I am deeply appreciative and truly excited about coming onboard at FSSWH! There are so many challenges ahead, yet I join an organization that is steeped in tradition, has a solid foundation, possesses a truly gifted staff and a very involved and caring Board of Directors. In addition, I have found that there is solid community support and citizens wanting to lend a helping hand. I commend FSSWH and especially JoAnn Farnsworth, the outgoing Executive Director who has expanded FSSWH rapidly in the past few years to try and meet more of the needs of the children and families in Hawaii.
I don’t, however, feel as though I “have it made” in that I see an agency that, due to this rapid growth, now has a lot of refinement to do and must settle in and become even more effective in its service delivery to families in the area. We are doing good work, we can do better work, and with your continued support we will be able to meet more of the seemingly growing needs of our communities. These are exciting times for me and I feel blessed to be joining an organization that meshes so well with my belief about how services ought to be delivered (primarily preventive in nature), needs identified (as surfaced by the community) and programs operationalized (with respect and dignity). There is a lot of love at FSSWH and this family, if nurtured adequately, will be able to share and nurture those we come in contact with through our outreach efforts. So, you see, I may have a wonderful foundation upon which to build, but I also have both a challenge and an opportunity to lead the FSSWH team in becoming more empowered and, therefore, more empowering with families we serve. This also goes for our work with many other human service groups that are so essential if we are truly able to effect change that produces healthy families. Lots of challenges and opportunities ahead!
I look forward to getting to know the supporters of FSSWH and will both welcome and seek out your thoughts on how we might do an even better job at FSSWH. I consider you a member of the FSSWH team and it will take our joint efforts to truly make the difference that is needed with many of our families.
I hardly can believe that almost eleven years have come and gone. After nine months of planning we have a new director, Don Bebee, and I am officially retired as a staff member of Family Support Services ( FSSWH). I was graced by the most beautiful celebration party any one could ever hope to receive. I will always remember that evening and the sentiments shared and expressed to me. As I looked around the room while we held hands and sang at the end of the evening I saw the incredible strength of our collective vision, the power of solidarity to our mission of providing love and care for the children of our community. Each of us a link in that chain.
I leave knowing that FSSWH has given me far more than I have given it. A few of the many gifts I have been given are:
A way to live my personal mission of protecting children from abuse and neglect and helping parents provide their children with love and guidance;
A place to create a vision of a caring community, of loving parents, of eager self-assured children;
The lesson of compassion;
A team I can respect and am proud to be a part of; the synergy of creating a vision with a team of like values and shared vision;
A community of comfortable size with caring partners; a place in it where I can make a contribution, and;
The people I have met who have enriched my life with their differences, sincerity and commitment.
The future for Family Support Services is made secure because of its deep connection to this community. The agency is unique because of this commitment on the part of many people, staff, board and the volunteers. My hope for the future would be that FSSWH:
Stay independent and form strategic alliances with other agencies, programs and community members to stay strong;
Stay prevention focused; although the temptation is to follow the treatment dollars, support others to do that work, not that it is less important;
Be a vital member of the community, continue to strive to meet the needs of the children and families, get in there and mix it up, have opinions about what is right for children, right for families here in your community, not West Hawaii, but specifically Ka’u, Ocean View, South Kona, North Kona, Kealakehe, Waikoloa, Waimea, and Hawi;
Be entrepreneurial; don’t be afraid to take risks, chart new territory; just make sure to evaluate and change course if needed;
Keep a strong funding mix of private, state, and federal funds and develop the endowment fund;
Hold each other to high standards of performance; outcomes over outputs, and;
Always remember to take care of each other and yourself; balance your work, your health, your family, your spirit, and your creativity.
Mahalo nui loa for your support over the years!
West Hawaii teens jumped at the chance to beat small town boredom when they swallowed their fears and grabbed a microphone at Fridays “Free Your Mind,” An Open Mike Night.
A few parents and interested adults jammed in with a crowd of more than one hundred mostly teenagers who were standing, sitting on the floor, and spilling into the parking lot at Starbucks Coffee. The event was sponsored by Family Support Services of West Hawaii. One end of the coffee shop was converted into a stage, with amplifiers, turn tables, microphones, numerous guitars and other instruments, and teens performed everything from poetry read over hip hop beats, to Hawaiian music.
Jordan Wolf, 16, who plays Hawaiian music, offered a selection of ukulele music. Wolf said Kona needed youth events like Free Your Mind. “The kids need something else to do besides run the streets all night,” she said.
“There are so many teens in the community are vibrant and creative. This is an outlet that allows them to express themselves in a positive manner, thanks to the help of community members like Sound Wave Music, Kona Coast Shopping Center, Hawaii Youth Services Network and Office of Youth Services,” said Jacque Hornbeck, the FSSWH Youth Development Program Manager who created the monthly event.
