Grants
Advertiser Staff
$20,000 goes to Maui facility
The Atherton Family Foundation has awarded $20,000 to the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center's capital campaign to build Maui's first intergenerational center, which will include an adult daycare facility and a preschool.
The adult facility will provide daytime activities for adults who are physically or mentally challenged, frail, elderly or diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.
The preschool will offer a curriculum-rich learning environment for 3- and 4-year-olds in central Maui, with weekly themes emphasizing intergenerational activities.
"One of the purposes stated in the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center's articles of incorporation is 'to recognize the youth and the elderly as our greatest resource and to provide for them as a necessity,' " said President Hiroshi Arisumi.
"In today's world of single-parent and dual-income households ... our intergenerational center will address an important need in the community as it provides a nurturing environment for the oldest and the youngest among us."
Cameron Center gets $5,000
The J. Walter Cameron Center received $5,000 from First Hawaiian Foundation, the charitable arm of First Hawaiian Bank, to support its annual fund drive.
Audrey Rocha-Reed, the center's president and chief executive officer, said the grant will pay for operations, as air-conditioning repairs this year had been costly.
Mentors to help inmates' kids
Hawai'i Youth Services Network has received a grant from the federal Department of Health and Human Services to train adults to mentor children whose parents are incarcerated.
"More than 5,000 children in Hawai'i have a parent in prison," said Judith Clark, Hawaii Youth Services Network executive director. "The need for a mentoring program for these keiki is especially great because many of our prisoners are housed on the Mainland or on another island from their families. Maintaining communication and relationships is very difficult for these families."
Studies show that children with a parent in prison are seven times more likely than the general public to become incarcerated themselves.
UH projects get federal support
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $19,480 to the University of Hawai'i to support environmental education projects.
The grant will allow K-12 students and teachers to learn about local environmental issues using the Malama I Ka Aina curriculum.
Workshops will be held to teach community members about new environmental technologies and how to use those ideas to address issues involving the Ala Wai Canal watershed.
Finally, a hands-on, problem-based bioremediation demonstration project will be established involving students, teachers and the community.
