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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN CRCOC 2025/12/16 (2024-2026) Committee on Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight 14te Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway,Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii December 16, 2025 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Communications, Reports, and ORDER: Council Oversight was called to order at 1:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Chair Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Vice Chair Mr. James E. Hustace, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba,Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Member Absent& Excused: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member 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: (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 632: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY HAWAI`I ISLAND UNITED WAY REGARDING THE ALOHA UNITED WAY 211 STATEWIDE HELPLINE From Council Member Holeka Goro Inaba, dated November 24, 2025. Motion to Close File: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 632. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Yes, some of us might've had the opportunity to meet with our friend, Jessica Thompson, who is here today in chambers and I wanted to CRCOC-14 December 16,2025 bring her forward to give her an opportunity to share about the resources being put forth by the United Way and some of the other programs that they have, especially as we head into the holiday season. So if you'd like to come forward and introduce yourself for the record and then you can jump right into the presentation. (Note: At this time, Hawaii Island United Way President and Chief Professional Officer Jessica Thompson came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. THOMPSON: Good afternoon, Council. It is a pleasure to be here. Mahalo, Council Chair Inaba, for the invitation and just very happy to be here. Board Chair, Tanya Aynessazian-Yamanaka is also here as well and will be available to answer any questions. She has a theme for us at Hawaii Island United Way which is "Joyous Pace." So I`m going to go quickly through this presentation, but we'll definitely leave time available for questions as you have them. (Note: At this time, Ms. Thompson came forward and provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the subject presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office or online at httpJ/hawaiigounty.gov.granicus.com. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 632.) MR. INABA: Thank you, Ms. Thompson, for a brief and to-the-paint presentation regarding this service. As we head into the holiday season, I just want to clarify too that 201 provides a variety of resources, food, housing and shelter, utility assistance, government services. Also wanting to point out and maybe just not to confuse with other phone opportunities for assistance, 988 being the suicide intervention and crisis support. So, if those types of resources or immediate support are needed, 988 is the number if there is any of those other areas that were mentioned, then 211 through you folks would be the best option. Is that correct? Perfect. That's all the questions I have. I thought it was important for us to hear this and give the community an opportunity to learn of this resource. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you, Council Member Inaba. Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. I appreciate the presentation. Thank you, Chair Inaba, for bringing this forward for the Council here. Thank you so much for the details and the work you're doing for the communities. Just a question on kind of those unmet needs. How do you classify those when you're having a call with an individual, how are your recipients classifying this is something that is unmet; how does that unfold typically? Page 2 CRCOC-14 December 16,2025 MS. THOMPSON: So that's a 211 operation through Aloha United Way and I can get more information directly for you about what that looks like. From my understanding it is essentially through the call, if they are provided with information that they've already accessed and it has not been helpful for them, then they say, "You know, no that's not actually helpful because I've already looked into that." MR. HUSTACE: Okay So, there is this kind of back-and-forth dialogue and that's how that operator would say, "Hey,this is something that we offer,but it hasn't solved the situation for this individual" then? MS. THOMPSON: Yes. MR. HUSTACE: Okay. And then you talked a little bit about that collaboration on that next step, especially mentioning Maui as well. Could you speak a little bit to that in terms of those working on the two items and ensuring those resources; how are you growing that directory, that database information,that then could be used to meet some of those issues and unresolved things? MS. THOMPSON: That's a great question. One of the things that, you know, we're really working on in terms of the nonprofit network is making sure that there is coordination of resources. So it's chicken and egg. One of the reasons why Hawaii Island has probably not utilized the resources as much is we haven't had that coordination in the past and there is a trust issue. So because our nonprofits know us and our government agencies know us, if we have a relationship with Aloha United Way (AUW), which we are really deepening this past year. We spent a lot of time working on that. They're allowing us to then be the proxy to go out and get that information with our nonprofit partners and our government agencies so that we can get that information into the database. It has to be correct because if it isn't then our residents are not being served the way that they deserve to be served, you know, in light of the growing barriers that folks are facing. That's our main priority at the moment. I just wanted to reach out to everybody and the Council and let you know that this was a project that we're taking very seriously and we need to get that information in there quickly. That's why we have a team of volunteers, despite the fact we don't have funding for this program, we've got a team of very dedicated volunteers who are getting trained by AUW to work with our partner agencies and our government agencies to make sure everything is up to date. I had said I hoped to get it done by March 2026. So that's the goal. