12 nonprofits win OHA grants

Advertiser Staff

Twelve nonprofit organizations that work to provide services ranging from a summer camp on Hawaiian culture to an HIV care and prevention program have received more than a half-million dollars in aid approved by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs board of trustees.

The community grants, totaling $556,560, comprised the second round of allotments reviewed and issued by OHA since the waiving of a law barring the grants.

The OHA grants program had been suspended in 2001 because of a conflict in the state procurement law that gives only state legislators the authority to issue grants of state money.

The following year, legislators enacted a waiver from the state procurement laws, enabling OHA to pay out grants approved before the suspension. On March 18, the trustees approved the first set of grants under the reinstated program, a total of $696,785 in 23 awards.

OHA trustees must approve grants greater than $25,000; smaller grants need only the OHA administrator's clearance.

Recipients of the latest grants:

• Friends of 'Iolani Palace: $49,770 to begin work on the publication of Ali'i Papers, a six-volume series of the personal papers of Kalakaua, Lili'uokalani and the Cleghorn family.
• Halau Haloa: $37,000 to represent Hawai'i in the ninth Festival of Pacific Arts to be held in Belau (Palau).
• Hale Na'au Pono: $44,653 to support a program providing Wai'anae Coast families referrals to services.
• Hawai'i Family Services: $50,000 to the Tutu Support Program for grandparents raising grandchildren.
• He Kula Na Mea Hawai'i: $50,000 to conduct Camp Ka'u, a summer camp promoting Hawaiian cultural cultural activities and environmental stewardship.
• Kaua'i Community College: $49,737 to support the Ka Hale Pono project, a youth and family program for the Anahola community.
• Ma Ka Hana Ka 'Ike: $35,000 for the Hana School Building Program, which provides hands-on experience for youth through building projects for the Hana community.
• Maui AIDS Foundation: $44,406 for HIV/AIDS services for Hana and Moloka'i.
• Pacific American Foundation: $49,500 to promote "Kahea Loko, the Call of the Pond," a curriculum based on Hawaiian culture and fishpond practices.
• Pacific Resources for Education and Learning: $46,500 for a program helping parents work with behavioral problems of their children.
• Pauoa Elementary School: $50,000 for the Pauoa Intergenerational Literacy Education Program.
• Wai'anae Coast Community Alternative Development Corp.: $49,994 to "A Chance to Work," an employment education and job readiness program for mentally disabled adults.