LIHUE — At first sight, the group gathered under a monkeypod tree on the lawn of the Historic County Building on Wednesday appeared to be preparing for an appearance before the Kauai County Council. Instead, the group centered around Frederick
LIHUE — At first sight, the group gathered under a monkeypod tree on the lawn of the Historic County Building on Wednesday appeared to be preparing for an appearance before the Kauai County Council.
Instead, the group centered around Frederick and Blanche Acoba, volunteers with the Mana Ohana Sober Support Services, who were processing paperwork for free bus passes.
“We have been volunteering with Mana Ohana for about a couple of months, now,” Frederick said. “During that time, we’ve given out more than 300 free bus passes to people.”
Kem French said Mana Ohana Sober Support Services has a contract with the state of Hawaii under the Federal Access to Recovery grant.
“If an individual has experienced substance abuse, or alcoholism, the government has assistance to aid in recovery,” said French, an assessor with Mana Ohana.
Mana Ohana is designed to provide clients with substance abuse clinical treatment and recovery support service providers, and increase the capacity of the recovery-oriented system of care.
The monthly bus passes are within the scope of the program it currently provides, French said.
Frederick Acoba said they picked the site of the lawn of the Historic County Building because he saw how many people had gathered there during the Bill 2491 hearing.
“We’ve also gone to bus stops, the beaches and other places where we see people who might need our help,” Frederick said.
Junior Pardua of Lihue was one of the recipients, returning Wednesday before his current pass expires at the end of the month.
“This is really good,” Pardua said. “I need a new one because mine is good until the end of the month. I use it to get around — buy food, look for a job, visit the parole office, and attend substance abuse class.”
The response drew a smile from Frederick.
“This is Kauai,” Frederick said. “You need a bus pass to get around if you don’t have a car.”
He said, in addition to the free bus passes, another person was scheduled to distribute free cell phones through the Mana Ohana Sober Support Services. Phil Wong is the Chief Executive Officer for the group.
“They received a grant in order to help people with the free bus passes, cell phones, and even with housing,” he said.
Blanche said she met Wong at the courthouse and asked him if he needed help.
“From there, it’s been unreal,” she said. “We meet people while riding the bus. He said we needed to advertise, but I just told him to believe in the power of prayer.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
