HCAP WEEKLY March 21, 2022

Kūpuna Continues Job Training at HCAP’s Central District Service Center

Central District Service Center staff are excited to welcome Jo Ann, their Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) trainee receptionist, back to the office. SCSEP is a federally-funded job training and work placement program for older adults, and HCAP is certified as a SCSEP training site. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Jo Ann was furloughed from her SCSEP trainee receptionist position at HCAP. 

Jo Ann did her best to stay safe and healthy at home through the pandemic, and eventually found another trainee receptionist position, although not at HCAP. Jo Ann enjoyed her new job, but she was thrilled when she learned that she could return to her former position at HCAP’s Central District Service Center. Jo Ann feels great to be back at her old desk, taking calls and learning new things while helping her community. She is looking forward to improving her computer skills, and sharing HCAP’s programs and services with the public. Central District Service Center staff are very happy to have Jo Ann back in the office, and to be involved with the SCSEP program, which is rewarding both for participants and staff.

Head Start Keiki Build a Town

The keiki at Puʻuhale Head Start are learning about buildings and community helpers. To expand upon their learned knowledge and make real-world connections, they pretended to be carpenters, architects, plumbers, and electricians.

The keiki creatively designed, wired and constructed a town out of cardboard boxes. The products of their ingenuity included a skyscraper, a post office, an apartment building with several stories and an elevator, streets with traffic signals, parking stalls for vehicles, and a firehouse.

HCAP Head Start & Early Head Start applications for the 2022-2023 school year are open now! Click Here for more information and how to enroll your keiki.

Kalihi-Palama District Service Center Forms Partnership with Kalihi Halfway House

HCAP’s Kalihi-Palama District Service Center has recently developed a partnership with a halfway house in Kalihi Valley, to connect residents with HCAP programs and services. The owner of the house initially brought his residents to Kalihi-Palama District Service Center to receive food assistance. Staff shared information about HCAP’s programs and services with the owner, including the Nā Lima Hana Employment Core Services Program (ECS). 

Kalihi-Palama District Service Center staff and the owner of the halfway house agreed that employment services could be a catalyst for residents to get back into the workforce, and transition out of the halfway house. Through this new partnership, 7 of 13 residents at the halfway house are now enrolled in HCAP’s ECS program. To support newly-employed participants, the ECS program provided Holo Cards, work uniforms, safety items, PPE, and other materials and tools. Within a month of enrolling, 5 residents have already found permanent employment. Kalihi-Palama District Service Center staff are looking forward to continuing this partnership, and helping the halfway house residents achieve self-sufficiency through HCAP programs.

Hā Initiative Students Learn About Viscosity with Oobleck

Hā Initiative students at Lincoln Elementary made Oobleck, a non-Newtonian fluid, by mixing cornstarch and water. Oobleck gets its name from a book by Dr. Seuss, called “Bartholomew and the Oobleck,” in which Oobleck is a mysterious substance that falls from the sky. Students learned that Newtonian fluids, such as water or gasoline, have a constant viscosity, but the viscosity of a non-Newtonian fluid changes. Non-Newtonian fluids like Ooblek, silly putty, and ketchup can mimic the qualities of a solid or a liquid. Students observed that Ooblek takes the shape of whatever is holding it; it can feel like a solid when held in a ball, but becomes liquid-like in the palm of an open hand.