HCAP Weekly May 11, 2015

In this week’s issue:

Honolulu Theatre for Youth Uses Creative Performance to Engage Preschoolers
HCAP 2015 Community Survey
Kumuhonua Resident and US VETS Participant Secures Employment and Permanent Housing
Kalei’opu’u Elementary School Holds Annual Donation Drive for Central District Service Center
Hā Initiative Students Tackle Lessons on the Human Skeletal System
Leahi District Service Center Reaches Out to Seniors at Kulaokahua Apartments

Honolulu Theatre for Youth Uses Creative Performance to Engage Preschoolers

(In photo from left to right: Joy Barua, MBA, MA-OC, Director of Community Benefit & Health Policy at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii; Eric Johnson, Artistic Director of Honolulu Theatre for Youth; Lynn Cabato, HCAP Head Start Director, Rudy R. Marilla, MBA, MPH, Vice President of Clinical Operations Support and Community Benefit at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii)

Princess Victoria Kaiulani Elementary School welcomed Honolulu Theatre for Youth (HTY) to lead an interactive creative performance for students, exploring the use of educational theater as a way to engage preschoolers. HTY’s “Healthy & Happy Initiative” was created in partnership with HCAP Head Start, and funded through a $20,000 community health grant provided by Kaiser Permanente.

Head Start, a federal program specializing in early childhood education, developed age-appropriate messages in conjunction with HTY’s production team. Characters and themes touched on how to deal with new experiences, unfamiliar feelings and fears as a way to promote emotional and mental health in young children, a main focus of the Healthy & Happy Initiative.

“Using vibrant and compelling personalities to create characters is a wonderful way to connect with early learners,” said Lynn Cabato, director of the Head Start program. “Our teachers, parents and staff were delighted to work alongside HTY’s production team to develop emotional health messages that would resonate with young children through educational theater.”

More than 300 preschoolers will participate in the Happy & Healthy Initiative in-school workshops and performances by the end of May. Additional showings by HTY are projected to reach nearly 6,000 others statewide.

HCAP 2015 Community Survey

The Honolulu Community Action Program, Inc. has created the 2015 Community Survey and is asking for community participation. This survey will allow HCAP to collect qualitative and quantitative data to use in producing our Community Needs Assessment (CNA).

The CNA presents data specifically on the needs and characteristics of low-income individuals and families in our agency’s service area, the City and County of Honolulu, which includes the entire island of Oahu. Once collected, the data is analyzed to determine significant areas of need, identify any potential gaps in HCAP’s programs and services, and to develop goals and objectives accordingly.

The survey is currently available online and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete; participants will remain completely anonymous. We welcome everyone to participate in the survey, which will be available online until May 31st at 11:30pm.

To access the 2015 Community Survey, please click here.

Kumuhonua Resident and US VETS Participant Secures Employment and Permanent Housing

Linda came to HCAP’s Kumuhonua Transitional Living Center through the U.S. VETS ADVANCE Hawaii Women’s Program (AHWP) in October 2014 after losing her housing due to loss of income and employment. Throughout her participation with HCAP and AHWP, Linda was able to work on maintaining her mental well-being and independently secured employment in Waikiki. She also secured permanent housing with the assistance of the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program within six months and has transitioned nicely! We wish Linda all the best of luck in her next chapter.

Kalei’opu’u Elementary School Holds Annual Donation Drive for Central District Service Center

For over five years, HCAP’s Central District Service Center has partnered with Kalei’opu’u Elementary School in Waipahu, which holds an annual donation drive to give back to the community. This year, over 4,000 canned goods and hygiene products were collected and donated to the Central District Service Center. The donated goods were then dropped off at HCAP’s Kumuhonua Transitional Living Center.

The generous donation included a wide variety of canned vegetables, meats, fruits, toilet paper, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, and other various hygiene products. HCAP would like to give a big mahalo to all the generous students and the dedicated staff and teachers at Kalei’opu’u Elementary School.

Hā Initiative Students Tackle Lessons on the Human Skeletal System

This week at the Hā Initiative: Creative STEM After-School Programʻs Kalihi STEM Exploration Center, students continued working with the Full Option Science System: “Human Body” curriculum. The students continued to refine their knowledge of the human skeletal system and, by the end of the week, were able to correctly identify at least ten major bones of the human body and several joints.

They then put their knowledge and skills to use in a game called “Keiki Doctor,” where they each took turns playing either an emergency room patient or doctor. The doctor’s job was to ask the patient a series of questions and/or refer to example x-ray images to make a diagnosis of the patient’s ailment. For example, the student would deduce from a dark line in the x-ray image and the symptoms of pain near the wrist (but not in the wrist itself) that the patient had a fractured radius bone.

Leahi District Service Center Reaches Out to Seniors at Kulaokahua Apartments

Last week, the HCAP Leahi District Service Center staff stopped by Kulaokahua Apartments to present information on HCAP’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). Kulaokahua Apartments houses homeless seniors who are at least 62 years old and who are referred by outreach agencies and emergency shelters.

Throughout their visit at Kulaokahua Apartments, the Leahi District Service Center staff gave a presentation to residents about the qualifications and benefits of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), and job duties of a SCSEP worker; about 10 seniors who were seeking employment attended the presentation. HCAP hopes to continue enrolling more seniors into SCSEP, which provides subsidized hands-on training and assists program participants in finding unsubsidized employment.