Since 2002 Neighborhood Place of Puna has been working to support families in raising strong, happy, and healthy keiki. Our community members face many struggles including poverty, systematic racism, historical trauma, and alienation. All of these make it hard for parents to raise healthy keiki and often put our keiki at risk for maltreatment, neglect, and abuse.
We understand that healthy children grow up in strong families within vibrant and resilient communities. And when disaster strikes our community, Neighborhood Place of Puna does all that it can to help with recovery and healing.
In 2014 we answered the call to help with Puna recovery after Hurricane Iselle. Iselle left thousands of people without power for weeks in a community with few resources to cope. Over two years, in partnership with Hawaii Island United Way and other non-profits, Neighborhood Place of Puna helped residents repair their homes.
Disaster Case Management
In 2018 we again launched supportive programs for those impacted by the Kilauea Eruption, which destroyed over 700 homes and left millions of dollars in damages with hundreds of people displaced. Today — summer of 2020 — the community is still recovering and rebuilding. Neighborhood Place of Puna’s Disaster Case Management program continues to actively help individuals impacted by the eruption, rebuild their homes and their lives.
Covid-19 has brought new challenges this year that we are poised to address. To date, July 2020, Neighborhood Place of Puna helped the Hawaii Island United Way disburse over 100K in rental assistance through their CRUA program. At the request of the County of Hawaii and in partnership with HOPE Services, NPP opened the Hanakahi emergency shelter. The shelter located in the NAS pool parking lot, offered a place for vulnerable and at-risk homeless individuals to “shelter in place” and minimize the spread of the Coronavirus.
Neighborhood Place of Puna is committed to building a resilient and healthy community. We know that children and families need support to thrive and rely on community efforts to keep Hawai’i stable during unstable times. In order to prevent family discord, poverty, displacement and stress, addressing the immediacy of natural disasters has become part of our on-going work.
Consider a donation to Neighborhood Place of Puna if you believe in this work and want to help us help our communities thrive. To learn about our most recent disaster resilience programs, visit the links below: