Posted on: Sunday, January 6, 2002
Grants
Advertiser Staff
The state Department of Health, in partnership with The Hawai'i Uninsured Project, has received a grant of $149,000 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The grant will support efforts to reduce the number people in Hawai'i without health insurance.
Now in its second year, the Hawai'i Uninsured Project will use the grant to complete a comprehensive survey of current policy in Hawai'i, conduct a review of all state and national policy options, collect and analyze data on Hawai'i's uninsured, and conduct outreach and collect feedback through community meetings.
The work will culminate in a policy summit, out of which will come the basis for a master strategy that involves all sectors working toward solutions to the uninsured problem.
"Hawai'i at one time had the lowest number of uninsured people in the country," said Dr. Virginia Pressler, deputy director of the state Department of Health. "That is no longer true. In the last few years, we have seen that number shoot up. Because of this, the Department of Health has joined with public and private partners to create a broad coalition to deal with the crisis. This grant is absolutely crucial to our work. It will not only allow us to conduct a statewide review, but also has the potential to lead to further funding down the line. This problem won't go away overnight, but working together, we will find solutions."
• The Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation has awarded a $25,000 charitable grant to the USS Missouri Memorial Association earmarked for its capital campaign for restoration and development.
The grant was awarded as a memorial to the late William Donald Castle, who served as a volunteer trustee of the foundation for 42 years and as president for 30 years.
• Castle & Cooke Hawai'i recently donated $3,000 to the Hawai'i Swimming & Diving Legacy Project, a nonprofit group devoted to preserving the history of competitive swimming in Hawai'i.
The donation will be used as seed money to design an exhibit that preserves oral histories, photographs, moving images, trophies, medals, scrapbooks and other memorabilia from Hawai'i's rich swimming and diving history.
