Partners in Development Foundation (PIDF), an IRS Section 501(c)(3) non-profit public foundation, was incorporated in 1997 in Honolulu, Hawaii. It has established and implemented programs in the areas of education, social services, Hawaiian culture, Hawaiian language, and preservation of more than $1.6 million from the US Department of Education through the Native Hawaiian Education Act. The grants were awarded for the purpose of continuing, expanding, and improving the educational programs of PIDF.
Programs and Services
Education
Tūtū and Me - A traveling free preschool with the goal of meeting the developmental needs of children ages 0–5 years old in order to prepare them to overcome the challenges of kindergarten and of life. A caregiver is required to attend alongside the child being served as the caregiver is also instructed as to how to be a teacher and mentor to the child. It is a statewide program having locations on Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Nā Pono No Nā ʻOhana - A family education project on Hawaiian Homestead land in Waimānalo, O‘ahu. It is an effort of school and community partners that focuses on the family as the foundation for learning, and offers a program designed to prepare Native Hawaiian children for academic success in school while helping parents advance their own education, work preparedness, and parenting skills. By integrating Native Hawaiian cultural values, Nā Pono No Nā ‘Ohana has improved the social, economic, and educational opportunities for hundreds of Native Hawaiian families. Ka Paʻalana - The Ka Pa‘alana Traveling Preschool and Homeless Family Education Program serves houseless families on the Leeward coast of O‘ahu. Through collaborative partnerships with Leeward coast outreach agencies, Ka Pa‘alana assists families by delivering or providing access to essential services, such as a parent-child participatory preschool, food bank, toiletry, and dental supplies distribution. Ka Pa‘alana also serves as an initial contact agency for families who are ready to transition to local shelters or temporary housing facilities. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders comprise a disproportionate 59% of the sheltered population while only accounting for 17% of the state's total population. Using culturally-sensitive strategies, Ka Pa’alana incorporates early childhood and family education programs that serve between 15 and 40 children and their parents in a mobile day-center each week. Ka Pa‘alana is currently funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kamehameha Schools, the Administration for Native Americans, Aloha United Way, and Friends of Hawai‘i Charities. Previous funding sources which helped develop of the program include the Hawai‘i State Department of Human Services and Nā ‘Ōiwi Kāne. There are five components to the Ka Pa‘alana program:
Ka Hana Noʻeau - Located in the rural North Kohala district of Hawai‘i-island this project has developed mentoring programs for Hawaiian youth that meld traditional knowledge with contemporary technologies. Traditional Hawaiian products and crafts have been slowly disappearing due to fewer opportunities for adolescents to learn the skills necessary to produce them. Ka Hana No‘eau brings an older generation of craftsmen and practitioners, and puts them together with young students in a unique mentoring program that will preserve traditional knowledge, products and, skills. An important and major portion of the program is an entrepreneurial component that introduces students to the marketing possibilities that their acquired skills will produce. Family Education Services - A four-hour-a-day, four-day-a-week comprehensive Family Education Service is offered at transitional shelters. Parents interact with their child for the first two hours of the program, then participate in various adult education and life skills programs while their children receive an intensive, developmentally appropriate education through preschool teachers and assistants. Adult educational services include goal-setting, budgeting, vocational training, job placement, and GED preparations. ‘Ike No‘eau - A traveling preschool program provides developmentally appropriate, culturally relevant math and science preschool curriculum to families at the shelters and at Hawaiian Homelands in Wai‘anae and Waimānalo. Pili A Paʻa - Pili A Pa‘a is an educational project that was created to address critical deficits in reading, math and science for the Native Hawaiian students on the island of Hawaii. This project seeks to build teacher's knowledge of curriculum, Common Core State Standards and instructional strategies while integrating Native Hawaiian cultural values and processes.