Neighborhood Place of Puna has had the honor of helping families, like Betty’s, for 11 years now.
Betty is a grandmother with terminal cancer who is helping raise her granddaughter in a crowded and substandard home in the back of a very rural Puna subdivision. Betty is a strong and caring woman who wants the best for her granddaughter. However, Betty is undergoing chemotherapy and needs to be in Hilo 4 days a week for treatment. This alone would make it hard to raise a child. Unfortunately Betty and her family are also dealing with the many challenges of poverty in Puna: limited access to government services, isolation, and lack of public utilities like power and water. When she contacted Neighborhood Place of Puna, Betty had exhausted her resources.
Neighborhood place of Puna is now working to help Betty find a home where she can get better access to medical care. We are also working with the mother, Betty’s daughter, and the other family members to develop the skills they will need to care for and raise a healthy and safe child once Betty has passed away.
Betty’s family is only one of the 150 families that NPP helped last year. Like Betty, most of the Parents are good people, who are in crisis. Many lack basic parenting skills and are struggling with persistent poverty.
Neighborhood Place of Puna is the only child abuse and neglect prevention program offering voluntary services to families with children between the ages of 0 and 17. Often, we are the only program that East Hawaii families, like Betty’s, can turn to when things begin to get out of control and they recognize they need help as parents and as a family.
The unfortunate truth is that because of the economic downturn and government cuts, struggling East Hawaii families have fewer resources and non-profit agencies to turn to for help.
This past year Neighborhood Place of Puna helped more families and children than ever before: 150 families with 344 children, 158 of which were 5 years of age or younger.
Neighborhood Place of Puna is a community driven and supported organization. So while we do apply for and receive various grants, the real strength of our organization lies in the community support. Without your support, we would not have been able to serve such a high number of families through these tough economic times.
We are asking the community to continue to support our local families by making a monthly donation of $35 dollars or more to Neighborhood Place of Puna. You can click on the PayPal button below to subscribe, it is quick and easy.
It cost close to $2,600 per family to provide weekly in home visits and support services for 6 months.
Your $35 donation will help ensure that we can continue to help all of the families that contact us for assistance.
Thank you for helping our East Hawaii families.