Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 4, 1 April 2021 — OHA Announces Two Additional Grant Solicitations [ARTICLE]

OHA Announces Two Additional Grant Solicitations

By 0ffice of Hawaiian Affairs Staff In late March, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs announced the release of two additional grant solicitations totaling $750,000 to provide needed support and assistance to the Native Hawaiian community. OHA has committed $250,000 to a Native Hawaiian Teacher Education and Professional Development grant designed to increase teacher recruitment and retention in Hawaiian immersion and Hawaiian-focused puhlie charter schools, and $500,000 to its Kūlia grant program designed to improve the lives of Native Hawaiian individuals, families and communities in alignment with OHA's strategic plan priorities. Applications are being solicited from nonprofit organizations that administer community-based projects designed to strengthen Hawaiian beneficiaries, families, and communities. The deadline to apply is April 16, 2021. Earlier in March, OHA committed $1.67 million to aCOVID-19 Response Grant to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Native Hawaiian 'ohana and communities and $1.25 million to an 'Ohana and Community Based Program Grant to support programs specifically designed to bolster the family unit.

Regarding these two grants, OHA Board Chair Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey said, "The COVID-19 pandemic has heavily impacted our Hawaiian community from the loss of employment to our families' ability to provide the necessities of life like food and shelter. These grants will assist with finances in a variety of areas in this time of great need. OHA is enacting a new grants structure that ensures every island will have a share of both of these grants so that there's fairness in the distribution of these assets." According to the Native Hawaiian COVID-19 Research Hui survey of Hawai'i residents in the summer of 2020, 60% of Native Hawaiians reported a negative or very negative impact of COVID- 19 on their 'ohana mental or spiritual health; 5 1 % report ed a negative or very negative impact of COVID-19 on their 'ohana physical health and finances: and 38% reported a negative or very negative impact on their 'ohana access to affordable healthy foods. Earlier this year, OHA announced three other grant solicitions: the Iwi Kūpuna Repatriation and Reinterment Grant, the 'Ahahui Grant, and the Homestead Community Grant. Together with these two latest grant offerings, OHA has thus far eommitted more than $4.25 million in grants in 2021. For more information about OHA's grants program, please visit www.oha.org/grants. ■