UH Manoa Center on the Family receives $950,000 'Compassion' grant

Hawaiʻi Moving Forward project to assist grass roots, community service and faith-based organizations

HONOLULU - The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center on the Family (COF) was awarded a $950,000 grant to help grass roots, community service and faith-based organizations in Hawaiʻi that provide a wide range of social services to those in need, including the homeless, at-risk youth, rural and low-income communities, the elderly, and families transitioning from welfare to work.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service‘s Compassion Capital Fund awarded the grant to the Center for its Hawaiʻi Moving Forward project, a collaborative effort of UH's Center on the Family, the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HCF), and Hawaiian Islands Ministries (HIM). COF serves as the lead administrator of the grant.

"Our experience shows that grassroots organizations are generally focused on client services and have little resources to spend on strengthening their internal support systems and capacity," explained Ivette Rodriguez Stern, the COF Project Coordinator. "To better serve their clients over the long term, non-profits and grassroots organizations have to stabilize their internal structure, develop effective management and have solid governance. With this Compassion Capital grant, we can provide these organizations with the resources to help them achieve those ends."

The objective of the Hawaiʻi Moving Forward project is to build the knowledge and capacity of local community and faith-based organizations through training workshops, technical assistance, customized training, and grant funds.

The project will utilize a two-tiered approach to achieve this objective. Training workshops on leadership development, organizational development, program and services, funding, and community engagement will be conducted for all interested community and faith-based organizations in the state.

Project partners will also identify up to 40 community and faith-based organizations to participate in the Fellows Program, a more intensive and targeted capacity building program. Organizations selected for this program will receive individualized organizational assessments that will identify areas in need of strengthening, technical assistance from a cadre of coaches, and the opportunity to apply for grants to support capacity building initiatives. Two representatives from each organization will also be required to attend training sessions covering a range of capacity building subjects.

This is the second time the Center on the Family has received a grant from the Compassion Capital Fund to conduct organizational capacity building initiatives for local organizations. In 2002, COF was awarded $1.8 million to conduct the Hawaiʻi Moving Forward project as a three-year demonstration project. The first Hawaiʻi Moving Forward project provided the intensive training (Fellows) program to representatives from 25 organizations. The Hawaiʻi Community Foundation provided a 50 percent match to the federal grant.

In addition to the Fellows Program, 23 capacity building workshops have been conducted, either through large conferences or individual training events, to more than 1,100 representatives from faith and community organizations throughout the state.

Hawaiʻi Moving Forward is one of 20 programs funded in 2005. Public information meetings for organizations interested in participating in the Fellows Program will be conducted in early November and applications will be made available then. Registration information for the larger capacity building workshops will be announced as they are scheduled. For more information or to be placed on the Hawaiʻi Moving Forward email list, interested organizations should contact the Center on the Family at 956-4132.

For more information, visit: http://www.uhfamily.hawaii.edu