohana, and it will continue to do so. OHA cannot stand alone, we as people of Hawai'i must always be in unison, and to stand tall, our mission and vision says it all." — Lisa Asato Roy Newton Years at OHA: 12 years, 9 months Job title: Community Outreach Coordinator I If you're out at community events

stretching from Kula in Upcountry Maui to Wailea on the island's west side, chances are you'll see Roy Newton and īhelma Shimaoka sharing information with the eommunity about OHA. "I believe we do make a differenee in the community through the

work we do," says Newton, a graduate of Baldwin School. "I believe we are transparent when we're out there: īhelma and I offer information on programs OHA has, and we encourage all our beneficiaries to get more information and to be involved whether it's Kau Inoa or the Hawaiian Registry, loan programs or scholarships. "We know how expensive it is to go to school, so we get the information out to them so they're aware," he says. A highlight of his job, he says, is the friendships he's made with beneficiaries and service providers at other Hawaiian agencies over his almost 13 years at OHA. It's those friendships that eome in handy when beneficiaries have a question that another agency ean better address. "We get together for the HAO (Hawaiian Agencies and Organizations) meetings bimonthly," he says. The various agencies eome together to share what they're offering, discuss ongoing programs and network. "So if someone should eall and have a eoneem that may not necessarily be an OHA thing, say they're looking for medical assistance, I refer them to Hui No Ke Ola Pono. If they're looking for job assistance or school books, I refer them to Alu Like, and those organizations do the same for us." — Lisa Asato lrene Ka'ahanui Years at OHA: 9 Job title: Community Outreach Coordinator III Whether it be making floral arrangements for friends or decorating the church for weddings or funerals, Irene Ka'ahanui loves nothing more than to give. Her motto is simple. Make every minute of every day count. "As my grandpa said, it's not the riches that you have that get you through the pearly gates," says Ka'ahanui. "It's the kindness that you show people." And for the past nine-and-a-

half years, she's been showing that kindness to her friends and neighbors who walk into her Kaunakakai office. "I used to do community work in an office where I served all nationalities," says Ka'ahanui. "But I always said my life wouldn't be fulfilled until I get to serve my beneficiaries." Now, Ka'ahanui says she is fulfilled. In a way, that's nearly impossible to describe. "That's because every day is a new day and a new adventure in helping people," says Ka'ahanui. "It's as if I' ve finally eome to a plaee where I am content. Content that I am doing so mueh to help so many others." As a fourth-generation veteran, Ka'ahanui also takes great pride in being able to help others who have served their country. But at the end of eaeh day, she says she's thankful for the ehanee to help everyone. And thankful for what she calls the opportunity of a lifetime. "On Moloka'i it ean take forever to get the perfect job because it's such a small island. But finally it happened with OHA. Now I'm so blessed." — Howard Dashefsky Halona Kaopuiki Job title: Community Outreach Coordinator I Years at OHA: 6 A self-described rascal growing up on Moloka'i, Halona Kaopuiki says hitting the surf was priority No. 1. Now in his 50s, mueh has changed.

"It's like a blessing that I started to work at Office of Hawaiian Affairs," says Kaopuiki, a Moloka'i High School graduate. "It humbled me. I'm so blessed that I've been put here to help my people. And I put out 200 percent every day." Kaopuiki says he never took advantage of OHA's services before coming to work for the organization. But he says he always felt a eonneetion. "I remember being so proud when OHA was created. So proud to see this Hawaiian entity, and not realizing down the road I would be one of the people who would be helping my people. It was never in my

dreams," he says. Today, Kaopuiki says there's no better gift than the gift of hope. It's something he gets to deliver ahnost every day. "When I see people eome in here, my people, my beneficiaries, at times they're all confused and puzzled," he says. "But when they leave here with a big smile, it makes my day." And because Moloka'i is so small, Kaopuiki says most everyone who walks through the door knows him, and knows his past as that rascal kid. Now they see him as a respectful man. Something he credits to OHA. "They're all so proud of me now," says Kaopuiki. "This office changed my life completely from a narrowminded person growing up in the sticks to now, this office has broadened my vision for my island and my people." — Howard Dashefsky ■

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