Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the hanai AI O WAI'anae (HAOW)…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the hanai AI O WAI'anae (HAOW) project will address community food system issues to ultimately reduce health disparities and disease risk among west 'oahu communities while simultaneously building grass roots capacity to ensure low-income communities are leading these efforts to address food and health inequalities. HAOW will take a participatory approach to community planning by facilitating the gathering of community input on the barriers to food and nutrition security experienced by community residents. These activities will yield actionable steps and inform the development of community pre-pilot and pilot project requests for proposals. Awardees of project funds will receive training and technical assistance from HAOW staff and collaborating partners to ensure successful planning and implementation. The approach will inform the honolulu city and county plans for addressing community-level food system resiliency. HAOW will also expand access to healthy, fresh, and locally produce foods in the EWA community through the makeke farmers' markets, which have successfully provided snap matching and other healthy food incentive programs to the waianae community. Together the food summits and makeke expansion will address social determinants of health that negatively impact residents of west oahu communities. HAOW will be led by elepaio social services (ESS), a newly formed non-profit of the waianae coast comprehensive health center (WCCHC). Both organizations have strong and trusted relationships between community and are seen as leaders in providing health care and social services to west oahu communities who experience disproportionately higher rates that results from a number of complex social determinants of health.