Ho'ōla Nā Pua

Hoʻōla Nā Pua, meaning “New Life for Our Children,” is committed to the prevention of sex trafficking and
providing care for children who have been exploited. Since our establishment in 2013, HNP has developed and
implemented innovative, and responsive approaches through community-based programs designed to address
prevention and direct care for youth who have been or are at high risk for being sexually exploited.

Hoʻōla Nā Pua's core programs are designed to provide a continuum of care before, during, and after exploitation.

Our prevention programs include instruction and training through educational presentations to middle schools and high schools throughout the state of Hawai'i.

We assist in the intervention of trafficking by training law enforcement agencies, health centers, hospials, mental health providers, child welfare non-profits, the tourism industry, and concerned caregivers on identification and response.

Our psychoeducational group services and one-to-one mentoring programs serve at-risk youth or victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

The opening of the first residential treatment facility for commercially exploited girls in Hawaii will help fill a gap in services that the state needs.

Through our Education Program, schools receive instruction and training for students, educators, and staff across five school districts. Our presentations provide prevention and awareness about what sex trafficking is, how to identify it, and how to reach out for help. Through the feedback on our student surveys, we have found that 75% of students report having received education on sex trafficking for the first time.

Our Direct Service Programs provides one-to-one mentoring and group services to youth ages 8-24 who are at-risk or victims of sex trafficking. Activities are based on a resiliency framework with the aim of preventing further victimization and building life skills to increase success in social reintegration. We provide individual mentoring when youth are referred to us and we conduct weekly group mentoring in residential facilities. Research shows that youth involved in the juvenile justice and/or child welfare systems are at higher risk for sex trafficking and many of these youth are in residential facilities.

In a broader initiative, we provide survivor-informed presentations and professional trainings at events statewide to increase awareness of sex trafficking. We currently employ an individual who is a survivor of exploitation who provides testimony about her experience to social service and health care providers, and the community at large. Survivor leadership is essential for positive impact and creating lasting systemic change around public education and awareness, therapeutic programming, research, and provides a holistic understanding of the complexities around sex trafficking. Over 25,000 community members have been reached through HNP presentations and trainings and 79% of survey respondents who attended professional training said they were more likely to recognize sex trafficking post-training.

The facility renovations are nearly complete, and we have been given a long term lease by the State.
We are so close to completing our Capital Campaign!

Record of Services and Progress 2014-2016 and Accomplishments

• Volunteer engagement: With over 1000 community members signed on as willing volunteers, 300 are vetted, trained and active; the core organizational team of 20 (executive to operational from across the U.S) serves daily and donates between 20-40 hours per week. To date, over 22,000 hours of professional volunteer hours have been logged, which has been estimated at close to one million dollars.
• Education: more than 15,000 people at more than 90 events and more than 6,000 students in nearly 100 classrooms and assemblies.
• Medical, Service Provider and Law Enforcement Training: for over 3500 emergency physicians and providers nationwide. Coached over 1000 service providers and 200 law enforcement personnel with training on identification and intervention for suspected sex trafficking victims. Our trainings and publications have not been limited to Hawai'i, but have extended to national audiences.
• Serve as a member: of the Hawai'i Coalition against Human Trafficking (HCAHT), a legislatively convened anti-trafficking work group, facilitated in conjunction with the Hawai'i Attorney General's Office.
• Served: over a dozen girls in our outpatient mentorship program.
• Islands wide reach: Trained and provide case consultation to all of the neighbor islands on exploitation of children in our State.
• Started a parents support group for parents of adolescents who have been victimized- May, 2016

Significant Milestones

• Received a Certificate of Need from the State Hospital Planning Department
• Completed the PEARLS Program documentation required for licensing
• Obtained a viable site lease that exceeded expectations
• Obtained an approval for the Environmental Assessment
• Hired staff for administrative and financial accountability
• Exceeded $900,000 in fundraising in less than 2 years of operation
• Received grants from organizations and foundations from $5000-$110,000
• Achieved first steps for a capital campaign launch
• Supported by a team of pro bono architects and professional consultants to achieve construction readiness
• Formalization and implementation of our outpatient mentorship program for victims

Still to be accomplished
• Raise the 6million needed for the capital campaign
• Fully staffed and funded organization- continue to build operational capacity
• Building permits to begin the renovation of Pearl Haven
• Recruitment and training of staff for the Pearl Haven Campus