HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN HSSSC 2021/02/02 2020-2022 Committee on Human Services
and Social Services
lst Session
Hawaii County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii
February 2, 2021
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at
ORDER: 11:22 a.m. in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy,
Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair
Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair(came in later)
Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member
Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member
Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member
Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member
Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards HI, Member
Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business,
FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items.
PUBLIC ON
AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by
the Chair:
(There were none.)
CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Clerk, straight on to Communications, please.
COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
Comm. 87: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY THE HAWAII COMMUNITY
FOUNDATION REGARDING NONPROFIT CHARITABLE
ORGANIZATIONS
From Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated January 6, 2021.
(Note: Comm. 87.1, from Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated
February 1, 2021, transmitting a hardcopy of Hawaii Community Foundation
PowerPoint presentation, was circulated.)
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
Motion to Close File: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 87.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Today we have a wonderful
presentation from Hawaii Community Foundation. And if I could please call up
Michelle Kauhane, and I believe Diana is also with her.
(Note: At this time, Ms. Michelle Kauhane of Hawaii Community
Foundation came forward to address the members of the Committee.)
CHR. LEE LOY: And just to help the Council level-set on this particular
presentation, as we are all aware COVID (Coronavirus Disease) hit us hard, and it
hit our most vulnerable population the hardest. And it was those in our private
sector who really stepped in and mobilized quickly to help so many of those in
need.
This year the State is looking at closing out a $1.7 billion gap in their budget, and
so this year's State grant-in-aid program is on the chopping block, which is why I
thought it was an opportune time to bring Hawaii Community Foundation
forward and look at organizations like them and how they can help us continue to
bridge the gap, while government figures out how we can get our resources back
in alignment.
So today it really is my pleasure to introduce my idol, mana wahine,
Michelle Kauhane, Hawaii County Community Foundation's Senior Vice
President of Community Grants and Initiatives, where they amplify the power of
giving. A graduate of Kamehameha Schools, a Gonzaga alumni, with a
Bachelor's in Communications. Ms. Kauhane was named Hawaii Business
Magazine's One to Watch 20 in the next 20.
In between college and Hawaii Community Foundation, Michelle was the former
Executive Director of Hawaii Community Assets. Where I got to know her
intimately, which was the Deputy Director of the Department of Hawaiian Home
Lands and the President and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Native Hawaiian
Advancement. Ms. Kauhane, please, take it away for us.
MS. KAUHANE: Thank you for having me, Chair and members of the Council.
I hope to have more of a conversation with you. I'm going to walk you through a
couple of slides just to give you a little bit of background about the Community
Foundation and our work through what we call the Change Framework, because I
think that this is the best way for us to encourage public/private partnerships in
very trying times that our government is going through today as we deal with the
impacts of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease) on our communities. This is really
the framework that we've been using at the Community Foundation, and we
encourage partnership and look for ways that we might align private dollars with
government dollars to make the best impact on our communities. And so I'm just
quickly walk you through a few slides.
Page 2
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
(Note: At this time, Ms. Kauhane provided a PowerPoint presentation to
the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the
DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office. A
copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see
Comm. 87.1.)
CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Michelle, for that presentation. You know, for the
rest of my colleagues, our next meeting we're going to begin to stand up our
nonprofit grant-in-aid fund. And as I mentioned earlier, the State has put their
grant-in aid on the chopping on the chopping block, which is why I felt,
intentionally, this was a good timing for us to really think broad-brush on how we
can amplify the monies that are in our nonprofit grant-in-aid and maybe partner,
or help nonprofits align better so that they can begin to capture more of this
philanthropical dollars.
And we hear a lot about the three p's, but I think this is four p's, which is public,
private, philanthropical,partnerships. So with that, I see Mr. Richards's light on.
Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thanks for that presentation. And probably this was
probably Sue's intent, is to trigger the thought process going forward and how
we're going capitalize between this.
You know, you touched on the fact that we are very short on resources going
forward. And there's no secret, Big Island is the poorest County, we have,
thereby, the greater needs. We have health concerns. We have needs for feeding
people that, I think, probably are greater here than throughout the rest of the State.
I'm not going to say each County doesn't have its pockets, but I think on a
general, I think we have the highest level of ALICE (Asset Limited, Income
Constrained, Employed) households.
So, this is a shift in thinking. So I guess the question I have, is this something that
we're trying to create, or are we trying replicate something? Because I have no
problem forging ahead, being a trailblazer, but I have to believe that other people
are thinking along the same line. You have any comments on that?
MS. KAUHANE: Yeah, I think for the Community Foundation,just to be clear,
the history of philanthropy, right, we're 104 years old; and if you look at the
history of philanthropy, we were a receptacle for donors to come to bring dollars.
