Kahua Waiwai, Opio Edition

Building a Foundation of Wealth

Hawaiian Community Assets

• Nonprofit Founded by Hawaiians in 2000– Originated on the Island of Maui

– Today, Statewide Offices

• 5 Board of Directors, 12 full-time staff– Statewide Representation

• Our Mission:– To build capacity of low and moderate income

communities to achieve and sustain economic self-sufficiency with a particular focus on Native Hawaiians.

2 Primary Programs Areas

Hawaiian Community Assets

Financial Literacy Services

Hawaiian CommunityLending

Homebuyer Education

One-on-One Counseling(Foreclosure Prevention)

Youth Financial Education

Loan OriginationAs a Broker

Loan Packaging

Down PaymentAssistance Programs

Why Kahua Waiwai?• Calls from community• Alarming Statistics

– #1 reason for divorce = financial stress– Lowest savings rate in US history– 96% increase in BK for youth ages 18-26 over

last 10 years– More students drop out of college due to

financial reasons than academic failure

• Economic Realities

Partners

• Administration for Native Americans

• State Department of Human Services

• Office of Hawaiian Affairs

• OWEESTA

• Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

• YouthVision

Developed for & by Community

• 4 focus groups with 35 participants statewide

• 20 surveys from Home Buyer Education workshop attendees and community organizations

• 5 workshops with 74 youth

• 7 teenagers from YouthVision

YouthVision Hawaii

Youth-led project

• Design

• Layout

• Illustrations

Kahua Waiwai NOW• Promotes wise financial decision making &

strong local economy

• Compares Traditional & Modern Hawaii– Conservation over consumption– Community well-being over personal wealth

• Lays foundation for future successes

• Addresses alarming statistics & stories

• Jump$tart & Hawaii DOE standards met

Results• Over 434 Hawaii teenagers served

• 15 youth graduates

• Free statewide workshops provided by HCA and 20 partner organizations

• Trained 72 trainers

• Statewide collaborative of 36 community-based, financial, and educational organizations

Collaborative Members• Public & Charter Schools – Connections, Kanu

O Ka Aina, Hilo High School• Family Services – Kokua Kalihi Valley,

Susannah Wesley, Palama Settlement• Leadership – Ma`o Farms, KEY Project, Kula

No Na Poe Hawaii, Maku`u Farmers Corp• Career – Waianae Comp Health Center• Special Needs – Hoomana Inc• Govt – Honolulu County Family Self-Sufficiency

Program

Train-the-Trainer

Sessions

Family

CollaborativePartner

Workshops

Media

CommunityPartnerships

HCAWorkshops

YouthFinancialEducation

Approach

Approach• HCA Workshops: HCA works with community to

provide youth financial education workshops at no-cost to participants

• Train-the-Trainer Sessions: HCA trains collaborative partner organizations on how to implement and deliver a youth financial education program using Kahua Waiwai

• Family: Nonthreatening education on family finance• Collaborative Partners Workshops: Free workshops

held in communities statewide• Media: HCA develops press releases, PSAs, and more

to promote youth financial education efforts• Community Partnerships: Businesses, credit unions,

DOE PCNC

Where do you fit?

How do we partner?

What’s our next step?

Contact Information

Jeff Gilbreath

HCA Program Coordinator

587-7653

jeff@hawaiiancommunity.net

www.hawaiiancommunity.net