Amateur poet Anella Subiono has not missed a Free Your Mind reading. “The first time I came, I was a nervous wreck, but it gets easier.” Subiono drove from Waimea with a group of friends, and she said she wishes Waimea had something similar.
Kalani Pokipala, a Kealakehe High School sophomore, also known as “DJ Paco,” has been spinning records at parties for about a year, but he performed at Free Your Mind for the first time that Friday. “It’s pretty cool,” he said of the event.
FSSWH targeted the 14 to 24-year-old crowd, but a cross section of youngsters attended. “It’s a way to bridge the gap between different groups,” Hornbeck said. “We‘ve got the hip-hop crowd, the analyticals, the taggers.”
Free Your Mind is scheduled from 7 pm to 10 pm on the first Friday of each month. Due to the growing number of participants, the event has been moved from Starbucks to the North Kona Shopping Center Court.
For more information on Free Your Mind, how you can support this event or other events sponsored by Family Support Services of West Hawaii, call Barbara at (808) 326-7778 ext 115.
On Saturday, January 29, 2000 over 120 volunteers came together to do a community service workday at the Queen Lili’uokalani Village Recreation Center in support of the Youth Programs provided by Family Support Services of West Hawaii. The volunteers, representatives of Epson, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Iomega, 3 Com, and Compaq, came from across the country and were visiting the Big Island for Ingram Micro’s VISTA 2000 Conference. As a part of their conference they chose to do a community service project, this year choosing the renovation of the Queen Lili’uokalani Village Recreational Center. The renovations will benefit the Family Support Services of West Hawaii Youth programs held at the center, as well as the community at large.
The 120 volunteers painted the building inside and out, replaced windows, replaced the swings on the swing set, revamped the tether ball court, as well as repainted the volleyball and basketball courts, replaced the basket ball hoop and volley ball net and built six picnic tables. They also planted over 40 young plants and added pea gravel under the swing set and around the tetherball court. In addition, the group pledged monies to rebuild the office and fill in the very unsafe broken pool to create a safe place for the kids to play as well. And of course, being representatives of the computer industry, they have pledged eight computers, screens, printers and the hook-ups to network the equipment.
A fun time was had by all, and the kids of the area are grateful for the “new life” given to their recreation center. Thank you Ingram Micro for bringing this group of people to our community and for incorporating a community day in your conference; what a wonderful representation of the ALOHA spirit. We can’t wait for you to come back in two years so we can work together again!
Mahalo nui loa!
On Saturday, January 29, 2000 over 120 volunteers came together to do a community service workday at the Queen Lili’uokalani Village Recreation Center in support of the Youth Programs provided by Family Support Services of West Hawaii. The volunteers, representatives of Epson, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Iomega, 3 Com, and Compaq, came from across the country and were visiting the Big Island for Ingram Micro’s VISTA 2000 Conference. As a part of their conference they chose to do a community service project, this year choosing the renovation of the Queen Lili’uokalani Village Recreational Center. The renovations will benefit the Family Support Services of West Hawaii Youth programs held at the center, as well as the community at large.
The 120 volunteers painted the building inside and out, replaced windows, replaced the swings on the swing set, revamped the tether ball court, as well as repainted the volleyball and basketball courts, replaced the basket ball hoop and volley ball net and built six picnic tables. They also planted over 40 young plants and added pea gravel under the swing set and around the tetherball court. In addition, the group pledged monies to rebuild the office and fill in the very unsafe broken pool to create a safe place for the kids to play as well. And of course, being representatives of the computer industry, they have pledged eight computers, screens, printers and the hook-ups to network the equipment.
A fun time was had by all, and the kids of the area are grateful for the “new life” given to their recreation center. Thank you Ingram Micro for bringing this group of people to our community and for incorporating a community day in your conference; what a wonderful representation of the ALOHA spirit. We can’t wait for you to come back in two years so we can work together again!
There is an exciting collaboration going on at Konawaena High School; it’s a community-based, public/private collaborative effort that brings together many partners to address the health, educational and social needs of pregnant and parenting teens and their families who live in our rural West Hawaii communities. One result of the collaborative is the Na Kamali’i O Ka Aina childcare center at Konawaena High School supported through the Kona Even Start Program, of which Family Support Services of West Hawaii is a partner. This effort received the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies State Achievement Award in 1998 for outstanding and innovative community work affecting maternal and child health. The program serves teen parents and their children, and is expanding to include older parents and children 0-5. The plan is to work with high-risk populations with low literacy skills or in need of parental or parenting help and education.
March of Dimes has recently awarded a $500 grant to Family Support Services of West Hawaii toward this initiative. We are proud to be a part of a model public health initiative for our state.
Thank you March of Dimes for your ongoing support of our efforts here in West Hawaii!