And we really offer products, right? If you're a private family foundation, we can
help do your grant-making. If you want to have a donor advice fund, we have a
product for you. If you want to start a scholarship, we have a product for you. So
it's been in existence, right? What we're doing today is a pivotal shift and saying,
"Yes, donors, we understand what your needs are,"but before we just say, "Let's
start a scholarship. Let's show you where the greatest needs are."
Page 3
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
In 2020 and 2021, students didn't have any college counseling. "Would you be
willing to contribute to the Stronger Together Fund,"right? We have lots of—for
example, Field of Interests funds, where someone is giving to the natural
environment, awesome. Now we can give with purpose and intent to where
there's collaboration around Marine 30/30.
But I guess, Tim, the pivot is not just being yes, we have to honor donor wishes,
and much of the original intent of philanthropy people left us with legacy gifts,
right? So oftentimes donors had already passed before we got their dollars. Now
they're alive today, right? That whole dynamic of philanthropy is changing.
People want to have a say about where their dollars are going. And so rather than
just offering a product that we can give you, we're trying to say, "We would like
your partnership where the need is the greatest." And so, I think it's still giving.
We have a tremendous giving that goes on in Hawaii. Lots of folks who are
willing to step up and contribute. What the framework is doing, is just using data
to highlight where the needs are the greatest. So it's just a framework that we're
working under.
And then, as you said, there are many efforts going on, right? But to greatest
impact, I need all the folks working on housing and financial education to work
together. Because if we're not just funding one group here and one group here,
but we can create a network of groups that are reducing cost burden
MR. RICHARDS: Right.
MS. KAUHANE: Then we know where to focus all the dollars. And we believe
that collaborative action is really what's going to drive impact, versus continuing
to give a single organization $50,000. They're not going to make that great of an
impact in a year with that, But if we can make multiple-year commitments with
deeper investments, then we start to help move needles. So how do we work
together to have our communities collaborate across sectors, and to focus on
shared goals so that we can both achieve the impact we're looking for.
MR. RICHARDS: And I think that's part of the conversation, because this is
what grant-in-aid—when we worked on that, the redundancy and effort, but not
accomplishment. Because everybody is doing the same thing, whether you're
standing up your management team or whatever; because it takes a certain level
of overhead to get a project to work.
MS. KAUHANE: Yeah.
MR. RICHARDS: But if everybody's running an overhead—and so we can be
more efficient with our dollars; if like you said, you're more collaborative.
Another thing you know, we've talked about getting more bang for the buck.
It's not just funding, but it's funding a concept. What I'm looking at is building
for the future. Like for instance, agriculture. You know I'm all about agriculture.
Page 4
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
It's not just about funding a farmer. It's about maybe building the infrastructure
so that farmer can attain a better market.
MS. KAUHANE: Yeah.
MR. RICHARDS: And thereby, amplify those dollars. And along the same lines
with the eleemosynary giving, redefine how we're using those dollars, rather
than just a donation. This actually can be generating economy. I've talked
enough. Chair, I'm going to yield right now. But, thank you.
MS. KAUHANE: Thank you. I think that that's all really important input, and I
appreciate that. I'm really excited about what might be possible on Hawaii
Island. And I will share that Hawaii Island, I was quite impressed by the way
you distributed CARES (Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security) Act
dollars in the first round, to address rental and housing assistance. By far the
fastest, by far the most efficient, and primarily because you trusted the nonprofit
sector, the groups in your community that you were working with, and you broke
the barrier of making them work on a reimbursement process.
You lived a little bit on the edge, and you said, "I know you need the money
upfront," and our communities need that money, and you fronted the money to a
single nonprofit organization who served as an intermediary, who then gave
dollars to all the other nonprofits who worked in that area. You got the dollars
out the fastest, the most efficient, making the most sense, and challenging some of
the barriers that were put in front. And I think that is a perfect model that can
replicated over and over; not just on your County, but learning and teaching other
counties about what might be possible. That is was scary. It was quick, right?
CARES Act had to go out quickly. There are a lot of risks. We know that those
organizations are going to get audited.
But you listened. You spoke to the nonprofit organizations. You took input. You
designed a program that worked for your community, and now it is the model that
we're all looking at to say—and we even have the State saying that the State
doesn't not to be involved, maybe we should just—those dollars now will go
directly to counties so that counties can make their own decision. I think you
were primary reason for that.
MR. RICHARDS: Push that at the State level and tell them to give us the money
first, okay?
MS. KAUHANE: Alright. I'll work on that.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Thanks, Chair. I yield.
CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. And thank you for highlighting that,
Michelle. Because one thing I remember in our earlier conversation with Hawaii
Community Foundation was the Big Island was primed, because we didn't have
Page 5
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
to undo so much of the bureaucracy that City and County of Honolulu had. So
thank you for sharing that wonderful story. Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you, Michelle. That was a fantastic presentation.
You guys do such wonderful work. I just have two quick questions. One was
about the data. You talked about having kind of high-level data that comes from
census. So we know that there are problems with that, especially when much of it
is ten years old. What are some of the clear data gaps that you see for Hawaii
County, if any, is my first question.
And the second question, kind of a follow-up to what you said about our affective
use of the CARES funds. With our resolution that occurred, that we voted on
earlier today, we were talking about being prepared for more federal funding
coming through. Do you have recommendations for us to make sure that we are
well positioned to receive and make the best use of those funds?
MS. KAUHANE: Sure I—for your first question, I think that we lack data in our
current framework that drills down county by county, right, that we're using
statewide data, and we have to do a better job at drilling down into the counties,
which is why I am saying a partnership across the Change Framework would
powerfully important so that we are collecting
For example, we can require grantees to plug to collect data from them so that
we work closely the Hawaii Data Collaborative, and they can digest some of that
data for us. If we both did that and had both of our grantees putting data into the
same portal, then I could tell a better story, one that's coming from nonprofits on
the ground, that is specific to Hawaii County, that is not just peeling off what we
think represents Hawaii County, and then it would be more meaningful. So I
think that's sort of where we're getting. Because the neighbor islands have
smaller populations, when you start to peel away at the census data, it's not as
accurate as if we were to pull data from each of your nonprofits that are serving
community directly.
With respect to CARES Act dollars, I think you're the model we're following
across the State in terms of rental housing and relief. I think that you did it right,
that you found an intermediary on island, that you created a network of
collaboration that had shared goals. They're collecting data. They provide
technical assistance to one another.
CARES Act is a little bit different this time, and so there are—we're looking at
what is the greatest need for philanthropy. Once you figure that out, then how do
we fill the gaps and backfill the things that you can't cover with CARES Act that
are critical to your community? That's the conversation we should be having. I
think you're off to a great start; like I said, with rental housing relief.
The area that I think we do need to pay attention to, is that in order for families to
get back to work, childcare is critical. And that we might not—it might be the top
Page 6
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
of mine of right now because there's vaccination, there's food insecurity, but
unless our children can back to school, parents are struggling to get back to work.
And childcare seats on this island was already the highest lack of childcare seats
from age zero to five. And so now that's escalated, right? That if your childcare
centers close down, it makes it more difficult,particularly for women, to get back
to work because their children ages zero to five have nowhere to go. And so
some resources into ensuring that your early childcare facilities are able to reopen
and recognizing that their business model got flipped upside down; that where
they used to be able to have tuition from 20 students, they can probably only have
tuition from ten. And so how we make up the difference of what they've lost
because of social distancing?
So it's going to require some subsidy if we want them to remain open,probably a
deeper subsidy than we're used to. And hopefully, that's not for the long run.
Hopefully, vaccination will bring us to a place where they can get their enrollment
back; but until they do, we risk them going away for good because their business
models are upside down. And I think that's something that we don't often talk
enough about, but it's a critical component for parents to get back to work.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you so much for that, and thank you for drawing
attention to, in particular, impact COVID and the economic recession associated
has had on women. In particular, women have dropped out of the workforce at a
much higher rate than their male companion.
MS. KAUHANE: Absolutely.
MS. KIMBALL: So it's certainly something we've adopted as a County, the
feminist recovery plan. And I hope to see as we to think about our grants-in-aid
and all of that, that we're paying attention. That the metrics, actually that we
collect, speaking about these other metrics that we could potentially collect, as
part of our grant-in-aid process. Let's also collect those metrics around how
many women we are-implements related issues we're helping.
MS. KAUHANE: Yeah.
MS. KIMBALL: I certainlyI don't want to spend too much time on it here, but
I certainly be interested in talking with you both further about some of the metrics
that we could collect as a County, to share together so that we do make the best
possible choices we can in terms of working together to join funding and really
see the biggest impact we can for our dollars.
MS. KAUHANE: Yeah, I think that we need to look at after today is you might
not be completely aligned 100 percent with what you see in our framework, but
think about what is top of priority and top of mind for your County and how you
might find alignment across that framework, how we might adopt the framework
to work together. Once we know those shared goals and the things that we can
work on together, it allows us to go to our donors, it allows us to look at our
Page 7
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
discretionary dollars, it allows us to figure out how much leverage we can bring to
one another based on the things that we do agree on, and that's really what this is
about. Let's use common data, agree on some shared goals where we can, and
figure out how we can put resources together to take collective action to have
greater impact.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you so much, Michelle.
