MEO celebrates 60 years: A ‘community hub’ on Moloka‘i

Maui Economic Opportunity Inc. celebrates 60 years of service in Maui County this year. This retrospective looks at its branch on Moloka‘i where its offices across the street from Kaunakakai Elementary School became a “community hub” in its early years, according to MEO Moloka‘i Director Mahie McPherson.

In 1992, the MEO office and a Head Start preschool were completed on a little more than an acre on Kolapa Place in Kaunakakai.

Now leading a 19-member staff, McPherson joined MEO in 2022 after a decade at the county’s Division of Motor Vehicles & Licensing. She follows respected Moloka‘i directors, including her predecessor Yolanda Reyes and the late Fred Bicoy.

In the Aug. 1, 1984, Ke Kukini Newspaper, Linda J. Dunig praised Bicoy as “a leader in the community” in a Letter to the Editor. She quoted him as saying MEO’s goals for the future are “what they have always been, the upgrading of the quality of life for Moloka‘i’s people.”

As a Community Action Partnership agency – one of more than 1,000 nationwide – MEO tailors programs based on the needs of the community. The focus is on unmet needs, avoiding duplication of work by other agencies. 

Some programs continue to operate as they have for decades, such as Head Start, food surplus distributions and the kūpuna Red Card discount program. Others have faded away, including the Language Arts Multi-Cultural Program that operated out of Kilohana Elementary and the National Farmworker Jobs Program.

In fiscal year 2023-24, MEO Moloka‘i assisted nearly 1,900 residents with most of its programs. These include transportation services, de facto public transit on the island that takes residents to dialysis, health appointments, shopping and other activities; rent and utility assistance; job and employment training; monthly food distribution; business planning classes; and kūpuna club support through the Planning & Coordinating Council.

MEO Youth Services began offering its bullying and suicide prevention program and the alcohol and substance abuse prevention program Kāohi at Moloka‘i High and Intermediate about two years ago. Alcohol and drug abuse and suicide were identified as areas of concern on the island.

“MEO is committed to the residents of Moloka‘i and will continue to identify needs and create programs to improve lives and offer hope for the future,” said MEO Chief Executive Officer Debbie Cabebe.

MEO Moloka‘i can be reached at 808-553-3216.

The nonprofit Maui Economic Opportunity is part of the national Community Action Partnership network. It helps low-income individuals and families and disenfranchised people help themselves and transform their lives.

MEO was chartered in 1965. It offers more than 40 programs that assist low-income people, kūpuna, youths, persons with disabilities, immigrants and other disenfranchised individuals countywide.

For more information, visit meoinc.org or call 808-249-2990.