- Art, Local Food & Wellness, Affordable Housing & Solar Power, and Americorps -
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We have lots of good news to share, and a lot of hard work ahead 2018-2020
Change is Powerful
For fifteen years, we've been sowing seeds for sustainability in Hawaii, leveraging new and time tested strategies and tools to strengthen rural communities. Growing healthy communities requires many levels of collaboration and the ability to listen to people's hopes and fears.
One Island's efforts seeking a smarter, wiser way to live on the Earth have been met with both encouraging support as well as anticipated, and at times unexpected, challenges. Growing a new way of living together is no easy task. Courage and determination are required!
 Seed by seed, it started with increasing local food access, grew to solar electricity and solar powered cooking and refrigeration, added wellness, embraced the high need for affordable housing, and the most recent seeds aim at growing art and honoring cultural diversity. Each year, new pilot programs have emerged. Some have taken root and grown into ongoing initiatives. When you plant a handful of seeds, you never know how many will sprout. This year is a time when all of the seeds sprouted all at once!
While we may joke that having seven concurrent programs running is clear evidence of "Multiple Curiosity Disorder", we do take our responsibility to
uphold Sustainability values very seriously.
Once you start down the Sustainability Path, it becomes more and more clear that it is all connected. Each thread overlaps another. Tug here, one moves there. And so it takes a lot of hands to weave the basket, the sacred container, of a wiser way of living. One Island's reader and participant support is highly valued in this cultural strengthening. To move from vision to action - and affect social change - offers everyone a valuable role.
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Hawaiian fisherman basketmaker
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One Island Sustainability in Action 2018-2020:
Affordable Housing
Local Food and Food Justice
Community Housing Land Trust
Solar Power and Clean Water Systems
Art and Cultural Heritage
Health and Wellness
AmeriCorps Community Service
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Updates on One Island Projects
Being Part of the Change We Want to See in the World
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Affordable Housing - facing a crisis with solutions
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Over 6,000 people have viewed One Island's Tiny House Initiative video on You Tube. Over 600 people have attended the Initiative's meetings and housing discussions. State legislation made it through the Senate and the House (then vetoed by Governor) in 2017. Clearly, affordable housing is a very HOT TOPIC!
 What started as the highly popular Tiny House Initiative in late 2016, and gained incredible steam in 2017, is continuing into 2018 with good progress on small home permitting and design.
Pivotal Meeting
On December 18th, 2017 we met with Senator Russell Ruderman, State House Representative Cindy Evans, Council members Tim Richards and Jen Ruggles, and Planning Director Michael Yee and his staff. One Island convened this meeting to 1) share a positive vision of affordable housing solutions, 2) bring critical stakeholders together to zero-in on barriers to Tiny House implementation, and 3) to move forward the Hawaii Island Housing Land Trust discussion as part of the land and housing access solution. All three goals were successful. Everyone agreed that the first step is to solve the farm worker housing challenge, and then move on to residential lot issues. Food First!
Housing? Yes!
Outcomes and Updates:
- The Planning Department is looking at ways to revise the 'Additional Farm Dwelling' rules to encourage secure, equitable housing for farm workers, including realistic work requirements to qualify for tiny housing, and unit mobility issues for both on farm and off farm farm worker housing.
- State legislators are looking at ways to introduce 2018 legislation that ensures the housing needs of farm workers are being adequately addressed in the State statutes, including Tiny Houses under 500 sq ft.
- The County Council members are looking at ways to change the building code to allow for Tiny Houses and clustered ag worker housing to help farms and ranches increase food production.
- One Island is launching a Community Housing Land Trust that will use State and private lands to increase access to affordable housing.
There was also a strong interest around the table in convening a
Hawaii County Housing Summit in the Fall of 2018.
Good ideas from all were brought to the table, and good heart to solve these challenges.
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Same Canoe Local Food project launch in January
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GREAT IDEA: Veggie Rx, medically prescribed fruits and veggies to build healthy bodies is coming to Hawaii Island
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Good News for Local Food
One Island is launching a 3 year expanded local food promotion project with workshops, farm tours, and coupon incentives to help increase healthy produce consumption.
We are hiring and training AmeriCorps members to serve as Food Justice advocates and are working with our health and welness, farmers' market and grocery stakeholders.
