Meeting Food Insecurity Week After Week
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Staff from HHHRC and volunteers load cars with food in the HHHRC Food Drop drive-thru line.
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HHHRC continues its efforts to meet the food insecurity felt by those with limited access to essential nutritional support by partnering with
Hawai῾i Foodbank
and other organizations to distribute food on Oahu on at least a twice-weekly basis. Current food drop locations are at Windward Mall in Kāne῾ohe and in Pūpūkea across from Shark’s Cove.
Since its first COVID-related food drop on March 18, HHHRC has facilitated the distribution of over 29,000 lbs. of fresh produce, 4,000 lbs. of bread, 3,000 lbs. of dry goods, and 35,000 eggs. Over 1,600 families have been served.
“Food is a basic human necessity. Food distribution during this crisis aligns with our mission to reduce harm, promote health, and create wellness in our community. This crisis has required us to step up and do more and HHHRC is happy to do what it can to better serve our community,” said Events Manager Andrew Ogata, who is leading our current efforts to distribute food.
Our intention is to keep working with the community to meet food insecurity to the best of our capacity during this period of deepening food insecurity and economic crisis. Please visit our
website
for more information or stay in contact with us through
Facebook
,
Instagram
, and
Twitter
.
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Hawai῾i News Now & Honolulu Star-Advertiser Highlight HHHRC’s Service to Those Without Shelter
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Dr. Christina Wang cleans the leg of one of the people she has previously treated as he lies on the steps at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza.
Photo courtesy of Honolulu Star Advertiser.
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On April 16,
Hawai῾i News Now
ran a moving story
that toured the temporary quarantine and isolation center (TQIC) for homeless persons in Iwilei. The facility is joint effort between the City & County of Honolulu, Hawai῾i State Department of Health, UNITE HERE Local 5, H4, and HHHRC that seeks to the risks of COVID-19 exposure and provide low-acuity medical care to those in isolation.
HHHRC’s Dr. Christina Wang currently serves as TQIC’s medical director. Dr. Wang noted that the people who are working at TQIC are “dedicated to serving the most vulnerable in our community.” She further added that those without shelter “often receive a lot of judgment and shame.”
Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who was instrumental TQIC’s formation, said that providers like Dr. Wang and her medical team are “putting their lives on the line every day and it will never be forgotten.”
Dr. Wang was also able to talk about her work as guest on PBS Hawai῾i’s Insights roundtable on April 16. The panel discussed “Covid-19 in Hawai῾i” and featured Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto, Labor Department Director Scott Murakami, and Dr. Philip Bossert of Hawai῾i Association of Independent Schools.
Watch the program here
.
On April 20, the City & County of Honolulu resumed its sweeps of homeless encampments, a practice that contravenes the
guidelines of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
. The
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
notes that “people without housing are especially vulnerable to poor health and communicable diseases, including COVID-19.” Among their human rights-based recommendations: housing people experiencing homelessness in hotels and motels; placing a moratorium on sweeping encampments and seizing tents and temporary structures; increasing access to hygiene and sanitation services for those living in unsheltered areas; and decreasing the number of people incarcerated for the criminalization of homelessness and other non-violent offenses.
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2020 Honolulu AIDS Walk Canceled
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At this time when the news is dominated by COVID-19, we at Hawai’I Health & Harm Reduction Center(HHHRC) know that the health and safety of our staff, families, clients, volunteers and supporters are the top priority of our organization. As HIV has directly impacted so many of our lives, we know that our community is especially vulnerable at this time and have come to the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Honolulu AIDS Walk.
While we will surely miss seeing all our friends, family and supporters at the walk, we know this is the best decision for the health and safety of our greater community. We have been very fortunate to have garnered the community’s support and hope that in the future that support will continue. In lieu of the 2020 Honolulu AIDS Walk, we hope that you’ll join us in one of the following ways:
· Consider making a donation to HHHRC to support us in continuing our mission of
Promoting Health, Creating Wellness, and Fighting Stigma.
· Join us in 2021 as we look forward to celebrating 30 years of the Honolulu AIDS Walk.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support of the 2020 Honolulu AIDS Walk and HHHRC during this time. Your support will make a difference for disenfranchised communities across the state, and is now more important then ever. See you all June 2021 as celebrate 30 years of walking to save lives.
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More Notes from HHHRC's Field of Compassionate Service
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HHHRC continues its mission to reduce harm, promote health, create wellness, and fight stigma during this pandemic. With some of our staff working from home, technology has been useful in maintaining connection with those who we serve and the larger community.
Keiva-Lei Cadena, HHHRC’s Community Engagement Coordinator, now conducts her support group for persons living with HIV online. “The group has been a helpful reminder of the perseverance of our community. We use what we have learned about ourselves through our HIV journeys to pull each other through this difficult period. It’s great to see their faces and hear their strength,” she said.
Case manager Malulani Orton was invited by Dr. Cyril Goshima at the John A. Burns School of Medicine to present a webinar with the AIDS Education & Training Center Program. The presentation showcased HHHRC’s Ke Ola Pono program, which utilizes a culturally based approach to engaging clients living with HIV to improve health outcomes and address stigma. Malu also just marked her 10-year anniversary with Life Foundation and HHHRC. Mahalo for your dedication Malu!
Yet not all our work can be done through videoconferencing. We continue to provide street-based wound care in downtown Honolulu, medical case management services for people living with HIV on Oahu, and case management services for those referred by Honolulu’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program. We also engage in outreach services to link the unsheltered with access to housing, medical care, and other government assistance.
Regular access to sterile syringes and other supplies, including overdose prevention medication, on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawai῾i island. Here’s an update from Outreach & Overdose Prevention Manager Leilani Maxera: “Our outreach workers are still out on the street serving some of the most vulnerable people in our community and we are seeing firsthand how people who are homeless are suffering. Between the lack of services that are still open, the lack of opportunities to support themselves, and the fear of the unknown, the energy is very chaotic. Social distancing makes people more vulnerable to overdose, so we are just making sure people are thinking about these things and getting as much naloxone as we can out into the community to give people tools to survive. I am proud of my staff for getting out there to take care of our people so that our community members who use drugs don’t get left behind. We’re all in this together.”
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HHHRC's Dr. Christina Wang named 40 under 40
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HHHRC's Dr. Christina Wang was recently named one of Pacific Business News'
"40 under 40."
Pacific Business News is now in it's 21st year of recognizing outstanding leaders in Hawaii's community under the age of 40. Congratulations Dr. Wang!
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Mahalo to the Tzu Chi Foundation for their generous donation of personal protective equipment.
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Your support is deeply valued and helps us to reduce harm, promote health, create wellness, and fight stigma in Hawai'i and the Pacific during this tumultuous time. With your help we will do our best to provide critical services and be a voice for underserved populations in 2020.
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Hawai'i Health & Harm Reduction Center * 677 Ala Moana Blvd Suite 226, Honolulu Hawaii 96813
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