PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAugust 2, 2019
Palama Settlement Launches Expanded Technology Program for At-Risk Teens: $50,000 Grant from The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation Fuels Coding & Graphic Design in Kalihi
HONOLULU, Hawaii – On Saturday, July 27, The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation presented a check in the amount of $50,000 to Palama Settlement to support coding and digital media classes for its In-Community Treatment Program and Community Based School (ICTP/CBS). The Ching Foundation Executive Director Tertia Freas and The Ching Foundation Trustees Bob Fujioka and Cathy Ching made the presentation at Palama’s end of summer STEAM education exhibition celebration, which was attended by Palama keiki and their families. This summer the students participated in coding and robotics classes which were led by the instructors from Twiddle Productions. This event was their opportunity to share the games and robotic boats that they created throughout the course of the class.
Representatives from The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation present PalamaSettlement with a $50,000 check for its ICTP/CBS technology program.**Back row, from left to right: Ching Foundation Trustee Cathy Ching, Ching Foundation Executive Director Tertia Freas, Ching Foundation Trustee Bob Fujioka, and Palama Settlement Board of Trustees President John Taira.
For additional photos, click here.**
**Check presentation took place during the 2019 end of summer STEAM education exhibit which featured keiki coding and robotics participants (pictured). ICTP/CBS youth are not pictured, due to the confidentiality.
Thanks to the generosity of The Ching Foundation grant, Palama Settlement will continue its partnership with Twiddle Productions to launch an expanded technology training program for ICTP/CBS students. “Our Foundation continues to support programs that improves the lives of children in our state, especially for those that come from families that are financially challenged,” says Tertia Freas, Executive Director of The Ching Foundation. “The education in technology will enable these children to develop their talents and realize their capabilities in the future.”
Students will create their own websites and edit videos using Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, and Scratch. The goal of this course is to allow students the opportunity to learn some of the marketable skills required for a successful entry into the job market. The grant funds will be used for personnel costs and supplies for the program.
“The coding and graphic design course for ICTP/CBS is part of a series of new program offerings at Palama Settlement,” says Earl Fusato, Executive Director of Palama Settlement. “We are striving to focus on technology and arts activities like those that have either been discontinued or are not available in our public schools. We are grateful to The Ching Foundation for recognizing the importance of STEAM education and skill building for our teens. Without this funding, this program would limit the opportunity we can offer to our students.”
About In-Community Treatment Program and Community Based School
The students enrolled in the In-Community Treatment Program (ICTP) and Community Based School (CBS) are at-risk youth who have demonstrated difficulties in the traditional school setting due to various reasons ranging from chronic truancy, and behavioral issues, as well as social and family dysfunction. . Since 1970 ICTP has been accepting adjudicated youth referred by Family Court and 2018, CBS began accepting students who display at-risk behaviors, but are not adjudicated. The goal of is to improve school performance and attendance, eliminate law violating behaviors and develop socially acceptable skills and attitudes through a low student-to- staff ratio to reengage and motivate, the students desire to learn and reach their goals.
###
About Palama Settlement
Established in 1896, Palama Settlement is a non-profit, community-based social service agency serving the Kalihi and Palama neighborhoods. We offer a wide range of educational, recreational, athletic, cultural, social, health, and community building programs and services for children, youth, adults, and senior citizens.
Website: www.palamasettlement.org | Facebook: @malamapalama | Instagram: @palamasettlement
Media Contact
Leah LeeDonor Relations & Marketing Coordinatorp. (808) 848-2532 | e. llee@palamasettlement.org
Program Registration Form-PICK UP AUTHORIZATION-Copy of T-shirt order form-Financial Aid application(Optional)
Click on the image above for a PDF version of this flyer.
To register, complete the registration form and the authorization pick up form.
Please consider giving to Palama Settlement through Aloha for Hawaii Charities.
Click on the image above to go to the Friends of Hawaii Charities site.
from all of us at Palama Settlement!
Mahalo to all our donors, volunteers, board members, and community partners for another wonderful year.
Click below to see photos from our annual Community Holiday Event, held last Friday on campus.
Show your “aloha” for Hawaii’s charities! When you donate to Palama Settlement through Aloha for Hawaii Charities between November 15, 2017 and January 14, 2018, we will receive 100% of your donation plus a bonus boost* from a funding pool generated by Friends of Hawaii Charities from Sony Open tournament proceeds.
Visit the Aloha for Hawaii Charities page to see a list of participating charities and to make a donation to our organization today. Mahalo!
*Charities with more than $1,000 total donations qualify for the bonus. Donations exceeding $3,000 per donor, per charity are accepted but will not be eligible for the bonus. If donations are received outside of the donation period, the donation will be accepted by Friends of Hawaii Charities to support its mission.
On Thursday, October 12, 2017, Palama Settlement started to demolish its Tenant Building. One of the original nine buildings constructed in 1925 that formed the new eight-acre campus on Vineyard Street, the Tenant Building was a two story wooden structure on the corner of Palama Street and Vineyard Boulevard. For 90 years the building enabled Palama Settlement to serve the Kalihi-Palama community with services such as the Strong-Carter Dental Clinic and Palama Settlement Community Services program, which assisted individuals and families with an emergency food pantry and referral services for housing, medical, clothes, household items, school supplies, and financial assistance.
Due to building foundation-structural issues, the building was shored a number of times to ensure the structure remained sound. Over recent years, foundation issues continued and after the building was shored recently, a structural engineer could no longer guarantee how long the building would remain safe. Palama Settlement addressed the safety issue by vacating the Tenant Building three years ago. While Palama Settlement preferred to keep the building, it was decided that costs to rehab the aging building would far exceed the cost to rebuild.
Over the years as Palama has evolved, its facility needs also changed. The original gymnasium was replaced by The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Gymnasium due to the widening of Vineyard Street in 1960. The iconic Rath Building on Vineyard Boulevard was also relocated on campus in 1983 to its current location in order to build the Higashino dining/meeting/administration complex. Today, the Rath Building and the Corbett House are two remaining buildings from the original campus complex. Moving forward, Palama Settlement will continually adjust to the ever-changing community and its needs. We look forward to redeveloping our campus to be relevant and purposeful to our mission as we prepare for the next hundred years. Mahalo.
If you are looking for a calendar of youth activities for the month of October, go to Programs and select Youth Activities in the drop-down menu. On the Youth Activities page scroll all the way to the bottom where you will see a Google calendar. If you click on the 10/17 tab at the bottom you can open up the month of October and view a full schedule of all Youth Activities at Palama Settlement.
We look forward to seeing you on campus this month!