Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 11, 1 November 2017 — Ali'i Trust leaders offer updates at convention [ARTICLE]

Ali'i Trust leaders offer updates at convention

By TreenaShapiro The opening session of the 2017 Native Hawaiian Convention included a panel discussion by ali'i trust leaders who expressed a shared desire for collaboration and greater outreach into the community, as well as the importance of adapting to meet today's needs. In her update on Lili'uokalani Trust, Kathy Tibbets talked about how the organization has broadened its kuleana to care for Hawai'i's orphaned and destitute children in order to reach more vulnerable keiki. "We're not abandoning the past but also looking to the future. We're not changing our mission... what is changing is the focus on breaking the cycle of poverty," she said. Part of that means more extensive eommunity outreach to find those who ean benefit most from services they may not even be aware exist. "The people who eome to us

are able to eome to us. How do we find the people who can't find the way to our door?" Tibbets asked. In addition to outreach activities, Lili'uokalani Trust, Kamehameha Schools and The Queen's Medical Center all have plans to increase their physical presence in Hawaiian communities. Kamehameha Schools' Jack Wong talked about the school's Vision 2040. Using efforts to save the endangered native 'alalā as a metaphor, Wong pointed out that the solution isn't adding more Hawaiian crows, but creating a forest where they ean thrive. "You cannot raise a child in captivity. We have to have a thriving forest, otherwise we raise these kids and they leave," he said. Services for kūpuna, housing and healthy communities ean help these keiki to flourish at home. William Aila Jr., deputy ehainnan of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, said the agency is in a period of self-review to improve processes and leave the department

in a better position. "We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors," he noted. DHHL is working with neighbor island beneficiaries to create more lots for subsistence agriculture. For those who can't afford turnkey homes or to build on vacant lots, DHHL is also looking at more residential options such as tiny homes, rentals with the option to purchase, and partnerships with Habitat for Humanity and other self-help organizations. The homestead agency also established two waterreservations on Hawai'i Island and Kaua'i. Aila asked for patience as DHHL works through its challenges, pointing out, "Any decision we make is going to affect one category of beneficiaries at the expense of another." Diane Paloma, in her third month as Lunalilo Homes' first CEO, is charged with implementing the trust's new Kauhale Kūpuna strategic plan. That involves looking for ways to expand services in the eommunity, enhancing quality of care and ensuring

hnaneial stability. Paloma's former colleague atThe Queen's Medical Center, Chief Medieal Officer Dr. Gerard Akaka, talked about expanding outpatient services into the eommunity, including through creation of more primary care clinics. Closing out the panel, Office of Hawaiian Affairs Ka Pouhana Kamana'opono Crabbe talked about figuring out where OHA and other Native Hawaiian-serving institutions fit in today's political climate. After listening to what other leaders shared, he encouraged them to continue the conversation and find ways to collaborate so the individual trust organizations ean identify areas where they work better together and what roles they ean play. If trust organizations partner to develop "a very clear educational plan, a very clear health plan, a very clear cultural plan to accomplish what we want to do, then we ean define ourkuleana," Crabbe said.B