LEEWARD COAST BENEFITS PROGRAM APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE APRIL 15

The City’s Leeward Coast Community Benefits program is entering its fourth year, and funding applications will be available on April 15 from the Department of Community Services.

“More than 2,500 families and 12,000 individuals have been assisted by this program, in partnership with service providers and community-based organizations,” said Mayor Hannemann, who developed the program in 2006 to help offset the impact of the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill on neighboring communities.

“This approach has been very well-received by Leeward communities,” he said. “As Hawaii is being especially challenged to fund needed services this year, I expect, encourage and look forward to a record number of applications.”

The program is open to community-based nonprofit organizations that address needs and concerns in Makakilo, Kalaeloa, Kapolei, Honokai Hale/Nanakai Gardens, Ko Olina, Nanakuli, Maili, Waianae, Makaha and Keaau.

Twenty-one projects were funded in the program’s first year, 25 were funded in 2007, and 32 were funded in 2008 to provide services and activities. These projects included the provision of housing, food, mental health services and other essential assistance to some of our neediest citizens on the Leeward Coast, including children, single parents, families experiencing homelessness, victims of domestic violence, at-risk youth, recovering substance abusers, displaced veterans and others.

Applications will be available at the Community Assistance Division – Department of Community Services, 2^nd Floor, Kapolei Hale, 1000 Uluohia Street, #204; and from the Oahu Work Links Program at the Waianae Community Center, 85-670 Farrington Highway, Room #6 beginning on April 15, 2009. Applications are also available online through the City’s website at http://www.honolulu.gov/dcs/specialprojects/ . The deadline for application submission is 4:00PM, June 1, 2009 at either of the sites listed above.

Further information on the 2009-2010 Leeward Coast Community Benefits program is available through the City’s Department of Community Services at 592-2293.