The University of Hawaiʻi Student Basic Needs site has been completely translated into ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian). The UH System Basic Needs Committee, in collaboration with Lilinoe Andrews, UH West Oʻahu curriculum specialist, has released the new Nā Pono Ola Haumana website. The translated site was created to continue to support UH’s Native Hawaiian student population, honor the Hawaiian language, and to destigmatize basic needs support for all students.
The new site features simple search boxes that link students directly to a translated version of Findhelp.org, a search engine for accessing a wide range of basic needs resources, including emergency housing, food, childcare and financial support. Students will also find a resource map with the official inoa Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian name) of each UH campus.
“This new ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi resource will help connect our Hawaiian speaking students to resources in the language they may be most comfortable and familiar with,” said Albie Miles, chair of the UH Basic Needs Committee and assistant professor of sustainable community food systems at UH West Oʻahu.
- UH students have new web resource for basic needs, March 1, 2021
The UH Basic Needs Committee is also working to complete the first UH System Basic Needs Master Plan to guide basic needs programming at the system level and at each of the 10 UH campuses. The recent (2021) reports on UH student basic needs insecurity, and the anonymous user meta-data collected from the UH Findhelp.org site has supported this process of defining priorities and programing for the UH system. Through a range of student-facing outreach initiatives, the UH Basic Needs Committee aims to normalize the use of basic needs support services for students in need.
To enhance student access to a range of basic needs resources, a series of free webinars will be held throughout the fall semester 2021. Rainbow Uliʻi, UH system basic needs coordinator, will be offering 30-minute demonstrations to help the UH community become more familiar with the student basic needs website and Findhelp.org search engine. UH students in need of housing, food assistance, financial support, etc., are invited to join one of following webinars:
- Thursday, September 23, 11–11:30 a.m.
- Wednesday, October 13, 11–11:30 a.m.
- Wednesday, November 17, 6–6:30 p.m.
- Thursday, December 16, 11–11:30 a.m.
iCalendar (.ics) files with webinar links can be downloaded.
Topic: Navigating UH Basic Needs Resources
If unable to join, recordings of the webinars will also be available at the UH Basic Student Needs website.
