‘A‘ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia.
No task is too big when done together by all.
Aloha friends!
We are excited to announce that Neighborhood Place of Puna is launching the Ho’ōla ‘Ohana Pilina program. Hoʻōla Pilina ʻOhana translates into English as “there is life in relationship and family.” This program has come to life through the vision and hard work of long time NPP staff member, Becca Kapualei’ula Hiraishi, M.A., MFT. Becca is a passionate advocate for normalizing ʻōlelo hawaiʻi in the delivery of mental health services. We recognize the revival of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi as an essential element in healing cultural trauma.
From Becca: “He lālā au no kuʻu kumu. “I am a branch sprouting from the tree that is my teacher, my source, my foundation.” The inspiration and vision of Hoʻōla Pilina ʻOhana stems heavily from being a haumāna (student) of the Hawaiian language revitalization school program, specifically Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu. The foundation of Nāwahī instilled significant bilingual language competencies and layers of cultural competencies. ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (the Hawaiian language) would not be here today without the consistencies from all of our kumu (teachers/sources) that dedicated their lives and studies to revitalizing our ʻōlelo makuahine (native tongue). He lālā no au no kuʻu kumu.”
The Ho’ōla ‘Ohana Pilina program will provide professional therapeutic counseling services with the option of bilingualism in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and/or English in therapeutic services. We know that providing culturally relevant services is imperative to addressing the needs of our local residents and that the normalization of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi in our communities is an integral part of healing historical and cultural trauma in Native Hawaiian populations.
We are ecstatic to provide this new program and welcome community members and friends to join, participate, donate and share feedback as we embark on this new journey.