Next Step Project Shelter at Kaka‘ako/Waikiki Health Center
UH Mānoa College of Social Sciences, and Hawaiʻi Pacific Islands Campus Compact are coordinating service-learning opportunities with the NEXT STEP shelter, located on Forrest Avenue, Kakaʻako, Honolulu.The Next Step Shelter invites college students and faculty to come and help mentor and tutor the children of the shelter as part of their academic work. Volunteers are welcome too!
The Shelter
The shelter is housed in a large warehouse with up to 300 people, about one-third of which are children. There are separate sections for families, couples, and singles. The shelter opens at 5:30 pm in the evening and closes at 8 am in the morning every day. Many of the people using the shelter are recent immigrants mostly from Micronesian countries. The shelter is located on Forrest Avenue, near Kakaʻako Beach Park and adjacent to the UH Medical School. The makai portion of South St. between COMP USA and Restaurant Row is called Forrest Avenue. Drive into the left fenced area (opposite of the US Customs secured and gated area). The entrance is marked by a sign that reads “Next Step” on the fence. Speed limit inside the gate is 5 mph. Park alongside the warehouse (there will be other cars). Buses on Ala Moana Boulevard (several lines from Ala Moana) will take you to the South Street corner. Once at the Shelter, report to the front desk and sign in. The mentoring, tutoring and other activities that service-learning students participate in usually take place at the tables at the Diamond Head side of the shelter towards the children’s section next to the administrative offices in the trailer inside the warehouse. Before you come the first time, be sure to contact our site coordinator and assistant project leader, Kapua Tani (see contact information and "How to get started" below).
Project Details
A. MENTORING AND TUTORING - FOCUS ON CHILDREN
When: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday except on state holidays, in the evenings within the time frame from 5:30 to 8:30pm.
Onsite coordinator and student leader: Kapua Tani.
Commitment: Minimum twenty hours over the semester, preferably in at least in two-hour segments. Twice a week is a good model. Work with children on their homework assignments, special assignments that you design, play, talk story, etc. Help out with food serving and other things that may come up.
B. SPECIAL PROJECTS: ESL TUTORING, COMPUTER WORKSHOPS, SPORTS PROGRAMS ETC.
It is possible - and highly appreciated by the members of the Shelter - for students and faculty to help out with or create special programs for children and adults in close cooperation with Kapua Tani. Projects can be educational, serious, or just for fun. Generally, the activities involving Shelter members should take place during the regular opening hours and at the Shelter. However, exceptions may be negotiated.
Examples of special projects are ELL classes, health and computer workshops, member participation in selected Malama / Na Ahupua'a activities, and the Evan's Bus Project.
Examples of yearly activities that needs planning, organizing, media-contacts, etc. are the monumental Walk-the-Talk circle O'ahu awareness walk and much smaller Valentine's Day Breakfast event.
A good model for ELL classes is the program that UHM medical students ran in 2006 under the leadership of Mika Kie Weissbuch and Adria Honda. They met with their students twice a week on Monday or Wednesday, and tutored 1-3 students at a time in English as second language. It was mostly Micronesian women of the older generation, who were participating. If you were to create something similar, you could plan to teach one-on-one for a 40-45 minutes per session, or you could choose to teach the whole group together. You can develop your own curriculum, use a curriculum from another source such as a book or the SHINE program, or simply talk story. In addition, you could teach application filling, resume writing, and interviewing skills, as well as being an advocate for unemployed Shelter members to find a job.
If you have an idea for a project, please contact Kapua Tani or Ulla Hasager, who may also help you with supplies, curricula, forms, permissions, etc.
How to get Started
Training and scheduling: Please email us at csssl@hawaii.edu and introduce yourself - including your name, course/institution/instructor, if relevant, and which day you would like to attend training, phone number, etc.
At the beginning of each semester, there are scheduled training sessions.
Requirements: TB clearance. Before you go to the shelter, please submit the required IHE (Institution of Higher Education) waiver and registration to the address on the forms. At the shelter, please sign the shelter waiver, and IHE site agreement before start of service. Volunteers do not need the IHE forms.
ON-SITE PROJECT LEADERS:
Mr. Kapua Tani and Cheryl Santiago. Mr. Tani takes care of all matters relating to training, scheduling, assignment of tasks, permissions to interview, etc. Please be sure to consult him first with any ideas for initiatives or involvement of Shelter members in research projects.
FACULTY CONTACTS
Daily administrator of SL projects; faculty development; research and IHE curriculum integration: Dr. Ulla Hasager, service-learning coordinator, specialist, and instructor of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, Ethnic Studies Department, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; ph. 956-4218 (w), 330-1276 (c); fax 956-9494; email: ulla@hawaii.edu
