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With less funds available
from government entities Kaʻū Rural Health Community Association, Inc. is among
the many small community non-profits feeling the economic crunch. KRHCAI board
members are engaging in an emergency membership drive and asking the community
for their support to keep the association going after 11 years of service to
the Kaʻū community. “As a rural community, we are at a disparity compared to
urban parts of the state, and there are quite a bit of challenges for us,” said
Excecutive Director Jessie Marques, of Pāhala.
KRHCAI operates out of the
Kaʻū Resource and Distance Learning Center, located on Puahala St. in Pāhala.
With a variety of overhead and program fees to contend with, board members face
the challenge of keeping the center up and running. The center has already
temporarily cut hours of operation in half, focusing on keeping the center open
for students to complete the pilot Certified Nurse’s Aide training program
which is taking place all day from Friday to Sunday. Ten students are
participating in this second pilot program and anticipate graduating on June 5
at noon at the Pāhala Community Center. Marques was also able to find grants to
help students with the class tuition.
The CNA program is a
collaboration between KRHCAI, Hawaiʻi Community College and Kaʻū Hospital. The
program started in 2008 after Marques heard then Hawaiʻi County Mayor Harry Kim
speak about the extreme shortages in the healthcare profession, saying the
community could not look to government anymore, but needed to be creative in
their solutions. Marques took those words to heart and met the challenge with
the CNA pilot program, enrolling 15 students in the first program.
Of those 15 students, ten
became state certified; two went on to further their education to become a
Licensed Practical Nurse; four found employment with either Kaʻū, Hilo or Kona
Hospitals; and many serve as volunteers at Kaʻū hospital.
Students asked for more
exposure to the nursing profession before diving headfirst into the CNA class,
and KRHCAI responded by beginning a mentoring program, which took them through
the skills part of Red Cross exam. Marques, a trained nurse and who taught the
80-hour class pro bono, said students were coming from a variety of backgrounds
such as working at the bakery or picking nuts and wanted a new career, but were
not sure what nursing was all about.
The association has future
plans to extend the pilot CNA program to include upward mobility courses for
students to train to become an LPN or even a RN. Marques said there is no other program like this in the
state of Hawaii where a community-based organization has partnered with
hospital and an academic institution. She mentioned that the
program is being looked to as a template to be replicated in other communities.
The community directly benefits from students who go through
the CNA program since each student must be CPR and First Aid certified.
“Because we have limited access to health care and medical background, these
skills empowers the individual,” said Marques. Out of just ten students
enrolled in the class, 125 community and family members are directly impacted,
she said. “In case something happens at ball game or at the beach, these trained individuals can use their
skills.”
Students can also relate their education in healthcare and
chronic disease management and are now healthcare resources. “We are building
their capacity as human resources in the community,” said Marques.
Marques is working with Clinical Labs to help future
students receive a discount on necessary immunizations for the CNA class, which
are not covered by many of their insurances.
The center, which has
recently become a state certified classroom site, will also be the recipient of
a vog monitor. KRHCAI is working on a Vog Initiative Project with Dr. Liz Tam,
of the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Tam will give a vog impact training at
the end of the month at the center.
The Vog Initative Project is
piggybacking on the Hawaiʻi Island Children’s Lung Assessment Scientific Study,
which had it’s genesis at Stanford University and is led by Tam. The project intends to use surveys to
compile scientific data relating to the effects of the vog on 100 residents in
Pāhala and Wood Valley. KRHCAI is looking for funding to start the project this
area because it has been the hardest hit by the vog, but has long term goals to
extend the project to Nāʻālehu and Ocean View.
“When we get this data, we
can take it to the government and show the impact not on the animals, not on
the plants, but on the individuals. We need this data to get the government to
help people” said Marques.
KRHCAI has a long history of
involvement in Kaʻū health issues, getting its start as a grassroots
organization helping to keep the Kaʻū Hospital Emergency Room from being closed
in 1998. Soon after the organization received the distinction of becoming the
first community rural health association in the nation.
The association has made a
variety of programs available over the years including Huiʻana Internship
program, Kaʻū Emergency Readiness Academy, Injury Prevention and Child
Passenger Safety training, Hawaiʻi Asthma Initiative, Nānā I Ke Kumu youth
program, and the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park Junior Rangers program few,
diabetes and chronic disease management education to name a few.
Krystalyn Gascon, of Pāhala,
has been attending KRHCAI programs since the eighth grade and will graduate
twice on June 5, once as a CNA and second with her Kaʻū High senior class. She
credits the association programs with helping her find her chosen career as a
nurse. Gascon also attended the Medical Academy of Science and Health camp with
the association which exposed her through the variety of health professions by
touring Hilo Hospital. She said being involved with KRHCAI helped foster her
interest in community service and her love of helping people. “Aunty Jessie has
opened many doors for me and introduced me to many new experiences.” She said she
hoped to give back by helping the
association with future programs.
Beyond healthcare, the
association strives to meet its mission statement “To Do Whatever it Takes to
Keep Kaʻū Healthy,” which includes the community’s wellbeing as a whole. “Our
goals are not dictated by anyone but our mission to address our needs of
the community,” said Marques, who refers back to a community meeting held in
2004 where the 175 community members stated important issues were access to
healthcare, employment, education, transportation, drugs to help develop
programs at the center.
KRHCAI Vice-President Tori
Kaeo, also lead teacher with Tūtū & Me, will be opening the center every
Monday, Wednesday and Friday from June 1 to June 25 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The
resource and distance learning center is a “one-stop-shop facility that provides health,
education, research opportunities, adult education, job readiness, and
employment & training programs. The center is equipped with a computer lab,
video teleconferencing unit, distance learning connectivity, broadband internet
access, email, fax and copier. KRDLC also has a meeting room and lending
library stocked with a vast variety of periodicals, magazines and informational
brochures.
The center’s landlord
Puanani Woo, herself an educator and who’s mother hailed from Waiʻōhinu, has
been supportive of the association from the beginning, over the years donating
over $70,000 towards the center and it’s programs and personally investing in
renovating the house to bring it up to ADA standards. Woo has helped the association continue to have it’s
headquarters at the center by even reducing the rent in half. She said she was
very proud and glad to do it. “No organization can do it alone,” said
Woo, who mentioned it takes a collaboration in order for a whole to do well and
a community to be healthy. “I support and admire Jessie, who knows how to bring
together top notch scholarly people and community people together. She is very
unselfish in her leadship.” she said.
However, the association
still needs the support of the community, said Kaeo, who encourages anyone to
suggest “things they would like to see happen in the community.” Membership is
just $15 per household. Contact Marques at 928-0101 or krhcai@yahoo.com or any
board member to join.
Board members are Vice-President
Tori Kaeo, Secretary Nālani Parlin, Treasurer Wilma Roddy, Margaret-Ann Cabudol
and Bobby Gomes. The board is also looking for volunteers for two spots
recently vacated by President Eldridge Naboa and Donna Ambrose, who recently
resigned due to other community and personal commitments.
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