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Early Education Center
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serves over 100 children annually, ages 24 months through 5 years
old
• Licensed preschool (ages
2-5 years old)
• 80% of families live in
Waikiki or work in Waikiki’s visitor-related businesses
• 63% of families meet federal
income guidelines for free or reduced lunch
• 51% of families have incomes that
enable them receive tuition subsidies from state government or
private
sources
• 99% of parents work full-time or
part-time and need quality child care for their children
• 95% of children meet
developmental milestones for their age and
school-readiness
Client
Story :
Jane is a single mother of two children, ages 3 and 1
year old, who works as a waitress in a Waikiki restaurant. She fled
her home with her children due to domestic violence. Her ex-husband
has not communicated with the family since. She tries hard to
provide a loving home for her sons and wanted a quality child care
center for her children so she could work and her children could
develop all the necessary skills for school readiness. Barely making
ends on her waitress salary, WCC provided Jane with a tuition
scholarship for her children. When he first enrolled at WCC, John,
the 3 year old, demonstrated aggressive behavior when interacting
with the other children and seldom talked. His infant brother cried
a lot. After working with the children, WCC teachers report that
John and his brother both show much progress in attention span,
behavior and developmental skills. John is speaking clearly and has
learned appropriate social skills. His brother is walking and
learning independent skills. (Return to
top)
Senior Programs
- case management
services and programs that support 600 older adults
annually
• Waikiki Community
Center provides health maintenance activities (cognitive
stimulation, physical exercise, social activities), case management and counseling and
referral services for one of the highest concentrations of elderly on Oahu. 25% of Waikiki’s 20,000 residents are over the age of
60 years old. Waikiki elders who live alone are especially at
risk to social isolation and
physical deterioration. The typical elderly resident is female,
mid-70’s, living alone, with little
or no family support systems nearby.
As our seniors become more
frail, they can become confused or unaware of existing services
available to support them. WCC
senior programs is the first line of defense against isolation and
declines in health or a change in their normal lifestyle (loss of spouse, living arrangements,
financial resources) are observed and recognized readily at
the Center.
WCC utilizes a preventative
health, community-based model for services to older adults,
established by national research on
aging, as a best practice. This approach focuses on providing
seniors with physical activity, cognitive stimulation and social connections, which helps
facilitate one’s ability to age “in place” (independently). Exercise
also reduces the risk of dementia
by 50%, alleviates loneliness, forges close friendships and fosters
emotional well being and
security. WCC provides
seniors 80 educational, recreational and social services, including
health screenings, financial
education, physical fitness
classes, social opportunities, such as hula, dance, board games,
ukulele lessons, painting, language
classes, educational speakers, and excursions. Case management and
referral services are provided by a
licensed social worker.
For children and relatives
of aging family members, WCC provides peace of mind that their
elderly loved one is not alone
during the day, are connecting with others and that they will be
made aware of any change in their elderly family member's condition.
• 87% of senior participants remain living in the
community
• 88% of senior participants report maintaining their physical
and cognitive health.
• 94% of senior participants report building and maintaining a
strong social support network whom they can
rely upon when
needed.
• 92% of senior participants report satisfaction with the
assistance they received during times of trouble
or
need. (Return to
top)
Client
Story:
Mary, an 83 year old widow, lives
alone in a small Waikiki apartment. Her only son lives on Maui and
rarely visits her. Mary participates in many
WCC’s activities which she credits to her ability to continue to
live independently and with the help of the many friends she’s made
at WCC.
Living on limited income, Mary
suffers from diabetes and a chronic heart condition, both of which
require her to take multiple prescription medications daily. Mary was receiving partial Medicaid
health benefits and had little coverage for her medication. As a
result, she would take only half of her
prescribed medications and often relied on her physician to provide
her with samples. Some days, she took no medications until she could afford to purchase
more.
After a thorough assessment of Mary’s
situation, WCC’s social worker helped Mary apply and receive full
Medicaid coverage, including coverage for
her medications. Mary was able to secure all of her medications and
no longer cuts back on doses. Last year, Mary forgot to update her Medicaid application, as required annually by
the State. Consequently, she lost her eligibility benefits. WCC’s
social worker helped her through the
confusing application process and she was again enrolled on
Medicaid. Without the help of WCC’s social worker,
Mary would have had to resort to
reducing her medications. (Return to
top)
Emergency Food Pantry
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serves 800 adults and families each year
• Nonperishable food
distributed to homeless individuals and needy families
• 1,000 pounds of food
distributed each year
Client
Story:
Sam and his 9-year old
daughter were
homeless. They moved about very frequently, from a few nights in
back of Kapahulu stores or at friends’ Waikiki apartments, preferring not to stay at a
homeless shelter. Sam’s wife was a substance abuser and used much of
their income to support her drug
habit. Consequently, Sam lost his job and a place to live. Sam’s
primary concern was his daughter, making sure she had food, clean clothes to wear and attended
school each day. While she was at school, he looked for jobs or
temporary employment.
Sam came to the Waikiki
Community Center emergency food pantry several times for his family.
Then he disappeared. Nearly a year later, he came to WCC’s door with a grocery bag of canned
goods. He wanted to donate food in appreciation for the food he
received when he needed it most. He
had found a regular job and an apartment for his daughter and
himself. His daughter was on the honor roll at school.
Help change a life,
donate now by sending your most generous donation to Waikiki
Community Center, 310 Paoakalani Avenue, Honolulu, HI
6815 (Return to top)
For more information contact Waikiki Community
Center at (808) 923 1802
310 Paoakalani Avenue, Honolulu, HI
96815 |
Early Education Center 