ʻAha Pūnana Leo receives grant award from Office of Hawaiian Affairs   

ʻAha Pūnana Leo, Inc. was awarded a $79,514 grant entitled “Noiʻi OHA” in the recent round of community research grants announced by Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

These grants are focused on ʻOhana Based Practices in Perpetuation of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi to serve the Native Hawaiian community.

This Office of Hawaiian Affairs grant is funded by the Administration for Native Americans, made available under the American Rescue Plan, for Native American language preservation and maintenance, made to sub-recipients.

This grant also aligns with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’s mission, vision, and Mana i Mauli Ola Strategic Plan 2020-2035.

The purpose of “Noiʻi OHA” is to increase the Hawaiian language fluency of ʻohana in homes with children enrolled in Hawaiian Medium Early Childhood Education throughout the state to better support their child’s educational development and journey in ʻōlelo Hawai‘i.

“Our connection to ʻohana is critical in the work of language revitalization,” said ʻAha Pūnana Leo Luna Hoʻokele Chief Executive Officer, Kaʻiulani Laehā. “We put significant effort into ensuring that the ʻohana can support their keiki in Hawaiian language medium settings so that there is a bridge from classrooms to their homes. When we say our programs are family-based, we really mean it…we are enrolling families that are committed to making Hawaiian language the primary language of their home and that is rooted in the keiki and ʻohana using the language together.”

There are 13 Pūnana Leo childcare centers throughout the state located on the islands of Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi.

For more information about ʻAha Pūnana Leo, Inc., visit: ahapunanaleo.org.