Benefiting Agency

For more info see our website:
www.malama-pono.org.

Mālama Pono Health Services was established in 1986 (as Mālama Pono -- Kauai AIDS Project), a grass roots response to HIV disease on Kauai. The agency was incorporated in Hawaii in October 1987 and received Federal 501(c)3 status in March 1989. Our mission and vision statements reflect the agency’s client-centered and community-oriented strategies to reduce the incidence of HIV and STD transmission and provide service through sensitive, culturally appropriate met hods to all persons affected by the HIV disease on Kauai. The agency strives to increase public awareness about HIV-related issues, increase participation in and support for HIV-related activities, reduce the incidence of HIV and STD transmission, eliminate stigma and fear surrounding HIV, and to provide practical, financial and social support to those members of the Kauai community who are infected with HIV. Mālama Pono is guided by an all-volunteer Board of Directors, staffed by both full- and part-time professionals and supported in our Care and Prevention programs by numerous compassionate and dedicated volunteers. All of our services are free and confidential.

Mālama Pono focuses prevention on risk reduction through a range of relevant, target-specific behavioral interventions. HIV Prevention staff work in locations and venues where HIV+ and at-risk individuals can be reached in order to circulate essential and timely information about HIV/AIDS, STD’s and viral hepatitis through outreach, referrals, individual risk-reduction sessions, informational brochures and HIV counseling and testing both in the field and during regular office hours.

Our case management services include needs assessment, service planning, linkage and referral to community resources, coordination of benefits, nutritional and treatment education, food pantry access and emergency financial assistance for HIV positive individuals and their families. Our staff stays well-advised on treatment options and advancing medical and psychosocial research in order to assist clients in accessing information that empowers them as individuals to make informed choices related to their health status, treatment and care and recruits, trains and support volunteers for a variety of client-related services and agency events. As a result of case management and support services, people on Kauai living with HIV have been provided the aid they needed to access primary medical care and other services to improve their quality of life and, in many cases, prolonging individual life expectancy.

As the sole provider of comprehensive HIV/AIDS services in Kauai County for over twenty years, Mālama Pono has established a reputation for stability, cooperation and consistent, high-quality service delivery both in the local community and statewide. The agency has worked diligently to establish collaborative and operational relationships with primary care providers, other social service agencies, a wide range of therapeutic care providers and Federal, state and local government agencies and programs to provide a continuum of care that identifies and addresses the diverse needs of our community.