MS. KAUHANE: You're welcome.
MS. KIMBALL: I yield, Chair.
CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Ms. Kierkiewicz, please.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair Lee Loy. You know, Council Member
Richards mentioned earlier that we have some of the highest ALICE rates here on
the island, certainly true. But when you had spoken earlier, Michelle, kind of
elevating the work our County did to push out CARES funding, what you did was
you highlighted how rich we are in our human and social capital. Only our island
could have pulled that off because we have that capacity. And because we have
been through so much together, we have those relationships and networks built.
So thank you for just giving us some props as a County. It's great to hear that.
And I also wanted to just recognize Diane Chadwick. She has been an incredible
partner to work with. I know through COVID we were on the phone almost every
other week, and I'm pitching her program after program, after program. And she
always found a way. You know, supporting rapid response, landlord mediation
program, recognizing that we could have an eviction tsunami, finding a way to get
micro-loans out to community, zero percent interest for residents, that was huge.
So thank you for having that open-door and being willing to listen to folks that are
on the ground and supporting those locally driven grassroots solutions.
I wanted to follow up a little bit on the Puna Strong Grants program. Recovery is
one of my top priority as a Council Member that represents that district that, you
know, was impacted by the flow. Where did this concept of trust-based
philanthropy come from?
MS. KAUHANE: So as we focused our Change Framework through an equity
lens, we recognize ourselves that philanthropy can exacerbate the inequities. If
we invest the dollars into the things—it's why data is so important, right? Data
has to drive where we're putting those dollars; otherwise in order to teach this, we
have to self-reflect. And we know that we can exacerbate those inequities. And
so, what are barriers?
We did a lot of surveying of our grants, and many folks know us for our
Flex Grant program, which it was unrestricted dollars to any community
organization to apply. We were really taking feedback from those surveys, and
Page 8
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
some of the barriers were that it was too complicated. Not everybody had equal
access to having a digital application. Not everyone understood the questions
clearly. And at the end of the day, not everyone had a project that was aligned
with the fund that I'm managing, right?
And so it was this big board ofI have 950 different funds, and I have 300 and
some-odd applications, and trying to match-make with which fund matches this
application. So it becomes this confusing process for community, right? You try
to put out an RFP (Request for Proposal), but it's really about this match-making.
And so to bring more clarity to it, it's either—it's easier if we do all of the work
that philanthropy needs to do with the dollars it has behind the scenes.
So, we first started looking at trust-based philanthropy as we changed Flex. You
will see a new program, called our Change Grants, where we lean towards a much
shorter application and an easier entry point. Again, people,place, and power,
and when you're controlling the level of assets that the Community Foundation
manages, that comes with a little bit of power. When you're the funder, right?
How do we share that? How do we give access to people to be able to access
those resources? And that's when we started to lean towards trust-based
philanthropy.
Puna again is going to be out in the front. Because we're doing it for the first
time here, right? So it's very labor-intensive for my staff because there's no the
application is not in yet. It's a Letter of Interest, telling us what is your project,
what are you trying to do. And then we do a Zoom interview, so that we're
asking the right questions and the same questions to every applicant or everyone
who is interested. And then we write it up, so that they have same grant writer,
right?
So, it's trust-based philanthropy comes through this equity lens to try and level
the playing field and to sort of share power and give greater access to smaller
organizations who might have great projects but don't know how to get in.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And I really appreciate that. I had a number of
constituents actually call, and text, and email. So appreciative of how you've
really removed barriers to access. Oftentimes I'll share different grant funding
programs and opportunities with them, and they don't want to go for it because
they're not proud of their writing skills; for instance, or they just don't have the
paperwork and the documentation. You've made it so much easier for them to
take their concepts and bring them to life, because many of them have proven
track-records. So, thank you.
MS. KAUHANE: You're welcome.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks for taking a chance on our folks and making the
time to visit folks in Puna. They really appreciate it.
Page 9
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
Final—couple other questions I had, related to data. So this is being fed into the
Hawaii Data Collaborative?
MS. KAUHANE: We are currently working on a partner—yes, we have a
partnership with the Hawaii Data Collaborative, and my next step in this process
is grant-making that we do in 2021, part of our grant agreements we'll ask
grantees to share—we will design, depending on what their program is, the
information that we would like to collect from them, and then we will feed that to
the Data Collaborative so that we can start to have better data, county-by-county
versus just this large statewide data.
