Kokua Kalihi Valley
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Kokua Kalihi Valley |
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Organizational Background |
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Kokua
Kalihi Valley (Comprehensive Family Services) was formed in 1972 as
a non-profit corporation by the Kalihi Valley community in the City
and County of Honolulu, State of Hawaii. Housed in the pastor’s office
of Kalihi Baptist Church, the organization started with a coordinator
and four outreach workers who combed the valley connecting residents
in need with existing services. Today, eighty staff offer services
in seventeen languages and from five locations, three in public housing.
Our services include dental, medical, perinatal, family planning,
nutrition (WIC), immunization, STD/HIV testing and services, behavioral
health, elderly services, health education, social services, transportation,
translation, outreach, professional education, youth services, and
community advocacy. KKV also provides on-site services at five elementary
and secondary schools. KKV is a 330 Community Health Center with a
$4.0 million annual budget. Our mission is to be “an agent for reconciliation
and healing in the Kalihi Valley community.” Our
Community, Kalihi Valley
We
serve the City and County of Honolulu urban community of Kalihi Valley,
population 25,000. Kalihi Valley and its surrounding neighborhoods
are first home to a majority of the new immigrants in the State of
Hawaii. Kalihi Valley contains the State’s two largest public housing
projects, with over 4,000 individuals, half under the age of 20. Last
year, 75% of our clients lived below the federal poverty level. The
area is at high risk for poor birth outcomes, substance abuse, youth
delinquency, dental disease, and communicable disease. Eighty-nine
percent of the population are Asian and Pacific Islander. Our staff
speak a number of different languages and dialects: English (including
pidgin), Filipino (Ilocano, Tagalog, Visayan, Cebuano), Chinese (Cantonese,
Mandarin, Taiwanese, Tieuchau), Burmese, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese,
Samoan, Tongan, Laotian, Micronesian (Chuukese, Panapei), and Hindi
in order to better serve our clientele.
An
Innovative Organization
Kokua
Kalihi Valley (KKV) specializes in integrated services. Most families
who access our services have multiple, inter-dependent strengths and
weaknesses that are best considered as a whole for effective health.
So we train our staff to maximize each contact and look beyond their
area of specialty, to identify needs that impact the overall health
of the individual and family. For example, our dentists are trained
to identify symptoms of substance abuse, depression, and family violence
and contact the appropriate staff. And we increasingly feel that health,
in the broadest most literal sense, is closely tied to education and
economics. So we seek out new collaborations with schools, colleges,
and job training programs. The objective is to foster individuals,
families and communities who can take control of their health and
well-being. Examples of our innovative programming include an elementary
school-based dental sealant and screening program in four schools,
a clinic-based literacy program, and a project called the Health,
Education and Leadership Program (H.E.L.P.) which engages over thirty
public housing young people, ages 13 to 21 in a comprehensive, year-round
program of health care, basic skills education, leadership development,
and career exploration. As an equal opportunity employer and in an
effort to integrate the Kalihi community into the mainstream many
of our employees and volunteers come directly from the community we
serve.
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