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you for sharing your thoughts on that. I mean, I would hope that filling out the directory, connecting, making those connections would resolve some of these unmet needs as well. I mean that would hopefully be that Page 3 CRCOC-14 December 16,2025 goal where, okay,now we do have some of these resources that maybe you could help this individual going forward. MS. THOMPSON: Yeah. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. MS. THOMPSON: Thank you. CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for this presentation. I'm just wondering how we can best realize the data that you're collecting to help us in our decision-making. So, I'm just wondering, like you said,you get information sometimes that service that you recommend has already been tried, and it didn't work for the person. Is there any kind of feedback loop; do you reach out to that organization and tell them what's going on? Is there a way we could know what was going on so that we can understand that, you know, for whatever reason. If it's just that resources underfunded or maybe it's not working well, we need to know why it is that people have already gone to that resource and have not been helped. So, is there a way that we can get more data around the specifics? MS. THOMPSON: No and yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Ok. MS. THOMPSON: Currently, no. Yes, that will be what we are working towards. Hawaii Island United Way, for the first time in its history, is really dedicated to making sure that this resource is accurate and that we are serving as the intermediary between AUW and our residents and certainly data is one of the big benefits, besides the fact,you know,just helping people get what they need when they need it. It strikes me that we have five percent of Honolulu's population using AUW's 211, and two percent of Maui's residents are using it, and less than one percent of Hawaii Island residents are using it. We just face such huge challenges because we are such a rural and large place, and we have real service deserts. So one of the ways we need,you know, we have to work together. The nonprofit sector has to work together and we have to come together and not be adversaries in meeting these needs, and we need to work really closely with our county agencies. And so, we see the 211 program as an opportunity for us to get real data to be able to share to keep that feedback loop going. So, currently no,to answer your question. But in the future,yes. Page 4 CRCOC-14 December 16,2025 MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Yeah. I mean, I can see other things going on here, potentially. It may also be that on this island people know for instance, about the Food Basket, and that's a place to go for food resources. So they may be going there. There may be other organizations that we've invested in pretty heavily around homelessness and shelters and things like that. So people on this island may already know to go there. Whether they are able to find a shelter bed, if there's one available or not. They may call you after and you may get this result, which is unmet service. But it's not that you aren't meeting the service. Anyway,there's a lot of data there that could be culled. I guess the last comment I'll just make is that because we are investing heavily in some of these other areas, I just want to make sure we're not duplicating services,that we're not using funds that could be better used in other places, maybe concentrated in areas where we don't have a lot invested. So, as you're looking at building it out, hopefully you're looking at some of these things as well. MS. THOMPSON: Excellent. Thank you. MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah. Thank you. I yield, Chair. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank you for reaching out to me and having that dialogue. Have you reached out to those nonprofits that I mentioned to you about this call center? MS. THOMPSON: It's on my list. But I have not at this point. But it's on my to-do list. MR. ONISHI: Yeah. Because like what Council Member Kagiwada mentioned about duplications, and we're providing a kind of big chunk of money for this nonprofit that's kind of doing, supposedly, this call center, right? And I've heard from couple people about how they're not getting the connections. But I also heard just recently from one person about the 211, that they couldn't get in contact with this. And then,you know, it's saying that 89 percent—I guess, 30 seconds, but they could've been in that I I percent right? Yeah. But, if you can help in, I guess, within your partners because what 28 partners you have right now? MS. THOMPSON: 25. MR. ONISHI: 25 partners. Yeah. So if at least they can be on the same page, right? And have you folks already had that dialogue and having them promising Page 5 CRCOC-14 December 16,2025 that they will also be the providers for when the people who receiving the calls, that they will be able to contact them to provide the services? MS. THOMPSON: So we have not worked directly with our partners. At this point we're focusing on getting the volunteers ready to go so that we're able to, in working with AUW, to get that information. And then once that is ready to go, which will be January I", we'll be sending the notice to our partners and inviting them to participate with us. MR. ONISHI: Okay. Hopefully. The call center,the 211, it's run in Oahu? MS. THOMPSON: Yes. MR. ONISHL And so,they have a whole list of all these providers on each county? MS. THOMPSON: Yes. MR. ONISHL Okay. And you folks provide them that or who provides them that? MS. THOMPSON: It's an opt-in. So up to this point, Hawaii Island United Way has not formally been in relationship with Aloha United Way about the 211 service. We now have an agreement that we will be providing