It will also help us to say, we the Community Foundation, we're not going move
any needle by ourselves, right? We're relying on the resources that we put out
into community. So it will give community a measure to see the kind of impact
they're making, and it will also help us to help them tell their story. That they
might not be moving the needle by themselves, for example towards ALICE, but
they can be a contributing member from their community.
Some might be doing workforce development, some might be doing
homeownership, some you know. But collectively, all of that stuff together
helps to move that ALICE needle. And then data helps—we can help share data
back to those nonprofits so that they can tell other funders about their impact and
how they're helping to move the needle. So the key is around collective action,
and that's sort of where we're trying to take the Community Foundation.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I love it. And I know that Sue and I had a real
conversation with you and Diane about how we could partner potentially on our
nonprofit grant-in-aid process; you know, collecting data, and really studying
where funding is going, what sort of partnerships are out there, and then finding in
ways in which to maximize that$2.5 million we have and take it further, and fill
in the puka with other funding that's out there, So, thank you for being open to
that.
And I hope that as part of sort of the data collection, we can also begin to measure
some of the intangible things. Like, how do you measure trust within
community? How do you measure well-being? These are so foundational, I
think, to moving the needle on things. So it would be interesting to think about
how we measure those pieces.
MS. KAUHANE: Absolutely. Those are the harder ones.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes they are, but we can figure it out. The last question I
had was related to the resilience fund, and I'm wondering if that is a place where
HCF (Hawai`i Community Foundation) is going to be looking at how to invest in
economic development and resiliency across the State.
Page 10
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
MS. KAUHANE: I'll definitely share because I know that the fund, as you know,
received a significant donation from McKenzie Scott, and people have been
calling us about it. So the way that the fund is being used right now, we put a
portion of that fund, a little over $2 million, into our Social Impact Advancement
Fund. What we learned from COVID is that, yes,people need more than just the
emergency grants offered. They need deeper loans sometimes, especially for
businesses. And so it's a way for us to give low interest loans or zero interest
loans, so we've been working with CDFIs (Community Development Financial
Institutions) across the State to help provide them capital so that they can bring
those kinds of tools towards economic recovery.
A portion of the just about$3 million is also dedicated in alignment through our
Change Framework with the State's efforts around vaccination. So making sure
that the federally-qualified health clinics have the federal government is paying
for the vaccines but not for the staff that will actually put that vaccination in arms,
which is a problem. So they're going to need the help of philanthropy to cover
the workforce required to distribute the vaccinations. So we're working right now
with the network of federally-qualified health clinics across the State, to ensure
that they have grant resources to actually hire staff to do that or to retrain current
staff to do the vaccination. Digital divide is another big issue, and then food
insecurity. So we know that those are the four of the State priorities and where
philanthropy will have to play a role in filling those gaps.
And then we've dedicated half of the investment into our Change Grant program,
which is around long-term resilience, right? The grant programs for our
nonprofits, we're asking how they're addressing COVID and what are the
inequities across our Change Framework that they're focused on so that we can
realign to get back to some normalcy, but also wanting to invest in some
economic development. So the dollars are disbursed across the board.
The other thing I would say is—Tim talked about this earlier. Yes, dollars are
something that we can bring as a community foundation, but I think the power to
convene, the power to connect dots and to connect you to other philanthropy,
whether that's here in Hawaii or across the country, and the power to co-invest
and the capacity building of our community so that they can be better grant
writers, so that they can be competitive at the federal level.
Imagine how successful we could be if we put a cohort—and you have some
amazing talent on this island. In Kohala, your senator that is working with USDA
(United States Department of Agriculture) on helping with farming and ranching;
if you could put a cohort of folks together to be competitive at the national level
to bring USDA dollars down for the work that you're doing. That talent is here,
right?
And what you spoke about in ALICE, you are absolutely correct about your
community. While you have the highest ALICE population, you have the
strongest network of community tied together; that when you interview your
Page 11
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
community, they don't report poverty as their number one issue. So you are rich
in unity, you are rich inI mean, I get exited about where we might partner
across the Change Framework because you do it already. It's who you are. It's a
natural part of survival on this island. I think that when you came out of the
volcano recovery, it further solidified that. You had HIDART (Hawaii Island
Disaster and Recovery Team) going on. You had these huffs going on. You had
and people came together.
And then we faced COVID, and so your community stepped up and stepped out.
And so if we build and continue to build on that kind of collaboration, there's
nothing that we can't accomplish, right? It's matter of deciding what's the shared
goal and how do we build the talent and the capacity to take that kind f collective
action to make impact? And I just I say that with passion because I want us to
go beyond talking about it. I want it to be beyond data, and numbers, and
statistics. I want it to be about our people and this place. And reminding our
communities, individual members who are average citizens of your island, that
when they engage, when they elevate their voices, that they are the most powerful
part of the equation. And we're getting there on this island, in particular, because
you've had to work so closely together to meet so many of your challenges. So,
thank you.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So inspired. You're incredible. Thank you, Michelle.
