Relative caregivers raising keiki will have an opportunity to attend a free conference at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday to learn about community resources that could be of help with their unique
Relative caregivers raising keiki will have an opportunity to attend a free conference at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday to learn about community resources that could be of help with their unique challenges.
In 2006 the first conference was the result of efforts by five community organizations: Agency on Elderly Affairs, Child & Family Service, Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center, and Alu Like Inc.
Hawai‘i has over 16,000 relative caregivers. Many are grandparents, aunties, uncles, neighbors and foster parents all serving as primary caregivers for children.
Kaui Castillo, director of Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center, and Kealoha Takahashi, Director of Aging & Elderly Affairs, are organizing the event. “This isn’t something you plan for when you’re planning your retirement and it often comes at a time when these caregivers may be needing help themselves,” said Castillo, according to a press release. “Those of us living on Kaua‘i know that many of these families are our friends and neighbors, and we wanted to figure out a way to help them.”
“One of our goals is to support families caring for their loved ones this includes our Keiki,” Takahashi said, according to the release. “We hope this conference provides a first step in linking families with services and support that can help them in their situation.”
Island wide support group meetings and counseling services are available to Ohana Cargivers. “We hope this event will help us identify which services are also needed,” states Castillo.
The event, free to all caregivers raising keiki, will kick off with key guest speaker Kimo Alameda. Kimo is an “Ohana Caregiver” himself raising his nephew.
Then panels of individuals who were “hanai” by grandparents, also parent caregivers, will share about their own challenges and how they are dealing with them.
Additionally, the conference will feature Billy Kenoi, executive assistant to Mayor Harry Kim of Hawaii County.
A resource fair of local service providers will be held on site throughout the conference to allow attendees to ask questions and connect with needed services that can potentially help them in their roles. Research shows that many relative caregivers do not know about services or programs that are available to them.
Professionals who are interested are also invited to attend for fee of $10 per person. For information about this event, or to register, please contact Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center at 245-1873.
