Maui Hui Malama

Programs: Maui hui malama's vision is that all maui youth thrive through participation in encouraging, engaging, and effective learning experiences that prepare them to pursue career opportunities and participate in a workforce that provides for our island's future generations through sustainable technology, energy and agriculture, and bolster our islands' economy. For over 40 years, maui hui malama has provided a wide variety of personal development and academic support services to over 20,000 children, their families, and adults in maui county. Maui hui malama's integrative programs have helped participants from various backgrounds to realize personal, academic and employment success. Maui hui malama's evolution is driven by the ever-growing diversity of needs articulated by maui community members. Maui hui malama began as a center for teen mothers, and subsequently expanded its services for all ages. In 2006, maui hui malama turned its focus to include all maui youth ages 11 to 24. Some participants experience difficulty succeeding due to homelessness or abusive households. Some students come to maui hui malama from the public school system after encounters with school disciplinary procedures, family court, or juvenile justice proceedings. Referrals are made to maui hui malama to provide intensive supplemental and support services. Maui hui malama utilizes the desire and objective of obtaining a diploma through a public high school or for adults not only as a necessary step in personal growth and skill building, but also to establish a path for the at-risk youth to discover their individual potential for success. By providing positive examples, maui hui malama changes the poor habits and behaviors of participants to establish a foundation upon which youth may return to the public school setting or obtain their ged diploma and gain employment or related training. Maui hui malama transforms maui's at risk-youth into thriving community members with the ability to adapt, grow and excel in their personal and career journey. To do this, maui hui malama focuses on rebuilding the person - a "being" that can serve as the foundation for learning and doing the necessary things for an enriching life as a positive family, workplace and community contributor. Maui hui malama is the only organization in maui county that addresses the critical needs of a diverse range of youth to enable them to be successful in traditional education and employment environments. Maui hui malama thrives on diversity and personalization. Every one of the youth who has sought our services over the past two years has had previous home, community school, and life challenges, and lacked structure, guidance and support needed to realize success. Maui hui malama's enrichment program serves youth with the highest needs. About 90% of the youth at hui malama have learning, emotional, cognitive, social, or physical issues that have not been identified or properly addressed in other school settings. Between 50% - 70% of our youth have been displaced or living in unstable living conditions due to parental discord, abuse or violence at home or school, chronic health or mental health issues, or some extreme traumatic event related to a trusted caregiver or school official. Maui hui malama prioritizes services to participants who have nowehere else to go due to their highly negative experiences during elementary and middle school years, high absenteeism from school due to being 3-6 years behind their grade level and/or highly complicated personal and family situations. Going beyond just the delivery of content, programs, and activities, maui hui malama does whatever it takes to re-integrate participants into the community and workplace using a holistic and intergrated approach.

maui hui malama is the only agency on maui that provides an integrated combination of personalized activities for at-risk youth, including social, health and wellness, academic, and work-readiness activities. Maui hui malama synthesizes in-depth and comprehensive assessments, school and medical records, and caregiver input to design individual development plans (idp) customized to address each participant's unique strengths, needs, and experiences. In 2011 maui hui malama expanded its approach to address the whole person, including health and wellness, character development, life skills, and workforce preparedness as core components. Maui hui malama organizes experiences around varied experiences indcluding: whole foods nutrition program, culinary arts, and garden; career development and work force preparedness classes/excursions; careers in science and natural resource/cultural management; compassion and character development. Maui hui malama's whole foods nutrition program is the core of maui hui malama's enrichment programs. Through the whole foods nutrition program, youth realize improved academic performance and increased work and life skills. The whole foods nutrition program provides participants with free breakfast, snack and lunch each day to prepare them for a day of learning and high performance. The maui hui malama youth participate in the planning, preparation and cleanup of their meals, and practice table manners and etiquette. Simultaneously, participants learn about nutrition, budgeting, and environmental sustainability, so that they can analyze the costs and benefits of locally grown food versus imported food from a financial, social, cultural, health and environmental perspectives. Participants also plan, develop and maintain the agency garden to produce vegetables and fruit for their meals. They also build on their experiences by visiting local growers and identifying where locally grown food can be purchased. In workforce readiness and character development activities, participants learn how to listen, observe and follow directions, dress appropriately, arrive at work prepared, show initiative and discipline, deal with conflict, and manage disappointment while never giving up. They are also able to meet and talk with members of the maui community who represent a wide range of occupations and are provided with opportunities to particiate in job shadowing mentorships. The goal of the employer mentor program is to recruit employer mentors who provide our youth with knowledge and insight into tomorrow's workforce. The goal for our participants is to have achieved academic success, increased communication skills, improved peer/family relationships, and improved self-confidence as a result of being involed in our employer mentor program. We also partner with maui business leaders and community members to create communtiy venues to highlight maui hui malama in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (stem) as they relate to sustainable living on maui. In addition, the program aims to share knowledge with maui's community about sustainable living and maui hui malama's programming through community venues. The ulitmate goal of the employer mentor program would be to place our participants in an entry level job.

maui hui malama collaborates with many community organizations, services, and resources to inspire and empower caregivers to once again believe in the capability and potential of their children. Public school students and their caregivers, counselors, and community partners often come to maui hui malama after being turned away from other educational or service institutions. Other providers recognize maui hui malama for effectively identifying and coordinating services so that youth facing complex circumstances can achieve stability and rebuild their capacity to achieve success at home, post high school, at work, and in their community. Hui malama strives to insure that each participant experiences success in values-driven environment where they feel safe and valued. These experiences of doing and learning empower our youth by buildng foundations through which they acquire knowledge and skills that they are later able to apply to other aspects of their lives. Working with others to achieve success, inspires participants to continue building their unique strengths so they may realize their potential and thrive in adulthood. With a solid foundation of an aloha mindset, motivation, inegrity and habits of mind, participants are inspired to explore different careers that can contribute to maui's social, cultural, economic, and environmental health for future generations. Our overarching goal is to build caring, compassionate, disciplined individuals who will be valuable contributors at home, at school, at work and in the community. We strive to ensure that each participant seeks ongoing improvement and growth in work and in life through developing and understanding an appreciation of the aloha spirit as defined by hawaii revised statutes 5-7. 5 (the coordination of mind and heart, which "brings each person to the self- and allows each person to think and emote good feelings to others). After participating in maui hui malama's services, participants show improvement in the following areas: ability to understand and honor perspectives that conflict with their own; increased ability to regulate their emotions and express their disappointment in a socially acceptable and respectful way; increased accountability; taking direction without challenging, criticizing, evading, ignoring authority; exhibiting appropriate physical space and interactions within a professional context; proper etiquette (addressing people properly in work, tone, gesture). The aloha spirit is a powerful tool within our community for directing and motivating positive change and development for participants.