Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 9, 1 September 2013 — Offering helping hands to struggling families [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Offering helping hands to struggling families

By Harold Nedd \ative Hawaiian families that have been pushed to their Ananeial edge have a new plaee to tum for help navinu their bills.

N Starting Aug. 1, the Pūnāwai Program will help eligible families pay rent, car notes, water bills and other expenses as part of a broader effort over the next two years to ensure their Ananeial survival. The community-based group won a two-year $1.2 million contract from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to provide emergency Ananeial assistance to Native Hawaiian families that are struggling to pay bills on time and keep debts at a manageable level. Last year, $1,147 was the aver-

age amount of Ananeial aid received by the 200-plus Hawaiian families that sought help for similar services

under the OHA contract that expired July 3 1 . OHA has awarded the new contract to the Pūnāwai Program, whieh is a collaboration among three nonprofit organizations: Helping Hands Hawai'i. Catholic Charities of Hawai'i

and Hawaiian Community Assets. Among the specific services provided by the group will be help paying security deposits on rent, covering funeral expenses and keeping up with electricity bills. Other services include financial assistance with asset-building strategies, such as Individual Development Accounts, whieh are special savings accounts designed to help low-ineome people invest in their future. "We look forward to this eollaboration exceeding our most optimistic expectations," said OHA Ka Pouhana, Chief Executive Officer Kamana'opono Crabbe. "Our invest-

ment is ultimately in helping Native Hawaiian families become more financially viable." ■

Punawai Program For more information, eall: O'ahu (808) 440-3804 Hawai'i lsland (808) 961-7050 Kaua'i (808) (808) 241-4673 Maui, Moloka'i and Lāna'i (808) 873-4673 This story has been corrected: The phone number for the Hawai'i lsland office has been corrected in the online edition. The print edition listed an incorrect number.

OHA beneficiary loelle Aoki speaks at community meeting on Lāna'i about an ongoing need to help some Hawaiian families on the Neighbor lslands prosper and thrive. - Photo:Alice Silbanuz