2009 | The Resilient Spirit

The path to adulthood is never easy. Most of us walk it with the help and guidance of those who love us most: our families.

Imagine having to go through much, or all, of your childhood without them—without the steady presence of people you have always known.

Children who are in foster care are survivors. Their families are either absent or in crisis. Every child in foster care has already survived tougher circumstances, and has had to make difficult choices than most will face in their lifetimes. These children have often endured physical, mental, or sexual abuse. In some cases, foster children can pass through twenty homes before they reach adulthood.

These young people are often called “at-risk,” but to them, the risk is finished: the things they feared most have already come to pass. They have lost much, but they are still rich in at least one thing: time. And with time, which has been called the healer of all wounds, comes hope. This exhibit is a visual representation of their resilient spirits.

Foster children have become doctors, lawyers, professional sports players, artists, teachers, and loving mothers and fathers. The difference is, and has always been, whether responsible and caring adults reach out to them and help provide them with the tools they need to make a positive transition to adulthood.

Imagine this: on their 18^th birthday, some of these children will walk into the adult world with nothing but a plastic bag filled with their belongings and what their heads and hearts contain. Yet if they have hope, they can move forward.

Having a positive vision of the future and a way to focus that vision—a vocation, a set of skills, a voice—is one of the most precious and enduring gifts anyone can receive. You can help these young people find a future they like the look of.

Hale Kipa (“House of Friendliness”) is a nonprofit agency serving at-risk youth and their families on all of the major Hawaiian Islands. It has been traditionally known for offering emergency shelter, but Hale Kipa provides much more than a roof and four walls.

More than shelter from the rain, an at-risk child needs what every child needs: preparation, structure, and practical tools for functioning in the adult world. He or she also needs emotional tools for surviving and navigating extraordinary experiences: early abandonment; rejection; homelessness; mental, physical, and sexual abuse; or addiction.

Hale Kipa makes every effort to reach out to children and youth who need the most support and have the least by providing targeted or special-need services and programs.

Platinum Level
($10,000 and above)
Na Lei Aloha Foundation
Charlene Flanter
Roy Ho
Chieko Steele

Blair Parry-Okeden

Premier Level
($5,000 – $9,999)

Macyʻs Foundation
Jamie Carr
Laura Heffron

Macyʻs West *
Gerald Cruz
David Furtado
Janis Mookini
Deena Nichols
Lavina Wong
Haaheo Zablan

Sustaining Level
($1,000 – $4,999)
Alston, Hunt, Floyd & Ing
Jade Ching & David Nakashima

Long & Associates Architects, AIA, Inc
Jeffrey Long

FUJIFilm Hawaii *
George Otsuka
Terimel Cristobal
Eugene Fujioka
Freddy Debebar

“The Pineapple Room” *
Alan Wong & Gary Matsumoto

Sun Communications *
Shawn Nakamoto

Viewfinders
($500-$999)
AsukaBook USA

Island Screen, Inc.
Arthur & Carmen Nitahara

Aperture Donors
($100-$499)
Marlene Booth & Aviam Soifer
Mert & Lenore Chillingworth
Cathy Kawano-Ching
Mark & Janie Davis
Brie Eriksson
Reiko & Kenwyn Goo
Linda Hakoda
Jeannie Hedberg
Jennifer Hee
Kimberly Hirota
Dan Hirota
Melanie Holt & Tim Bostock
Todd & Mahina Hugo
Brian & Jennifer Isobe
Vivian Kim
Lori Komer
Steven & Cathy Levinson
Douglas McClaflin
Hal Robert Meyers
Robert & Merle Miura
Carol Mon Lee & Jerry H. Bentley
Deneen Nakashima
Sahayog Foundation ~ Dana Forsberg
Cheryl Sherman
Oswald Stender
Kelly & Alexa Sueda
Sharon Twigg-Smith
Mildred Tyson Foundation
Elliot H. Loden, Trustee
Wikoff, Combs & Co., Ltd
Catha Combs

Lens Donor
($10 -$99)
John Barkai & Linda Martell
Harvey & Cora Buenconsejo
Michael & Sharon Cheape
Russell & Pat Clough
Donne Dawson
Will Espero
Phyllis Garrett
Maris Gray
Walter & Ellen Jinbo
Shannon & Fred Lowrey
Sharon McPhee
Stanley & Patricia Nakagawa
Clyde & Jasmine Nakayama
Sandy Natori
Hugh & Jennifer Okuma
Calvin & Liane Pang
Robert Preske
Franco Salmoiraghi
Siena & Solana
Lance & Kim Shinsato
TJ Mahoney & Associates
Dara Tsumura
Robert & Elaine Tsumura
Linda Uesugi
Stanley & Allison Uesugi
Heidi Wild

SUPPORTERS
Baby Face Productions
Laurie Callies

Kylee L. Chan

James Chow

City and County of Honolulu
The Honorable Mufi Hannemann, Mayor
Honolulu Hale ~ Scott Goto
Mayorʻs Office on Culture & the Arts ~ Michael Pili Pang

Pat Clough ~ “Prison Monologues”

Wendy Crabb

Department of Human Services
Lillian Koller and Owen McCabe

Grant Thornton, LLP
Doreen Griffith and Deneen Nakashima

Hale Kipa Staff & Affiliated Advocates
Jaque Kelley-Uyeoka ~ Deputy CEO-Outreach Services
Heather Beecher
Tanya Barcarse
Karlotta Carvalho
Natalie Crespo
Elizabeth Lynch
Eydie McNicholl
Jasmine Miyamoto
Ho`o Muna
Alaka`i Ohia
Jamie Rodrigues
Sione Uyema
Kathleen Walsh
Devon Washington

Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility
James “Al” Carpenter & Jack Martin

Honolulu Star Bulletin
Nancy Arcayna
John Berger
Ben Wood

Insurance Factors
Brad Martin

Clifton Kagawa

Kualoa Ranch
John Morgan, Braxton Hardy & Robin Naluai

Long’s Audio Video
Dan Long

Marimed Foundation
Nathan Preston

Show & Tell
Mike Higgins

Kahala Mall

KGMB-TV

La Pietra ~ Hawaii School for Girls
Mahina Eleneki Hugo & Annie Rogers

Lavonne C.E. Leong

Maunalua
Bobby Moderow

Sue Moore

Shanlyn Park, Esq.

Punahou School
Luke Center for Public Service, Carrie Morgan

Queen Lili`uokalani Children’s Center, Ko`olau Poka Unit

ResourceDirect, Inc
Allyson Apo

Robyn Schaeffer

State of Hawaiʻi
Office of Youth Services ~ Martha Torney

Utopia Design
Darin Uesugi

Utopia Photography
Lisa Uesugi

Wikoff Combs & Co., LLC
Catha Combs and Grace Lee

Women In Need
Mary Scott-Lau & Lili Hieda

Jose Andres Zavala

* Denotes In-Kind Contributions

2009 SUMMER INTERNS
Rachel Deliz
Tyler Holck ~ Punahou School
Caelan Hughes ~ La Pietra ~ Hawaii School for Girls
Lia Medeiros ~ 2008 Participant
Kate Ryan ~ Barnard College