Congresswoman Hirono Announces $2,581,287 in Federal Funding to Support Native Hawaiian Education Programs

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) today announced $2,581,287 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grants that will support a wide-range of Native Hawaiian education programs throughout the island chain. Congresswoman Hirono is a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

The Department of Health and Human Services works closely with state and local governments as numerous HHS-funded services are provided at the local level by state or county agencies, or through private sector grantees.

Here are the Hawaii Grant Award Descriptions:

$494,726.00 for Na Kamalei-Koolauloa Early Education Program

Awarding Office: Administration for Native Americans

Island: Oahu

This funding will support Native Hawaiian Family-Strengthening Curriculum Pilot and Comprehensive Activities along Oahu’s North Shore and Windward side from Waimea Bay to Kualoa Point near Kaneohe.  Family-child interaction learning programs are at the heart of this effort.  Children attend early learning classes three times a week with their parents, grandparents or another adult from the family.  The program also offers home support, cultural and science activities in the Punaluu Discovery Garden, as well as literacy and language development assistance.

$441,788.00 for Edith Kanakaole Foundation

Awarding Office: Administration for Native Americans

Island: Hawaii

This funding will be used to instruct university students on how to perform archival research, and then apply that research toward improving the way the Native Hawaiian community works and “communicates” with the aina (land).  The project is in keeping with the Edith Kanakaole Foundation’s mission to turn the aina, which once lay to waste due to years of abuse and neglect, and make it productive once again. The overarching goal is to have members of the island community attain a better understanding of this type of work and take the experience and apply it to their own lives.

$376,690.00 for Pukoa Kani Aina Community Development Corporation

Awarding Office: Administration for Native Americans

Island: Hawaii

This federal funding will be utilized to implement the organization’s Mohala i ka wai: Native Hawaiian Community Impact Organization.  Mohala i ka wai will assist and support community educational organizations serving native Hawaiian communities who would like to increase their impact and achieve significant social change for Native Hawaiians, particularly in the area of education.  These organizations may include Hawaiian culture-focused charter schools, charter schools located in communities with a large Hawaiian population, as well as afterschool and intercession programs focusing on Hawaiian culture and place-based projects.

The areas of assistance and support include strategic planning, fund development planning and implementation, Human Resource assistance, program development and public relations.

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