Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 8, 1 August 2021 — OHA Awards $1.77 Million to Help Communities Recover From the Pandemic [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Awards $1.77 Million to Help Communities Recover From the Pandemic

Another $700,000 will go to Kūlia and Native Hawaiian Teacher Education grant awardees By Ed Kalama Programs helping to mitigate learning struggles endured by young learners during the pandemic, provide psychiatric services to Native Hawaiians, and provide food to vulnerable Native Hawaiian communities are among the most recent grant awardees announced by the Ofhce of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). A total of 15 Hawai'i nonprofit organizations on five islands will receive a total of $1.77 million in grant awards through OHA's COVID-19 Impact and Response Grants. The grant program is being offered for the first time to help the community address the mukiple impacts of the global pandemic. "COVID-19 and the resulting global pandemic has had negative effects on the Native Hawaiian community in the areas of education, heakh, housing and economics - areas that we at OHA specifically focus on. It is our hope that by working with our community partners we ean have an impact on mitigating some of those effects," said OHA Board Chair Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey. The OHA Board of Trustees also approved $537,739 in Kūlia Grants to be awarded to six loeal nonprofits. The Kūlia Grant program is OHA's most broad-based grant program, and awards include projects that will offer cultural learning opportunities, a homestead program in Anahola that will nurture 'Ōiwi leaders, and a project that will help preserve and revive the traditional healing art of lā'au lapa'au. Another new grant stream approved

by trustees is the $175,000 Native Hawaiian Teacher Education & Professional Development Grant. The first award will go to the Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture for its "Ka Lama - Teacher Education Academy," whieh will provide a ■ teacher education and credential pathway to individuals interested in teaching in Kula Kaiapuni or Hawaiian-focused charter schools to increase the number of qualified, culturally competent educators. "Whether it's helping the Native Hawaiian community recover from the effects of the global pandemic, offering support to a broad spectrum of eommunity needs, or supporting educational efforts that target Hawaiian students, we will do everything in our power to strengthen our 'ohana and families, help revitalize our mo'omeheu or culture, and mālama our aina - our lands and water," said OHA Board Chair Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey. The purpose of the OHA Grants Program is to support Hawai'i-based nonprofit organizations that have projects, programs, and initiatives that serve our Native Hawaiian lāhui in alignment with the strategic foundations, directions and outcomes of OHA's Mana i Mauli Ola Strategic Plan. These grants are a part of OHA's effort to increase its total community investment to benefit Native Hawaiians and the larger community. So far in 2021, OHA has awarded more than $3 million in 'Ahahui event, Iwi Kūpuna & Repatriation, Homestead, and 'Ohana and Community Program grants statewide to advance its strategic directions in the areas of education, heakh, housing and eeonomie stability. ■ To read Mana i Mauli Ola, visit www. oha ,org/strategicplan.

Keiki learning about the 'ōina at Kōne'ilio. This initiative is part of the INPEACE Kupu Ola grant. - Photo: Solomon Alfapada/INPEACE