Thank you for helping us help our community. I really appreciate your leadership
and your partnership.
MS. KAUHANE: Thank you.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Chair, I yield.
CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. And like she said, it was just a
wonderful conversation. I'm going to check in Kona. Anyone in Kona?
MS. DAVID: Chair Lee Loy?
CHR. LEE LOY: Yes, Ms. David? Please.
MS. DAVID: Yeah, it's really quick. I just wanted to say mahalo to you for
bringing this presentation forward, and also really to thank Ms. Kauhane for the
excellent presentation and the potential of what we can do to help our
communities and partnerships. So,perfect and excellent presentation. I just
wanted to say mahalo. Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. I yield.
CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. David. Anyone else here in Hilo? Well with
that, Michelle, thank you again. I do have one area I wanted you to touch upon.
You know, Ms. Kierkiewicz was right; you know, we have an incredible network
here of people who come from a place of abundance, not scarcity, and they're
always ready to help.
Page 12
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
But one thing I've noticed with philanthropical dollars, is they're often bound to a
portion of their trust or—like they can only give 10 percent. Is there any
conversation around them kind of doubling down their give? And I ask that
because they often come from a place where, you know, they'll set it at seven
percent or ten percent of their endowment for a rainy day.
MS. KAUHANE: Yeah.
CHR. LEE LOY: And we know
MS. KAUHANE: It's raining.
CHR. LEE LOY: It's raining.
MS. KAUHANE: Yeah, we're in the storm. So by law, private foundations are
required to do a payout of five percent. They have a five percent payout
requirement. They can go beyond that in times of need, and go into their
endowments, but those are all individual decisions made by their own trustees.
So yes that can happen, but by law there's a five percent payout.
I will keep it confidential, but I will tell you that our private family foundations in
Hawaii have gone deeper this year. That they've exceeded their five percent
payouts. That they have acknowledged the work being done in community, and
we have actually seen the private family foundations that we serve that we work
with at the Community Foundation, who have done just exactly that, and so we
have much to be proud of in that the giving has exceeded beyond what is normal
and what is required by law.
CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. And as Mr. Richards mentioned, we're going to be
going into our nonprofit grant-in-aid, and this is a perfect time for us to pivot.
You know, some of those data collection points that we could offer, this year it's
not part of a requirement; but maybe incentivizing it as an onboarding process,
where we can start to collect that data now, while molding that into the next RFP
for the next cycle of giving. I look forward to working with you on that.
And just having sat on the nonprofit grant-in-aid my entire time on the Council, I
often see where they're looking for money, and it's Hawaii Community
Foundation, it's OHA (Office of Hawaiian Affairs), it's our County grant-in-aid
program or the State's grant-in-aid program. And so there's almost a natural
alignment that we start kind of pulling these networks together, at what is now an
opportune time so that we can amplify the money.
MS. KAUHANE: Yeah. Again, once we figure out what we find alignment on,
if grant-in-aid is an example of where we're going to align. Following the
disasters, the lava flow and the flooding on Kauai, we intentionally started what
we call Strong Fund, and so there's a Hawaii Island Strong Fund, Kauai Strong,
Page 13
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
Maui Strong. And that is the perfect place for us to encourage and to be able to
speak on our own donors, especially donors who are here and who want to give
focus on this island.
If we can agree on specific areas of focus, where they know that they're going to
be leveraging County investment, that's a great selling point. That's a great tool
for us to take out to our community for those who want to contribute, knowing
that there will be a leverage, right? So, we have a vehicle to use. We just need to
figure out, what do we want to focus on and how do we go out and raise money
together?
CHR. LEE LOY: Yeah, and thank you for that because it also helps County align
better too with the things that we can contribute. Whether it's infrastructure—so
there are a lot of talk about housing and affordable housing, but how do we
provide the infrastructure to help kind of smooth out that individual price-points
for those housing models?
You know, I also had the opportunity to watch you on HANOCON (Hawai`i
Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations-Conference). That was that conference that,
you know, that entire organization, and if anybody had an opportunity, I would
suggest to go watch that. There were a number of just bright, giving,
philanthropical organizations on that program.
So, thank you. Michelle, really I cannot thank you enough for being here. It's
always a pleasure to see you.
MS. KAUHANE: Likewise. I'm excited, and I know I'll be back. Let's give
some thought about where we might find alignment. And I'm happy to have
conversations beyond this, to figure out how we move forward.
