Quality Lifetime Opportunities

Solution Name:

Quality Lifetime Opportunities

One-line solution summary:

Use traditional knowledge & construction skills training to increase access to jobs & to spark entrepreneurship.

Pitch your solution.

This solution solves the problems of unemployment, under-employment, lack of skills, low wages, lack of affordable housing, homelessness, and lack of control over one's economic future.

I am proposing to teach construction skills to indigenous adults and youth so they have marketable skills and can build their own houses. By learning how to build homes, they will become employable at good wages from $20 to $55 per hour.  They will be able to build their own homes at affordable costs and avoid homelessness for themselves and their families.  We will light a spark in them to go a step further and start their own business in specialty areas such as roofing, doors, plumbing, electrical work, drywall, painting, and forklift and heavy machinery rental and operation.  This will give them financial control over their future.

This solution can positively change lives in the same way if scaled to other communities.

What specific problem are you solving?

There are several specific problems we are working to solve.

The first is getting at-risk youth and young adults on a good life track.  Within the Native Hawaiian community, idle youth are prevalent.  As many as 25% of students are dropping out of high school and have no direction.  Our solution will help them obtain skills and jobs.

We are also working to solve high homelessness and the lack of affordable housing.  Hawaii has the second highest homelessness rate in the U.S. nation.  We also have the second highest cost of housing, along with one of the lowest rates of pay.  We are in the same category as places like San Francisco, New York City, and Seattle.  By teaching Native Hawaiians how to build houses, they can avoid homelessness and build their own affordable homes.

With their skills, they will be able to earn $20 to $55 an hour working for other companies.  More importantly, they will have the skills to start their own construction companies if they wish.  They can choose specialty fields such as plumbing, electrical, drywall, painting, and structural formation.  We hope to spark an interest in entrepreneurship in them for life-long financial stability.

What is your solution?

The solution is to provide skills training in a culturally-appropriate environment.  Many Hawaiian values support inter-generational learning and dual responsibility (kuleana) between students and teachers.  We will teach with respect and compassion yet firmness.  We will convey our feelings of value in who they are as people first, then teach hands-on skills.

The specific skills we will focus on are construction skills:  how to lay the foundation of a house, how to build walls, how to build roof trusses and attach them to the walls, how to add the roofing material, and how to install windows, doors, and trims.  In the interior, they will learn how to install electrical and plumbing connections, bathroom fixtures, kitchen cabinets, and a sink.  Then they will learn how to install flooring and how to paint the interior and exterior.

The process is one or two teachers to four to seven students at a time.  The key is doing it with respect and cultural awareness so students drop their pretension and feel empowered to learn.

For technology, we use basic hand and power tools.  Hand tools include hammers, screw drivers, levels, and squares.  Power tools include a variety of power saws and nail guns.

Strong preference will be given to Native-led solutions that directly benefit and are located within the Indigenous communities. Which community(s) does your solution benefit?

This solution first benefits the community of Waimanalo, which is on the northern part of the island of Oahu and consists primarily of Native Hawaiians living on Hawaiian Homestead lands.  I have worked in this community for three years.  As a Native Hawaiian, I understand their cultural approaches to life and learning.  They have asked me to stay in Waimanalo and develop a long-term program that can be part of their community in perpetuity.

We have worked together these past three years and will continue to work together.  They provide the land.  I provide the skills training.

This will help to address the community problems of idle youth and young adults, lack of employment, under-employment, lack of job skills, lack of jobs, lack of affordable housing, and lack of life direction.  We will keep them busy on a daily basis with a three-month program to learn high-demand construction skills and obtain a job paying $20 to $55 per hour depending on whether they seek employment with a small company or a large, union construction company.  We will teach them by demonstration the "soft skills" of navigating between the Western world and Native Hawaiian values.

With their skills, they will be able to build their own homes and avoid the conundrum of a lack of affordable housing in Hawaii.  We want to spark an interest in possible entrepreneurship by owning their own companies.  All of this combined is the basis for a productive and personally satisfying life direction.

We can scale this model to other predominantly Native Hawaiian communities such as the Waianae Coast, Papakolea, Kapolei, Hauula, and the neighbor islands.

Which dimension of the Fellowship does your solution most closely address?

Explain how the problem, your solution, and your solution’s target population relate to the Fellowship and your selected dimension.

This solution is well-aligned to the Fellowship by using modern technology and traditional ways of teaching to help Native Hawaiians increase their access to jobs and to develop job skills that will provide opportunities for well-paying salaries and business ownership.  This will increase their financial capital and ongoing opportunities for financial stability.

Who is the primary delegate for your solution?

Mona Bernardino

What is your solution’s stage of development?

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Please indicate the tribal affiliation of your primary delegate.

Native Hawaiian

Is your primary delegate a member of the community in which your project is based?

Yes, as a worker (not resident). I have been asked to stay in the community.