Supporting Local Agriculture & Healthy Families
Same Canoe is promoting the local food - good health connectio
n
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Lisa DeSantis, a One Island Ameriorps Service Member,
presents Jean Luke with a prize at the Kohala JAMboree, March 10th
|
Great things are 'popping up'!
Spring Renewal and Regeneration
The constellation of Art, Food, Farms and Sustainable Living is in full action this year at One Island. We are growing healthy communities and future leaders. Thanks to support from the USDA, National Endowment for the Arts, AmeriCorps, and State Dept of Agriculture, you'll be seeing our services reaching into many areas of the island and serving people from all walks of life. The unifying theme remains rural strengthening through sustainable living.
|
|
|
|
Same Canoe Food Displays at Choice Mart & 6 KTA Stores island wide showcasing Hawaiian
Heritage Foods.
|
|
We have a crew of 8 working at the remote Hawaiian Village of Miloli'i to deliver new solar power solutions. Solar power, refrigeration and potable drinking water are coming online with 13 homes served to date.
From Honoka'a to Waimea and Hawi, to Kailua-Kona and South Kona, Same Canoe's four AmeriCorps Members are actively assisting with
'Healthy Living' food and cultural programs that bring new ways for low income households to access free, fresh local produce. With enrollment booths at 6 Farmers' Markets and 6 local grocers, the team is fostering healthy living connections.
The Arts are a welcomed sustainability cornerstone as we support Kohala CoLab's formation and the launch of fun, dynamic pop-up exhibits. The next Pop-up is April 14th and features a student arts showcase. We continue to undertake mapping cultural arts assets and develop cultural planning tools that will be active in the community this Spring and Summer for North Kohala. We also enjoyed attending the great SoKo Open Studio Tour in South Kona featuring the works of Kathy Carr and Andrea Pro.
Affordable housing remains in the forefront of our attention, the new Hale O Malama Community Housing Land Trust has been formed, and we are building new relationships with local health providers to help strengthen the quality of life in rural communities. The annual Kohala Health Forum is on April 2nd.
Renewing this Spring : a return of Same Canoe's food and nutrition demos, workshops and farm tours open to any and all. Watch for news and the fun PASSPORT that earns Local Food Challenge points and prizes.
|
|
|
Rick Salas and Krista Cutter at 'Fortunes Told' arts pop-up on Feb 10th, presented by Kohala CoLab and Heart of Kohala
|
One Island Sustainability in Action
Art . Food. Farms
Affordable Housing
Renewable Energy
Health and Wellness
All components of Sustainable Living and Rural Strengthening
|
 |
|
News about One Island activites
Being Part of the Change We Want to See in the World
|
|
Affordable Housing - facing a crisis with solutions
|
|
|
|
Award-winning small footprint green built Hawaii home.
|
Planning is underway for the new
Hale O Malama Community Housing
Land Trust
The Land Trust is registered with the State now and is meeting with important potential funding partners to receive on-island training as we look for the 'right' parcel for the first acquisition. Hale O Malama is prioritizing farm worker rental housing first, then a shared equity build-out as the second phase. One of our potential funders is pursuing Tiny House engineering approvals that could help the first phase achieve its goals more effectively and lead to self-help funding for the equity phase.
If you know of a parcel held by a local or mainland family who are interested in helping affordable housing happen, and that may or may not be a parcel on the market, please point them to us. We are looking at 5-40 acre parcels.
Tiny House Updates - Small House, Big Crowd
 On March 6th, we hosted a fun 'Tiny House' Tour in North Kohala and saw a pre-built house, acquired in Palm Springs, CA, that was moved to the Big Island. While it is a 'small house', it drew a BIG crowd with over 36 people there to hear about the zoning and building challenges faced in importing a pre-built structure.
We learned that the additional foundation work (no wheels were allowed), and changes in plumbing and electrical quickly ate up the margin the owners had anticipated and that it will be going on the market in the neighborhood of $450,000 on a one acre lot.
 It is very important to be aware of barriers to affordable housing solutions so we can nudge our government and builders to develop more cost effective housing solutions. Several Tiny House Bills have tried to make it through the legislature, we'll report on those in the next issue.
Toward the goal of changing housing and land use policies, we continue planning a Housing Summit in conjunction with other organizations where we can address housing barriers and seek solutions that best fit Hawaii's needs and lifestyle.
See the Tiny House video and keep up to date on the Hawaii Tiny House Initiative
web site.
|
|
|
Same Canoe Local Food
now at 12 locations with 50 farm and 10 health clinic partners!
|
|
|
Anna Flint, AmeriCorps Member, managing the Hawi Farmers Market booth for Same Canoe Local Food Challenge
|
Good News for Local Food
Same Canoe is One Island's local food program and this year's project has us out at 6 farmers' markets, 6 retail food grocers, and 8 health clinic locations.
Goal: Growing Healthy Families and Communities.
The project promotes access to local fruits and vegetables by directly supporting local farms and encourages community members to eat healthy and live longer. Everyone is invited to attend fun educational food and health events that begin in April. Check the
web site for current event updates.