CHR. LEE LOY: Great. Thank you for that.
MS. KAUHANE: Thank you.
CHR. LEE LOY: So we have—Mr. Clerk, I think we have a motion to close file
on Communication 87. All those in favor, please say "aye."
Vote on Comm. 87: The motion to close file on Comm. 87 was carried by
Filed the following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy —9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Page 14
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
CHR. LEE LOY: Michelle, thank you for being here. Mr. Clerk, as we go ahead
and reset a little bit, I have Communication 88.
Comm. 88: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
COALITION FOR A DRUG-FREE HAWAII
From Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated January 8, 2021.
(Note: Comm. 88.1, from Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated
February 1, 2021, transmitting a hardcopy of East Hawaii Drug-Free Coalition's
PowerPoint presentation, was circulated.)
Motion to Close File: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 88.
Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
CHR. LEE LOY: And as we get the presenter's table ready,just teeing up
our next presenter. Please, Jana. We have Jana and Matt Lewis following.
And then for our Council Members, in our pink folders, I think we have
Communication 88.1 with the PowerPoint presentation for East Hawaii Drug
Free Coalition.
You know, the work here definitely is around our keiki and how we keep our
keiki safe; but in addition to that, this legislative cycle we're seeing a lot as it
relates to vaping and some other things, so I thought this was another prime
opportunity to get information. And as we watch different pieces of legislation go
through our Legislature, we would have some wonderful background information.
So please, go ahead.
(Note: At this time, Ms. Jana Ortiz-Misiaszek of East Hawaii Drug-Free
Coalition, and Police Officer Matthew Lewis, and Ms. Jan-Marie Osorio,
Special Projects Coordinator of the Prosecutor's Office came forward to
address the members of the Committee.)
MS. ORTIZ-MISIASZEK: Hello. Good afternoon, County Council. Thank you
so much for the opportunity to be here. Our opportunity here is really about just
to introduce Coalition and to be able to form relationships here. We want to also
be a resource for you. Like Council Member Lee Loy had said, there are
legislation pieces that are coming together, and how do we work together and
build those lines of communication to improve it.
(Note: At this time, Ms. Ortiz Misiaszek provided a PowerPoint
presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the
presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the
Clerk's Office. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of
the record, see Comm. 88.1.)
Page 15
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
MS. ORTIZ-MISIASZEK: So with that, I really am here to say thank you, to
appreciate the time that we've had today, and to take any questions that you may
have.
CHR. LEE LOY: Jana, thank you so much. You know, it must have been the
clunkiest thing ever to try and stand up a coalition in the middle of a pandemic,
but the hard part's over now because you did it during a pandemic. With that, I'm
going to check around. I'm going to check over in Kona first. Kona, any
questions?
MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. No, not at this time. Mahalo.
CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Over here in Hilo, any questions? No? Oh,
Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Yeah, I can't begin to imagine trying to get
a coalition running during this pandemic. Question I have, according to your data
about one-third of the high school kids drink alcohol through this pandemic, have
you developed any metrics? Because I think a lot of things happen in this
pandemic, and great time to actually have something going, but also tough one to
get data. What—do you have any answers to any of that?
MS. ORTIZ-MISIASZEK: We are working on it. I think that is one of the tough
questions. Initially when we had started, a lot of the conversation, not just in the
coalition but within the community as, "Oh, when the pandemic is over, when is
COVID is dying, which will be very short-termed, we'll move forward," and so
that is not the case, right? So now we are, as a coalition, looking at what's—do
we have access to, to be able to identify what's going on. And a lot of that may
be coming from our key stakeholders, talking with them again, and starting with
youth again, as we can access them.
There isn't a standalone metric at this time to be able to disseminate. You know,
the YRBS, the Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance survey is usually disseminated
through the schools during a certain time of school year, and it's to certain grade
levels. So right now we don't quite know how that will be disseminated, and if
there will be any questions around COVID, and pandemic, and lockdowns. So it
will be very interesting and something that we are definitely trying to figure out as
we look into this new world of how do we become more well-versed in our
community within the pandemic and within COVID.
MR. RICHARDS: I guess a follow-up on that. It's not just substance abuse but
we've seen shifts in families as far as domestic violence, the isolation which
triggers other social issues. And you have to imagine what you initially set out
you were doing has kind of shifted a little bit, so are you expanding your program
to look at this? Because some of it is going to be cause, some of it is going to be
effect, and what might have been a concern before is actually in effect of
Page 16
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
something else now, so kind of a bigger, sticky problem. Again, comments on
that?
MS. ORTIZ-MISIASZEK: Absolutely. I think, you know, we have silos, and we
have collaboration. The coalition is meant and built to have informant
information from all different types of organizations and community. Because we
don't want to run on a silo.
