HCAP Weekly March 20, 2017

In this week’s issue:

HCAP Head Start Children Visit the Hawaii State Capitol to Advocate for Early Childhood Education
HCAP Main Office Moving to New Location
HCAP Recognized by Hawaii State Legislature for Homeless Initiative
Palolo STEM Students Build Bionic Hand
Leahi Kupuna Learn about Advance Care Planning
Income Tax Services Volunteer Gives Back to the Community

HCAP Head Start Children Visit the Hawaii State Capitol to Advocate for Early Childhood Education

Last week, HCAP Head Start staff and parents visited the Hawaii State Capitol to advocate and share about the importance of Early Childhood Education during Education Week. This week, it was the HCAP Head Start children’s turn, as the children from Dole Head Start and Lanakila Head Start paid a visit to State Senator Ronald D. Kouchi’s office and attended the Hawaii State Senate Chamber recognition presentation of students, teachers, and education administrators, including HCAP Head Start Director Lynn Cabato, who was recognized for her many years of service to HCAP Head Start. They carried drawings and signs made in class, urging the Hawaii State Legislature to support early childhood education. The Early Childhood Education Day was made possible by Hawaii Children’s Action Network (HCAN), which had organized the event. A big mahalo to Senator Kouchi for the tour and HCAN for making this day possible!

HCAP Main Office Moving to New Location

It is with great anticipation and pleasure to notify you that on March 29, 2017, we will be relocating HCAP’s Main Office to 1132 Bishop Street, Suite 100, Honolulu 96813. The direct entrance to our new office will be conveniently located on Fort Street Mall in the Bishop Place building, right across the mall from Red Pepper and Fort Street Cafe. Our phone number will remain the same at (808) 521-4531.

HCAP’s Main Office will be open for business at 33 South King Street, Suite 300 until March 24, 2017. The Main Office will be closed from March 27th – 28th.

All other HCAP program offices, district service centers, and classrooms will remain open for business as regularly scheduled. The district offices may have a short period of telephone and Internet down time from March 27th – March 28th.

If you have any questions about the new location or our services, please call us and we will be happy to help. We look forward to seeing you at our new location.

HCAP Recognized by Hawaii State Legislature for Homeless Initiative

HCAP Director of Community Services Tehani Diaz is shown above with Aloha United Way (AUW) President and CEO Cindy Adams, AUW Housing Program Manager Jay King, and AUW Chief Operating Officer Norm Baker. On Wednesday, March 22nd, Tehani attended a special presentation at the State House of Representatives and Senate Gallery recognizing Aloha United Way and partner agencies, like HCAP for their work to combat homelessness with the Coordinated Statewide Homeless Initiative (CSHI). HCAP’s Hale Kakou- Rent, Deposit, and Utility Assistance Program was a part of CSHI and offered from October 2016 to January 2017. The program dispersed $124,234 and helped 72 individuals and families. A total of 270 men, women, and children were positively impacted from the program.

Palolo STEM Students Build Bionic Hand

Last week, students at the Hā Initiative: Creative STEM After-School Program’s Palolo STEM Exploration Center built a cardboard bionic hand. The activity was not only fun for the students, but also educational, as they learned about the human hand and the parts of the hand that enables it to move. The class discussed and agreed upon the materials they can use to represent each moving part of the hand: rubber bands for muscles, cardboard for bones, tape for joints. The students then broke up into groups, and proceeded with the design and construction phase. The main objective of the project was to build a hand that can pick up three different items. Although students were given step-by-step instructions on how to create movable fingers, each member of the group had shared their own ideas and plans for building the rest of the hand, and group consensus had to be formed. The activity was not only an exercise in critical thinking and problem solving, but also allowed the students to practice using effective communication skills during collaborative projects.

Leahi Kupuna Learn about Advance Care Planning

This week, Ivy from the Hawaii State Department of Health, Public Health Nursing Branch visited the Kupuna Independent Life Series at St. Augustine by the Sea Church to educate the Leahi kupuna about advance care planning. Ivy explained to kupuna that advance directives are legal documents that plan your medical care in advance in case you become too ill to communicate your wishes.

The legal documents in the advance care planning process include a Power of Attorney (POA), Living Wills, and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST). POA allows a trusted person to make health care decisions for you. Those who are appointed a power of attorney must know your wishes. This person could be a family member, friend, or even a lawyer or attorney. Living wills explain your wishes when you cannot make decisions for yourself, specifically regarding end-of-life preferences. Though living wills explain your wishes, they aren’t always honored because they aren’t medical orders. This is where the POLST comes in. POLST is a doctor’s order used when you cannot speak for yourself.

Ivy explained that Advanced Care Planning is very important for our kupuna, but it is also beneficial for individuals of all ages. The Leahi District Service Center would like to thank Ivy and the Department of Health Nursing Branch for continuing to provide services to our Kupuna.

Income Tax Services Volunteer Gives Back to the Community

HCAP’s Income Tax Services has been open to the public since February 1st, and will run until April 7, 2017. HCAP staff has been preparing hundreds of tax returns, and the help from our volunteers has been invaluable. Kala, a volunteer from the Central District Service Center, is working on our free tax preparation program. Like many of our volunteers, Kala has displayed exceptional work ethic in assisting HCAP clients with their tax returns. An HCAP volunteer with Central District Service Center since August 2015, Kala finds her work with the Income Tax Services rewarding. For Kala, the best part about preparing tax returns is seeing how happy her clients are when they realize that they are getting a tax refund.