LIHU‘E — It is a sad fact that poverty never goes out of business, even in paradise. So, when an organization whose leaders have made fighting poverty and helping those in need marks their 40th anniversary, it is a reminder
LIHU‘E — It is a sad fact that poverty never goes out of business, even in paradise.
So, when an organization whose leaders have made fighting poverty and helping those in need marks their 40th anniversary, it is a reminder both of the good they’ve done and the never-ending work they face in the future.
Kauai Economic Opportunity, Inc. (KEO) was chartered in 1965 as the community-action agency on Kaua‘i, in response to the “war on poverty,” to serve he economically disadvantaged on Kaua‘i.
MaBel Ferreiro-Fujiuchi KEO’s chief executive officer and an employee of KEO for 34 years, reflected upon the milestone.
“It is indeed a bittersweet recognition of KEO in its 40 years of addressing poverty in our community. We are definitely proud to have been able to change the lives of people in need and the community at large,” she said.
The organization has grown to become an entity with 65 to 70 employees, 135 volunteers, and an annual budget exceeding $5 million, according to information provided by KEO.
Ferreiro-Fujiuchi said that $5 million is based upon 30 different contracts that go into funding programs. She said she has learned to come to appreciate not only the grant-writing process, but the necessity of casting a wide net.
“You may apply for 20 grants and only get four, so you always have to be looking,” she said. She noted the annual budget could change from year-to-year depending upon how successful KEO staff is at accessing grants and finding financial partners.
Ferreiro-Fujiuchi and Mary K. Thronas, chairperson of KEO’s board of directors, said KEO services more than 5,000 clients a year. They said that, based upon federal guidelines, about 12 percent of Kaua‘i’s population lives in poverty, but KEO leaders do not serve that entire population. Twelve percent of the island’s population of roughly 60,000 people is 7,200 people.
Ferreiro-Fujiuchi said KEO had evolved over the past four decades from an organization whose leaders sought to shed light, demystify and destigmatize poverty, by making its services known and identifying those in need, to giving those in need options and life skills to allow those in need to improve their circumstances.
To this end, KEO officials have been very successful in working with leaders of county, state and federal agencies to not only secure funding, but to use that funding for practical and needed projects.
A case in point is the emergency-homeless shelter which will be built on land adjacent to KEO’s headquarters.
Ferreiro-Fujiuchi said the $2.3-million project involved efforts of folks in the office of the governor, Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste, other county offices, and state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau.
According to Fred Maximo, staff co-chairperson, the backing was no fluke.
“After spending 40 years proving ourselves, they (government leaders) were willing to go out on a limb,” Maximo said. KEO leaders hope to break ground on the facility by the end of the year, and will hopefully complete the emergency-homeless shelter nine months after the ground breaking.
Kaua‘i is currently the only county in Hawai‘i without an emergency shelter for the homeless.
Maximo said the shelter will be able to accommodate eight families and 19 individuals. KEO operates nine units at Lihue Court Townhomes as transitional housing, and a group home in Puhi.
Throughout the years, leaders of KEO, a private, nonprofit, have initiated a number of projects aimed at combating poverty:
- KEO leaders started and funded the first housing agency on Kaua‘i to address the housing needs of low-income individuals. That housing agency is now known as the County of Kaua‘i Housing Agency, in the Offices of Community Assistance;
- KEO officials started the first bus-transportation system on Kaua‘i, for the elderly and needy.
The system was turned over to the county, and now lives on as The Kaua‘i Bus in the OCA’s Transportation Agency;
- KEO leaders started and funded the first neighborhood-watch program that was then “spun off” to the Kaua‘i Police Department;
- KEO officials were instrumental in obtaining and forming a partnership in building the first neighborhood centers on the island, and organizing programs within those centers.
The neighborhood centers are now owned and operated by county leaders.
Among the programs and services available at KEO are an emergency food pantry, employment-core services, a mediation program, Medicare drug card awareness programs, programs for children and the elderly, and many other community initiatives.
As part of their 40th anniversary, KEO leaders will be honoring their employees and volunteers, and raising funds for the emergency and transitional homeless shelters, with a big event Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club ballroom.
The fund-raiser will feature the Brothers Cazimero. The cost of a ticket will be $70, of which $30 is a donation toward the shelters.
After 34 years, Ferreiro-Fujiuchi said she knows she will have to step down at some point, but definitely not while she’s fighting the good fight.
“When it becomes a job, when it stops being exciting and there is no more chase, then I’ll go,” she said.
“I appreciate my job, and I don’t look at what it does for me. My job and KEO are here to provide service.”