MR. RICHARDS: Right.
MS. ORTIZ-MISIASZEK: We want to be able to work with other agencies
and other task forces, because everything relates. You know, domestic violence
increases, isolation has increased, alcohol is also linked to that. Alcohol in
adults, which also translates down into our youth, and our youth can be
potential they're using alcohol, but can be abused by the people that are in
their home, as well. So everything is that inter-related piece.
So as we start to uncover and build more, that will allow us to build more capacity
and to work with other partners, additional partners, to relieve, be able to identify,
and address, how do we move forward again. And I think a big portion will also
be—and I think what we've tried to do is how can we be as nimble as possible
and how do we continue to listen, and how do we continue to learn, and then
adjust and adjust.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Yeah, because that answers it, coalition probably best
summarizes all of it. And you're expanding your more global perspective looking
at this. Thanks, Chair. I yield.
CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Jana—Jan, Officer Lewis, thank you
so much for being here. You know, I did find it alarming that we're finding kids
kind of using alcohol from as early as 11. And I also like the way your program
kind of empowered the youth, right, with this logo contest, but more importantly
what is also very powerful to the youth is to have a voice. And so the work
you're doing with the youth to engage in a civics process, not only here at the
County level but at our Legislature, has had quite an impact.
And I just have a question around engaging the youth now. because of the
pandemic and so many of them are at home and many are just struggling to get
online, what lessons have we learned there? And how does the coalition kind of
elevate that need on engaging our youth who are now at home and are really
struggling to get in contact and a network?
MS. ORTIZ-MISIASZEK: Yeah, that's a big, big broad question, and I think it's
bigger than we are as a coalition. But as a coalition what we found is even doing
the youth-listening sessions. Initially we partnered with organizations like the
Salvation Army, like Liliuokalani Trust, to be able to work with agencies that
are working with youth. And our initial thoughts were maybe we can hold the
Page 17
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
youth-listening session outside. Open air, be protected, and we had to shift gears,
it wasn't going to work that way. We shifted it into an electronic format, like
Zoom, and we had connectivity issues. It was difficult. We had to delay one of
them, and then try to figure out how to do that. So we're working on that, How
do still continue to connect; and a lot of it—what we're trying to do is work with
what we have.
And then, how do we expand from there? How do learn from there and keep
growing? And I think one of the pieces that has really helped us too, is as we
started to do the youth-listening sessions, the two students that we have as interns
to do this logo contest came from the youth-listening sessions. So it was very
exciting for us to even be able to say, "Hey, we're looking for help. They're
looking for help. They want to give back to their community, and they chose us
to be able to do that."
And so now with that extension, how do they even leverage within their social
media as well, to be able to share off a logo contest and reach other youth? And
hopefully what we'll do from there isif it's outstanding extending out and we
have a lot of participation, now we have a big group of youth who have signed up
and done a logo contest, then we can all start to build up relationships and build a
network in that area, and have them participate in other activities that are
happening. So it's about starting and then building where we're at, and then
continue to grow, and continue to grow.
CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Officer Lewis.
MR. LEWIS: So really quick, Chair Lee Loy. Just another way we're
outreaching is using our School Resource Officers to push out this contest that we
have, so use the resource officers in Hilo.
We're doing online Zoom classes and online classes with all of their students and
all their feeder schools, so they'll also be feeding this out. So hopefully that's an
opportunity and we can use when we reach out to gather other information, as
well. So it's something new for them , it's something new for us. So it's just
opening those doors one at a time and doing that outreach that we all do daily
anyway,just in new ways.
CHR. LEE LOY: Yes. Thank you so much. It's really clunky, but we're
figuring it out. I just wanted to thank you guys again for sharing your
information. And as you shared this is the East Hawaii Coalition, but we do have
some West Hawaii Council Members who are taking notes frantically over here,
and I'm sure they'll be reaching out on how we stand up something on the west
side.
So with that, Council Members, we have a motion on the floor to close file on
Communication 88. All those in favor,please say "aye."
Page 18
HSSSC-1 February 2,2021
Vote on Comm. 88: The motion to close file on Comm. 88 was carried by
(Filed) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business,
RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions.
(There were none.)
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business,
ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances.
CHR. LEE LOY: With that, I think we're at the end of the agenda.
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 12:53 p.m. Mr. Inaba moved to adjourn
MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. LEE LOY: Meeting adjourned at 12:53 p.m. Thank you everyone.
Api
�P c� 1
s. Susan . K. Lee Loy, Chair (Date)
.I"an Se es and Social Servic- Comm'ttee
SL/na
Page 19