The project promotes access to local fruits and vegetables, directly supports local farms, and encourages community members to eat healthy and live longer.
We have a few AmeriCorps openings left, contact greenschool@oneisland.org to learn more.
Same Canoe is bringing
SNAP coupons and Veggie Rx to Hamakua, North and South Kohala, and North and South Kona Districts.
February will start the Farmers' Market services and following that, grocery and natural food store service will begin. Along with retail sales partnering, the Veggie Rx will go live for partner health clinic patients. We are also concurrently working with a professional web team to develop fun online and in-print food games that earn rewards for participants who join-in to learn about new ways to improve their health with fresh foods and support their local farmers.
Everyone can participate.
Workshops, tours and events are open to all.
SNAP/EBT households can earn extra bonus awards, receive free local produce coupons, and have access to no-cost diabetes and health education programs. Email hawaii@oneisland.org for SNAP/EBT info.
Partners in the new 3 year project include:
Hawaii Blue Zones, West Hawaii Community Health Clinic, Hamakua-Kohala Health, Island Heart Care, Hawaiian Cultural Center of Hamakua, KTA, area farmers' markets and family owned grocery / natural foods stores, CSAs, University of Hawaii, Ho'opomaikai Community Health, and other wellness and food system partners.
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Fun ways to teach and learn
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Discounts on local foods, Fun workshops, Contests for tasty food prizes, Over $300,000 in coupons and incentives for SNAP/EBT
users to buy fresh produce from local farms,
Special chef nights at cafes and tastings at markets,
Farm tours and More!
If you are on the Eastside of the Island, see the
Mahalo to the USDA, AmeriCorps and the
Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture
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Powering a Village and creating fresh, potable water - out of thin air!
Part of One Island's sustainability mission is doing right by the earth while helping rural families improve their quality of life. An exciting innovation is being brought to Hawaii by One Island - water generation by pulling moisture directly from the air, without County or well water needed!! Our first test site will pilot this fascinating technology in January 2018.
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Fresh water, less ocean pollution
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The Native Hawaiian Village of Miloli'i does not have utility hook ups for water or power. Many use a beach ice cooler as their 'refrigeration' that requires many drives a week to a distant store to buy ice. Due to a lack of potable water, dozens of cases of bottled drinking water are brought into the remote village
every week. The good news is that they are now becoming the recipients of new solar power, refrigeration and water technologies through a One Island and USDA joint effort.
Solar power is a great way to meet both of their water and power goals - it reduces global warming, improves air quality by avoiding diesel and gas generation, it has a lower impact on our ecosystem than fossil fuel generation. Bringing rural families low cost, empowering new tools improves their quality of life. Plus solar powered water generation and food refrigeration will bring direct, new options for healthy living.
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Miloli'i with remnants of small, inoperable solar from the 1970s
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We are happy to announce the bidding process concluded with the selection of
Ultimate Off Grid Solar Hawaii
, a Native Hawaiian owned small business, as the lead solar PV installer.
Solar Power, Fresh Water and Healthy Food.
Happy People!
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All ages enjoyed discovering the Arts at our October 2nd Launch Event at the North Kohala Public Library. Mahalo to the many volunteers who helped this event be a great success!
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Cultural Arts Planning
How does a town or region develop and strengthen its identity as
an Arts Community?
Cultural Arts Planning is a process for engaging a local community in identifying, assessing, and dreaming its past, present and future Arts Story.
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Kohala Capoeria Performance
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One Island is very thankful to have earned the opportunity to conduct a Communtiy Arts Planning Process for North Kohala. As the only neighboring island project selected by the National Endowment for the Arts funding 2017-2019, The Heart of Kohala is honored to have been chosen to blaze a path we hope other districts will adopt and implement to foster access to the arts island wide.
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Award winning Kupuna hula dancers
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Kohala Musician Mila
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Our Goal: Fostering engaging and thought provoking Arts installations and events, forming a North Kohala Arts Council, and encouraging the creation of a Hawaii County Arts Commission to identify needs and fund the Arts!
Do Art . Be Art . Support Art
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Photo cr
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dits: Malia Welch, Donna Maltz, Nayara Toscana. Art by Kohala Students.
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One Island is a 501c3 non-profit organization
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