100 years

Strengthening Hawai‘i’s Communities
Providing for Youth Development

Full Color

Both need and opportunity are great when it comes to supporting Hawai‘i’s youth.

Programs that offer young people better healthcare, education and other vital resources can have a tremendous impact and long-lasting effect on their futures.

Hawaiʻi Children's Trust Fund
Hawaii Children's Trust Fund

The Hawai‘i Children’s Trust Fund (HCTF) was established in 1993 by state legislation, Chapter 350B of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS).

This legislation created a public-private partnership between the Department of Health (DOH) and the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and structured the partnership to involve three advisory groups (a statewide Coalition, an Advisory Committee, and an Advisory Board). The mission of HCTF is to ensure that Hawai‘i’s children develop into healthy, productive, and caring individuals by promoting the advancement of community family strengthening programs in order to prevent child abuse and neglect. As the lead private partner for HCTF, the Hawai‘i Community Foundation holds and is responsible for the endowed fund that provides a permanent source of support for the grantmaking activities and other expenditures that support HCTF’s mission. More information about the HCTF partnership can found here.

Grantmaking under the Hawaiʻi Children’s Trust Fund is guided by the priorities identified by the HCTF Coalition. The Advisory Committee takes these discussions and coordinates one or more focus areas that would guide the development of a Request for Proposals. The Advisory Board, as directed by the Advisory Committee, finalizes the focus area, and makes recommendations to the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation regarding the development of the Request for Proposals as well as the timeline of the grantmaking cycle.

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Give to the Hawai‘i Children's Trust Fund
 

Promising Minds

Promising Minds is an initiative dedicated to improving early childhood behavioral health in Hawai‘i. By investing in our children—especially those at-risk of trauma, abuse, and neglect, or dealing with their aftereffects—today, we help chart the course for a healthy Hawai‘i tomorrow.

The Promising Minds Initiative focuses on a three-pronged approach. We believe if organizations, agencies, and practitioners adopt a trauma-informed stance based on the research that trauma does impact a child’s development, the whole system will shift so that early adverse experiences are non-stigmatized and every child receives the support they need to be set up for success. The key is to integrate mental health prevention services into the settings where children spend their time—at home, childcare, or the doctor’s office.

Here is how we can ensure this happens: expand children's mental health services and make them a full part of an inclusive mental health system, improve coordination between pediatricians and mental health specialists, screen children (and their parents/family) for concerns in childcare and other settings, and make sure we have the workforce we need so that timely access to care is available in all parts of the state.

Our three main strategies to achieve the goals of the Promising Minds Initiative:
1) Overhaul the Systems that Support our Children
2) Support a Professional Network of Early Childhood Providers to Strengthen Trauma-informed Practices
3) Increase the Number of Mental Health Providers in Hawai‘i

Learn more here.
 

Rev. Takie Okumura Family Fund

The Rev. Takie Okumura Family Fund was established at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) in 1990, by members of the Okumura family with the intent to continue the charitable works of Rev. Okumura in modern times.  The Advisory Committee for the Okumura Family Fund explored the work of Rev. Okumura considering carefully what had guided his chartiable activities and decided to focus on the healthy development of Hawai‘i's young children and youth.

The two areas of focus: 
1) Young Children and their families (ages birth to 5 years old)
2) Youth (ages 6-20 years old)

Learn more about the Young Children and Youth grant program.