FOCUS MAUI NUI

Making a Difference in Hana

Apr 13, 2011 | Community

Lehua Park Cosma is one community volunteer dedicated to meeting human needs, a priority value expressed by our community through the Focus Maui Nui process. Through her tireless efforts and leadership, the Hana community benefited from the nation’s first communal home dialysis center, Hale Pomaika’i, which opened in 2009. The facility means that diabetes patients no longer have to make the arduous journey to the dialysis center in Wailuku up to three times a week. “The trip meant leaving home at 2 a.m.,” says Cosma. “My initial motivation was my Mom, who was a dialysis patient and my best friend who instilled in me everything I needed to succeed,” she explains.

Cosma founded a grassroots organization, Hui Laulima O Hana, to spearhead the campaign for the treatment center. There were plenty of doubters that the facility would ever become a reality, but Cosma persisted. “When you live in a rural area, you have to work hard to make things happen—opportunities don’t just come to you,” says Cosma. “I realized that if I didn’t volunteer to make Hale Pomaika’i a reality, no one else would. That kept me going. Now, medical experts come from all over the world to visit our facility in Hana – it’s a successful model for isolated, rural communities.”

Cosma’s priorities as a volunteer go beyond improving community healthcare. “Preserving our culture and lifestyle are very important to me,” she notes. “It’s also about looking out for each other and setting an example for the next generation.” It meant a lot to Cosma that students from Rick Rutiz’s Hana School Building Program, Ma Ka Hana Ka ‘Ike, helped renovate the plantation-style residence that houses Hale Pomaika’i. “County and State officials also played important supporting roles in making it a reality. Now, the State owns the property and the County manages it,” she observes. Cosma’s volunteer work also extends to supporting youth, through her fundraising efforts with Hana’s Spring Festival, which helps support students in need.

Brian Moto: A Volunteer with Many Missions

Apr 6, 2011 | Community

Meeting human needs is a priority value expressed by our community through the Focus Maui Nui process, and in the case of Brian Moto, this applies to helping the victims of the recent Japan disasters as well as those in need on Maui. Moto, volunteer Board President of Maui Fukushima Kenjin Kai, the local association of descendants of Fukushima prefecture—devastated by recent events—is working with numerous other groups across the State to raise funds for direct relief efforts.

Closer to home, Moto, formerly the chief legal adviser to the County of Maui, provides pro bono legal work for Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii. The agency counsels low-income individuals and families at neighborhood clinics, providing legal advice to those who could otherwise not afford it on issues such as tenant and consumer rights, contract disputes, and collections. Moto is also an active board member for the Friends of the Children’s Justice Center, which helps neglected and abused children and their families. “My voluntary work is personally very rewarding,” observes Moto. “I am sure I get much more out of working for those in most need than the agencies I serve,” he adds modestly.

In February, Moto became Special Assistant to the Chancellor of University Hawaii Maui College, but the change in appointment has not affected Moto’s dedication to volunteering in the community. Among several other commitments, Moto is a Eucharistic Minister at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Kula, having studied at Yale Divinity School after gaining a law degree. “That experience put everything in a larger perspective for me, especially the importance of giving to others and finding meaning in one’s life and work,” says Moto. “The most important aspect of volunteering my time is to help those who are least able to speak for themselves or get the help they need.”

Meet County of Maui Budget Director: Sandy Baz

Mar 30, 2011 | Community

The Focus Maui Nui process identified the key role of government in responding to community values and needs, and the importance of open, ongoing communication. To promote this dialogue, we continue a series of profiles of newly appointed County Department Directors.

Sandy Baz had to hit the ground running when he took up his appointment as the County’s Budget Director in January this year—he had only a few weeks to prepare incoming Mayor Arakawa’s budget for Fiscal Year 2012, the period running from July 2011 through June 2012. The Mayor presented his Budget proposal in mid-March, and over the coming weeks, the proposal will be deliberated upon by the Council with input from Department Directors, discussed in public hearings attended by the Council across the County, and a final version adopted by June.

Baz’s main responsibility is preparing and administering the County budget. The budget cycle begins in August, when County Departments begin submitting funding requests, and initial public testimony to provide community input takes place in all County planning districts. The Budget Director and staff review, analyze and coordinate Department requests and shape the budget proposal in concert with the Mayor, who sets policy priorities.

Baz was born and raised on Maui and is a graduate of St. Anthony High School. He holds a degree in business management and is a winner of the Pacific Business News “Forty Under 40” award in addition to other leadership awards. As the former Executive Director of MEO, Baz reflects, “I look forward to drawing on my previous experience to improve accountability and specifically to link performance criteria to measurable outcomes. I am enjoying my role of aligning the mission and goals of the County and its Departments with the needs of the community and within the financial resources available.”