HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-37 Bates Testimony re SPP 1122Communication No. 2013 -37
.Aloha Kakou! My name is LJ Bates and I have the joy of being the Executive Director
of Kalani H the State of Hawaii's largest retreat center. We steward 120 acres of
beautiful `aina in Puna, hosting guests and volunteers from around the world, and we
bring millions of dollars to the County of Hawaii and the District of Puna. As a social
enterprise, we have become Puna's largest nonprofit organization, delivering over a
quarter million dollars of services directly to our community, including 50 nature,
culture and wellness classes each week, free or by donation, art shows, major festivals
and events, many in partnership with the County, serving thousands of Hawaii Island
residents.
I say all this, not to boast about Kalani's success, but to draw comparison to our
partners and neighbors at SPACE. We have faced similar challenges and struggles as
an evolving nonprofit organization transitioning through various stages of
development. We know well the challenges that SPACE presently faces, and wish to be
a voice in the community which helps SPACE get the support and appreciation they
need so they may continue their valuable contributions to our underserved d
Although we have achieved so much after almost four decades of work, like SPACE,
we are frustrated by the challenges surrounding the anonymity of occasional neighbor
complaints and the monumental effort to make two very distinct communities
happy. By this, I refer to our "internal" community of guests, staff &volunteers as
well as our "external" community of neighbors. This is a challenge that often goes
unnoticed and is a balancing act that truly requires the skills learned at the HICCUP
Circus!
Like SPACE, Kalani is eager to address neighbor concerns. The fact of the matter is
that we cannot even begin to solve problems unless we are made aware of them. My
Team meets on a weekly basis to bring up and address any community concerns and
makes every effort to accommodate the concerns that we hear about. However, there
is an inherent flaw in our County's system of logging complaints. As the accused, we
are given no details on the time, date,, event, or person making the claim. (Airplane at
Point example).
As a result, we are often saddled with complaints that we never have the ability to
l e or refute. This allows anyone to enter a complaint at any time, for any
reason, and it simply gets logged and added to the collection, which is then held against
the organization. Kalani has taken on the task of addressing this imbalance the best
way we know how. A significant logging effort will be offered as our only source of
proof that we are truly making every attempt to balance internal /external community
happiness. In sharing best practices with each other, we know that SPACE has also
made such efforts and have made significant strides in this area. All we can do going
forward is improve.
We all want to live in a community where we work together to solve our
problems. Kalani's goal in being here today is to support SPACE, in everything they
do, as an essential part of our Community. SPACE not only brings people together,
sharing resources and talents to better our Community,, but serves as an important
community provider with its service to keiki. I am consistently amazed at the amount
of requests that I receive for child care, day camps, afterschool programming or
anything keiki related. We have had the confidence in our colleagues at SPACE to
refer all such request over to their team and have been more than pleased in the way
they have met these requests and met the needs of our local families. I have recently
learned of a collaborative effort with one of Kalani's Management Team who will soon
be delivering keiki programming at SPACE. I couldn't be more supportive.
My greatest hope for the PCDP Action Committee is to reframe their opposition into
constructive and helpful feedback, which will help guide the organization as it strives
to meet community needs. We all admire the efforts of SPACE, its people and its
programming. - -let's work together to shape this noble effort and remarkable vision
to meet everyone's needs within our community.
A thriving community must have community services —and we have
remarkable people poised to offer them. Opposing the organization today will
never allow its potential for greatness to flourish. Let's support, advise, and collectively
move our communities forward for the greater good.