Editor’s note: Each Wednesday, West Hawaii Today is publishing a story about individuals, groups or organizations that have helped make life better for others in our community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Hawaii residents continue to become more comfortable with conducting everyday activities online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including telework, distance learning, online shopping and social networking, the digital shift has not been as easy for many individuals and families who do not have sufficient access to computers and the internet.
For residents struggling to cope with homelessness, unemployment, domestic abuse, mental health and substance abuse, accessing resources to help secure stability and self-sufficiency has become even more challenging.
To help narrow the digital divide, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan Hawaii recently donated 16 laptop computers to community partners and health providers on Hawaii Island and Oahu to help connect the individuals they serve with services and they need. The clients of these social service organizations will be able to use the laptop computers to search for employment, housing opportunities, assistance programs, community resources and health information.
The additional laptops also give the social service providers another tool to work remotely, which allows them to continue delivering community services to their clients, and enables the health providers to expand their telehealth services which has increased in demand during the pandemic.
Hilo-based HOPE Services Hawaii, a nonprofit that offers emergency shelter and street outreach services to help Hawaii Island residents avoid and overcome homelessness, will allow clients who stay at its shelter to use the laptops to search for housing and employment opportunities, to connect to online community resources, and for distance learning.
The Neighborhood Place of Puna’s Hale Iki Family Assessment Center, an emergency shelter that serves families with minor children and pregnant mothers who are homeless or fleeing domestic violence, will set up the laptops in the common area where all shelter clients will have access to online housing, employment, and educational tools and services.
The Big Island Substance Abuse Council, one of only two substance use disorder treatment programs on Hawaii Island, will use the laptops to increase outreach to homeless individuals and others who are in need of outpatient substance abuse services by meeting with them in locations in the community.
Paniolo Pediatric and Family Medicine will use the donated laptops to deliver behavioral health therapy services to patients in Waimea and Kailua-Kona. The program also offers prescriber services so members can have access to both a prescriber and routine therapy.
Mental Health Kokua, which provides services to assist people recovering from mental illness at 40 locations on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island, will make the laptops available to clients to access online services and participate in video conferencing and virtual meetings for case management as well as peer support groups, mentoring and coaching.
Know a Hometown Hero that should be highlighted next Wednesday? It can be anybody, from a youngster doing good for the community, to a professional helping with the COVID-19 pandemic, or even a kupuna! Please send your nominations to cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com with the subject: Hometown Heroes Nomination. Please include the hero’s name, contact information and what makes them a hero.