volunteers to be able to get that information into the 211 resource database. But, as of this point, we have not had a relationship with them for that. And so to be honest with you, it was opt-in and our providers and agencies are so busy that it's just one extra thing to do. So, we're hoping that by setting up these volunteers and the volunteers reaching out directly to the leadership in these nonprofit organizations and government agencies,that we'll be able to get that information and we can just upload it directly to the database, which Aloha United Way is giving us access to. MR. ONISHL• Right, okay. So you talk about volunteers, that's volunteers that are helping Hawaii Island United Way? MS. THOMPSON: Yeah. And they're Hawaii Island-based volunteers. MR. ONISHI: Okay. Well hopefully things can work out and that 211 has been with Aloha for a while and they really started, I think, at one time like five or eight operators and then their hours were shortened, like maybe five to six hours a day, right. And then now it's great to see that they expanded right and there is a need, right? And so, great. So good luck. MS. THOMPSON: Thank you. Page 6 CRCOC-14 December 16,2025 CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I have one minor data question. The case numbers that you've provided in the presentation, are those individual specifically or individual touches; like would there be multiple counts of the same person that they reached out multiple times, or is it unique individuals? MS. THOMPSON: My belief is that it is individuals. But I need to find out for sure on that. I could be wrong so I can get that information. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I'd appreciate that. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. I just wanted to give Ms. Aynessazian an opportunity to share anything she would like to since you're here on our screen. (Note: At this time, Hawaii Island United Way Board Chair Tanya Aynessazian-Yamanaka came forward to address the members of the Committee) MS. AYNESSAZIAN-YAMANAKA: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. You know, basically, I know you guys know me well enough to know that I'm not easily impressed about things and programs. This program, because of its data collection capacity, could help us. So five years from now,the data we'll have—because this is 2024, like total cases in, like, we're looking at Kauai County or Maui, this is like brand new data collection. The kind of data we're going to have in the future is going to be more direct. I know people like Jess and I attended a meeting with Aloha United Way. There's way more data we'd love to collect because it does help not just our partner agencies, which we have 25,but this is coordinating the services of multiple organizations that aren't even associated with Hawaii Island United Way. 211 is infrastructure so that people do have a one-stop shop to call before something becomes an emergency. I don't know, Jess, if you had any other things, to point out, regarding data. But the data and then getting people services before it becomes an emergency for them is where we could do a much better job in getting the word out so that more people will be using 211. Thank you for the ability to be here. Thank you. CHR. GALIMBA: Thanks. Speaking of that,I was wondering, so you're connected to various agencies and organizations. What's your outreach; how are you planning to get the word out about 211? I can imagine like maybe the police or something. MS. THOMPSON: That's a great question. So my first thought, I have an outreach plan. You're part of it. And so then having meetings with the directors as well. I met with the Director of Mass Transit and we talked story about it, and Page 7 CRCOC-14 December 16,2025 his drivers see a lot, as you can imagine. He was very open to the idea of putting 211 signs on all the buses so that our residents have access to that. Of course, social media and all of the newsletters that go out to all of our service providers and of course the government agencies as well. So we are going to blanket, and part of what we're looking at is hiring a contractor sometime in 2026 to really lead that work. If we don't get the funding, then we're just going to do it old-school style and get our volunteers on it. We do have an outreach plan and we are excited about it. If we do get some funding for it, then we can also do a radio and other types of advertising in the newspaper, and of course pulley all the directors of all the agencies will get the information as well. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. MS. THOMPSON: Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you, Chair. CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Onishi. MR- ONISHI: Thank you, Ma'am. Yeah, and so back then the board, when I was on there, we used HELCO (Hawaiian Electric Light Company) at the time not HECO (Hawaiian Electric Company), but HELCO. We did bumper stickers and we got them to put on every vehicle, the Hawaii Island United Way bumper stickers,yeah. And that helped us to advertise to promote it where people can be aware of Hawaii Island United Way. That's something maybe you can work with and we're looking at Hawaiian Tel was another one because they're always out on the streets right? And maybe you can talk to Mayor Alameda and maybe the County can put it on their vehicles too. Something to help educate people and having that message. I yield. Thank you. MS. THOMPSON: Good idea. Mahalo. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Seeing no other lights. All in favor of closing file on Communication 632,please say "aye". Vote on Comm. 632: The motion to close file on Comm. 632 was carried by the (Filed) following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kdneali'i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Galimba— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. Page 8 C� CRCOC-14 December 16,2025 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 1:29 p.m. Chair Galimba adjourned the NIENT: meeting. Approved: '2'In Ms. Mic e M. Galimba, Chair (Date) Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight Committee MG/tk Page 9