#Head Start

A veteran of the Maui Economic Opportunity Board of Directors, Ned Davis, was installed Thursday, June 25, for his second go-round as President.

Thousands of Maui County residents from low income families can thank Maui Economic Opportunity Director of Early Childhood Services Debbi Amaral ‒ who will be retiring later this month ‒ for getting a “head start” with subsidized preschool.

Maui Economic Opportunity’s Head Start preschool program is now accepting applications for the 2026-2027 school year.  

Wildfire survivor and advocate Kai Pelayo and the Stupski Foundation, which gifted Maui Economic Opportunity $450,000 for early childhood programs, were named Volunteer and Benefactor of the Year respectively at MEO’s annual Volunteer Luncheon on Friday, Feb. 13.

Sedona Wachaiyu has joined the Maui Economic Opportunity Board of Directors as Head Start Policy Council representative.

Head Start Health Manager Ashley Caris was named Maui Economic Opportunity Employee of the Month with her nominator praising her for “empowering and inspiring” her team.

The PROMISE award recognizes US Rep. Jill Tokuda for her commitment to early childhood education and her leadership in championing the needs of Head Start children and families across the nation.

Maui County’s essential health and human services are bracing for financial hits and a surge of psychological strain due to potential federal funding cuts, according to recent University of Hawaiʻi reports.

Hawaiian Electric donated to Maui Economic Opportunity a total of 150 toiletry and hygiene items, including shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and laundry soap, to be given to Head Start preschool families and Community Services clients in need.

US Sen. Mazie Hirono joined 46 Senate colleagues in opposing proposed Republican legislation they say would slash funding for critical social services in favor of tax breaks for the wealthy.

The CEOs of two major social service nonprofits on Maui claim the Trump Administration may eliminate a local program that offers preschool at no cost to low income families.

Maui County’s Community Action Agency, Maui Economic Opportunity, was praised as a “second government” for its far-reaching work assisting county residents in need by Maui County Council members, who declared May as Community Action Month.

The nonprofit Maui Economic Opportunity was praised as the county’s Community Action Agency in a proclamation declaring Community Action Month in Maui County.

Maui Economic Opportunity’s Head Start preschool program, which offers comprehensive early childhood education at no cost to income-qualifying families, continues to accept children for the 2025-2026 school year, which begins in August.

As Maui Economic Opportunity marks its 60-year anniversary this year, the nonprofit poverty-fighting Community Action Agency held an open house Tuesday, Feb. 4, attended by more than 70 government officials, including Mayor Richard Bissen; community leaders and partners; and MEO Board Members and staff.

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.

Maui Economic Opportunity’s Head Start preschool program, which offers comprehensive early childhood education at no cost to income-qualifying families, will begin accepting applications Feb. 1 for the 2025-2026 school year.  

The public is invited to purchase books at Barnes & Noble Kahului and donate them to the preschoolers at Maui Economic Opportunity’s Head Start through Dec. 12 as part of the bookstore’s annual holiday book drive.

Head Start staffer Maile Fevella was named Maui Economic Opportunity Employee of the Month. Part of her job is to fill in at Head Start sites in Central, West and Upcountry Maui and Haʻikū when there are staffing shortages.

Author and early childhood specialist Lori Abreu read her children’s book “Moʻo and Koholā” to the preschoolers at the Maui Economic Opportunity Head Start Makawao center on Thursday.