Resource Center Onsite
Community Partners - (updated 5/22/26
YWCA
YWCA of Kaua‘i is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
Hoʻōmana Community Connection
Through an outreach grant with YWCA Kauaʻi, Hoʻōmana Services will be offered two days a week through cultural arts–based engagement. This approach centers relationship, trust, and ʻike—connecting with residents in ways that feel familiar and safe, rather than relying on Western models of brochures, flyers, or outside strangers.
By gathering through cultural practices and creative expression, residents are able to share needs, build relationships, and access support organically. This model strengthens community connection, reduces barriers to engagement, and honors the cultural realities of the people who call Kawailehua home.
Kumu Kawena will come two days a week.
Child & Family Service (CFS) is a Hawaiʻi-born, impact-driven, community-based organization with a mission of strengthening families and fostering the healthy development of children.
Our statewide community programs include preschool education, prevention of child abuse and neglect, programs for at-risk youth, domestic violence emergency services, therapeutic counseling, employment assistance, programs for elder care, and more.
Potential After-School Support for Keiki
We are in conversation with Child & Family Service about the possibility of offering an after-school program for keiki at the Kawailehua Family Resource Center.
This program would focus on providing a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment for children after school—supporting social-emotional well-being, positive peer connection, and family stability. Any future programming would be developed in alignment with community needs, cultural values, and the capacity of our partners.
We will share updates as these conversations progress and as opportunities become available.
Keala Foundation
Substance abuse is a major challenge across the islands, particularly among our youth. Hawaiʻi has one of the highest rates of methamphetamine use in the nation and alarmingly high rates of youth suicide, while many communities continue to face limited access to prevention, intervention, and recovery resources.
Drug and alcohol addiction has deeply impacted our culture, families, and keiki. Many of us have witnessed its effects firsthand—losing loved ones or watching young people struggle far too early in life. The reality is painful, but there is always hope, especially when communities come together with care, honesty, and support.
Through trusted community partnerships, including Keala Foundation, youth-centered healing opportunities are available. Keala Foundation offers a free youth engagement program during school breaks, including transportation support, providing keiki with safe, structured, and uplifting activities. They also offer intervention and recovery camps for middle and high school–aged boys, creating space for healing, accountability, and positive transformation.
These programs are profoundly impactful—offering youth connection, guidance, and a path forward rooted in resilience, responsibility, and community care.
HPHA
Resident councils provide a way for you to work and negotiate with the housing authority, work on community concerns, and get to know your neighbors. This guide will walk you through how to form a duly-elected resident council, the responsibilities and opportunities of resident councils, and structure.
Health Department: We plan to leverage their grants and outreach programs around safety for keiki. We plan to provide bike helmets, shoes, uku kits, laundry soap, hygeine supplies for Elderly, Keiki, Disabled.
Community Safety & Collaborative Policing
We have been working alongside the Kauaʻi Police Department to help find a balanced, community-policing approach that is appropriate for public housing communities and the unique demographics we serve.
Our focus has been on strengthening communication, reducing harm, and creating a clear, trauma-informed safety protocol that allows HPHA, KPD, and Child Welfare Services (CWS) to coordinate effectively—as these systems are intended to do. When agencies work together with clarity and respect, communities are safer and residents are treated with greater dignity.
This work is ongoing. We recognize that rebuilding trust and streamlining systems takes time, consistency, and shared accountability.
We are encouraged by the leadership of Kauaʻi’s new Police Chief, who comes to the table with cultural awareness and lived understanding of Hawaiʻi, having been born and raised on Oʻahu, as well as professional experience teaching community policing at the San Diego Police Academy. This combination of local insight and community-policing expertise offers an important opportunity to move forward in a way that is both effective and culturally grounded.
We look forward to continuing this work—strengthening partnerships, improving coordination, and building safety approaches that truly serve the people who call this community home.
Legal Aid & Immigration Support
We are working to ensure immigrant families in our community have accurate information, legal support, and practical tools to protect their families and livelihoods.
In partnership with trusted legal aid and community organizations, we are organizing on-site workshops at the Kawailehua Family Resource Center to help residents with:
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Visa and immigration status questions
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Work permit applications and renewals
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Understanding rights and responsibilities
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Accessing appropriate legal referrals
In addition, we have been supporting immigrant households in creating family safety and care plans—including preparation for who will care for children and how families can stay connected if a parent or caregiver is detained. These plans are especially important in mixed-status families and households with U.S. citizen children.
Regardless of politics, this is a real and present concern for many families. Clear information, lawful processes, and calm preparation help reduce fear, prevent unnecessary harm, and protect children and elders from sudden destabilization.
Our goal is not alarm, but stability, dignity, and informed support, delivered in a way that is culturally respectful and grounded in trust.
Kauaʻi Action Planning Alliance Partnership
The Kauaʻi Action Planning Alliance has been pivotal in supporting and strengthening our organizing efforts from the very beginning.
Through their Resiliency Project, they have connected us with trusted community partners across their network, helping build relationships rooted in collaboration, shared values, and long-term impact.
They have also provided several hours of paid consulting with experienced community organizing professionals, offering guidance, strategy, and capacity-building at critical moments in our development.
In addition, Kauaʻi Action Planning Alliance is serving as a fiscal partner during our initial setup phase, supporting responsible stewardship and accountability as we build toward long-term sustainability.
We are deeply grateful for their partnership and are honored to be working alongside an organization so committed to resilience, equity, and community-led solutions on Kauaʻi.
Marshallese Association of Kaua‘i
Cultural Bridging & Community Healing
A core part of this work is bringing our community together across cultural lines, with intention, respect, and shared responsibility.
Through partnership with Jeff Thomas, the Micronesian Association of Kauaʻi, and We Are Oceania, we are actively working to strengthen relationships between Micronesian families and their Polynesian relatives here in Hawaiʻi.
This collaboration has been pivotal to our work.
Together, we are creating space for:
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Cultural understanding and respect
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Open communication and trust-building
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Shared approaches to community health and well-being
This is especially important right now, as many COFA (Compact of Free Association) immigrant families are facing increasing instability and uncertainty due to shifting policies and a broader climate that can feel unwelcoming.
Rather than allowing division, we are choosing to come together intentionally—grounded in shared island values, ʻike, and lived experience.
Our goal is simple:
To ensure all families in this community feel seen, supported, and connected, regardless of where they come from.