How it Works. SNAP/EBT households who are receiving what we consider important, health promoting 'food insurance' are eligible to enroll if they live in Hamakua, North and Sorth Kohala, or North and South Kona. (Ka'u residents served by one of our health partners can also enroll.) Sign-ups happen at a variety of locations in each district, every month. Once enrolled, they can become eligible for $160-$320 in local food coupons to help them increase consumption of fresh fruits and veggies. See chart of sign-up locations
here.
Eat Well . Be Well . Live Well
This produce includes fresh fruit and veggies for under $20 - so much local goodness in one box!
Same Canoe offers:
Discounts on local foods, Fun food workshops, Contests for tasty food prizes, Over $300,000 in coupons and incentives for SNAP/EBT users to buy fresh
produce from local farms, stores and CSAs,
Special chef nights at cafes and tastings at markets,
Farm tours and More!
Mahalo to the USDA, AmeriCorps and the
Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture for their support of the Same Canoe Local Food Challenge.
Masthead photo is of AmeriCorps Members Laura Markham and Markus Fahrenberger out signing up SNAP participants at Choice Mart in Captain Cook. Other Kona sites are the Pure Kona Green Market, Adaptations Fresh Feast CSA, Island Naturals, Kona Sunset and Keauhou Farmers' Markets.
North Hawaii locations are Hamakua Harvest Farmers' Market, Kamuela Farmers' Markets, Healthways, Takata Store, Kohala Grown Market, and Hawi Farmers' Market.
|
Rural Community Health
Could this historic inn become an innovative rural health clinic?
As a result of the last two annual Kohala Health Forums, a critical need was identified: the Hamakua-Kohala Health Clinic urgently needs a new home for its North Kohala services. Their current building has severe structural challenges - and a roof that leaks on exam tables. One Island was out scouting for Land Trust properties and came across the Kohala Club, a perfect fit for the clinic. Hmmmm....
|
|
|
Recently renovated building with a potential culinary medicine kitchen and meeting space.
|
|
So we invited the sellers and their representative, the clinic's representatives, and a local real estate agent to come together to consider this site as a new home for the clinic.
We all quickly saw that with a few fairly easy retrofits, the 3- building complex would make a great rural health facility.
The health center's Board and staff are now working to acquire this property and are seeking major capital acquisition funders.
Rural Health Security is a valuable investment that
pays measurable dividends for generations to come.
3rd Annual Kohala Health Forum
We'll be hosting the 3rd Annual Kohala Health Forum on Monday, April 2nd at the North Kohala Public Library and welcome community support for two key topics: Creating a North Kohala Health Resources Directory, and supporting Hamakua-Kohala Health in its efforts to secure this great property that includes room for a healing plant garden, housing for guest practitioners, and room for future expansion as an innovative wellness campus.
Join us for the forum that begins at 6pm; arrive early at 5:30 to sample island made chocolate ulu mousse and coconut pineapple tamales - yum!
|
|
|
|
The Arts engage our brains and bodies, hearts and souls in new discoveries.
|
Cultural Arts Planning
How does a town or region develop and strengthen its identity as
an Arts Community?
To help Kohala strengthen its identity as a Cultural Arts Community, a team of artists and designers have been hard at work creating a beautiful Cultural Arts Map.
The map notes where existing historic and cultural art features and experiences are located, from Mahu Kona Park to Pololu Valley. This map is being finalized and in April will be available in public settings to invite public input. Once it is finalized as a base map, it will be printed as a 3'x5' mural and planning tool. The map is an interactive challenge and offers viewers an opportunity to get engaged in envisioning where new or improved art resources could be established.
In addition to the printed mural map, there is also a dynamic online GIS map being built that allows for real time visioning - " You say you want the new music amphitheater where?" "If we build a Community Arts Center, where should it be placed and what should it offer?"
Come see and use the map on Sat. April 14th
at the pop-up 'Art at the Park'
student showcase
One Island is very thankful to have the opportunity to conduct a Community 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 that we hope other districts will adopt and implement to foster access to the arts island wide.
|
|
Pop-up Public Art Showcases
|
|
|
|
|
Art Happens. Anywhere!
|
|
Heart of Kohala's Goals:
Fostering engaging and thought provoking Arts installations and events, forming a North Kohala Arts Council, and to help foster the creation of an island wide Hawaii County Arts Commission to identify needs and FUND the Arts!
Do Art . Be Art . Support Art
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Touring Ma'o Farm in Waianae on Oahu
Ma'o is a model organic farm school program that provides students with monthly stipends, college tuition, and support to complete their studies.
Students enroll for 2.5 years and participate in farm operations, work in teams that reinforce college completion, and develop life skills that can also include graphic and video arts.
The farm reports over $700,000 in annual sales of local produce to stores and restaurants.
|
|
Same Canoe AmeriCorps Team on inspiring visit to a working farm school
|
|
|
|
One Island is a 501c3 non-profit organization
|
|
|
|
