Executive Director’s Corner - June 2021
Since the last newsletter, two virtual events inspired and motivated us. The Voices of Hope event at the Hawai‘i Theatre was magical! In the next few months, we will post the inspiring FYA talks from our HI H.O.P.E.S. leaders. And, on May 26th we had the Pandemic Relief Town Hall. The replay of the Town Hall is available here https://www.epicohana.org/news/caa-town-hall
I want to highlight the work that EPIC is currently doing to support the CWS distribution of federal funds earmarked to support foster youth and former foster youth through the pandemic. We are on a mission to distribute $600,000 of direct financial aid to young people by October 1, 2021. An intrepid crew of staff and former foster youth interns have hit the ground running. If you know of a young person, especially one who is currently over 18 but under 27 who was in foster care after their 14th birthday, please have them fill our the survey on our website at CAA Pandemic Relief — EPIC ‘Ohana, Inc. (epicohana.org).
Like many organizations in Hawai‘i, our fiscal year follows the state’s July 1 to June 30 calendar. It has become our tradition to begin each new fiscal year with gratitude for each other and for the families, children, young people and community that we serve. This year we are especially grateful as we close up this challenging fiscal year and look forward to the future. O‘ahu has just entered Tier 4, more people are getting vaccinated, and EPIC is planning a return to the office and in-person meetings.
We have learned so much during this pandemic, and the new normal will not look exactly like the old normal. We now know that conferences, meetings and circles can effectively be a mix of in-person and virtual conversations. We also know that working from home facilitates productivity and work life balance in some situations, but not all. We also learned how much we treasure our families and colleagues.
Later this summer we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the very first ‘Ohana Conference. We will be inviting all of you to a virtual event in late August or early September. Thank you so much for your aloha and support, we truly cannot do this without you!
Aloha
Laurie
EPIC by the numbers
January – May 2021
`Ohana Conferences 507
Youth Circles 143
Family Wrap Hawai`i meetings 61
Family Finding Lists 212
Relative Notification Letters mailed 9,465
