Project Vision Hawaiʻi, a nonprofit organization based in Honolulu, is dedicated to increasing access to health and human services. Established in 2011 with a single van equipped with a retinal camera, the organization has evolved to meet the basic needs of Hawaiian people. No longer solely devoted to ophthalmology and optometry, Project Vision Hawaiʻi now promotes a vision of health, happiness, and dignity for all Hawaiians, giving new meaning to its name and new hope to individuals with criminal justice involvement.
Darrah Kauhane-Floerke and Bob Wardlaw, two directors from Project Vision
The organization’s work with the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation came about organically, with a push from COVID-19. “Originally, we provided vision screening to low-income, rural areas and Title 1 schools,” explained Darrah Kauhane-Floerke, executive director of Project Vision Hawaiʻi. “When we started taking the vision van into homeless encampments and shelters, our services ballooned, and our service recipients diversified. We got to know individuals who were reentering the community from incarceration. Then, COVID-19 opened a path into the prisons themselves because we offer testing, education, and vaccinations for congregate settings.”
Project Vision Hawaiʻi’s COVID-19 response team earned the trust of wardens, correctional officers, and prison medical staff, which led to the provision of vision services in the correctional facilities, with plans to soon offer hearing and dental services as well. As a regular presence in the facilities, Project Vision Hawaiʻi has an opportunity to help with compassionate release and share information about community programming. It also sponsors a reentry support group called Moving Forward that connects individuals nearing release, or having been released within the past 2 years, with free legal and medical services, a case manager, and a peer specialist. Workforce development opportunities may also be available. Project Vision Hawaiʻi boasts that more than 60 percent of its staff have lived experience. Team members have a deep understanding of the community they serve because of past hardships in their own lives.
Growing to Meet the Need
In 2022, Project Vision Hawaiʻi case managers, community outreach coordinators, peer specialists, nurses, and community health workers provided 7,315 showers at 668 events through their innovative mobile hot shower program, called HieHie. “Our growth directly correlates with and responds to the needs we see in the community,” says Bob Wardlaw, director of housing at Project Vision Hawaiʻi. Recognizing the preponderance of mental health conditions and substance use disorders among its service recipients, Project Vision Hawaiʻi is working to expand its street medicine program to include behavioral health services beyond referral.
“Many of our staff have lived, or living, experience with incarceration, homelessness, mental health conditions, or substance use disorders; many directly benefited from HieHie,” says Wardlaw. “The most satisfying component of the program to me is our commitment to hiring people who were past recipients, helping them achieve credentials, such as peer specialist certification, that allow them to formally support the next person exiting prison or living with a substance use disorder. ‘HieHie’ means dignity in Hawaiian, and a hot, private shower goes a long way to maintaining one’s dignity, but it’s not the end goal. There is dignity in employment; there is dignity in giving back to the community.”
HieHie
Recognizing the significant number of Hawaiians who exit prison directly into homelessness, Project Vision Hawaiʻi considers this population one of its primary service recipients and offers services that address major barriers to reentry, such as access to treatment and health care, public benefits, housing, and employment. These services are made known through hygiene outreach and street medicine events held in conjunction with Project Vision Hawaiʻi’s HieHie program.
Photo from a recent Project Vision event
A fleet of mobile service units makes scheduled daily stops at various locations on Oʻahu, Big Island, and Kauaʻi. Later this year, Project Vision Hawaiʻi will launch a new mobile service unit on Maui. The service units are equipped with a private shower, sink, and toilet; a utility room; and outdoor awnings to allow for small gathering areas. In addition to hot running water and privacy, individuals have access to health screenings, street medicine (first aid), and case management referrals. Project Vision Hawaiʻi works with the state’s Department of Human Services and provides assistance with applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Med-QUEST (Hawaiʻi’s Medicaid healthcare program). Often, churches and other community organizations provide food and clothing, making the event a “one-stop shop” for services, all free of charge. Kauhane-Floerke shared, “A hot shower seems like a simple pleasure, but it can change a person who has been deprived of one. We all take privacy, security, and cleanliness for granted, but these feelings can help build confidence and readiness to change. After a hot shower and meal, participants are more likely to work with peer specialists, case managers, and nurses on a path out of homelessness. HieHie is a way to engage consistently with those who need it most, to meet people where they are at the same time every day, and to express our dedication to showering them with aloha,” (which can mean love, kindness, and much more).
Bringing the Mission Home
Most recently, as part of the Governor’s Kauhale initiative, Project Vision Hawaiʻi now offers low-barrier, harm-reduction housing options. In these Kauhale or tiny home villages, traditional communities are formed where residents contribute what they can for the benefit of the whole. This public-private partnership provides opportunities for truly affordable housing, employment, community, and a sense of purpose.
For more information on Project Vision Hawaiʻi and HieHie, email Darrah Kauhane-Floerke.
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