Hawai’i Island nonprofit ‘stabilizes’ thanks to recent grant

Elated. Cheerful. Relieved.

That is how Peter Tuiolosega “Tui” Silva, CEO of Kumukahi Health + Wellness, described staff sentiment Friday morning going into Labor Day weekend about receiving $1 million from the Stupski Foundation to continue operations. Not to mention, later that afternoon, the organization hosted a celebration for its expanded office reopening in Kona.

“It was such a relief. It couldn’t have come at a better time,” Silva told Aloha State Daily of the recent grant. “I had been holding such a brave face for them for the past five months, but really, inside trying to figure out how we were going to make all of this work. The staff have a heart from a community.

“DEI is like the DNA of who we are,” Silva continued. “That’s how we started more than 40 years ago, built from the ground up on social justice, and using the lessons we’ve learned about HIV and applying it to – the Pacific Islands, LGBTQ+, substance using – communities. … That’s why I fight so hard for this agency. When the Executive Orders came, it shook me to the core. I’m māhū. I’m LGBTQ+. It affects this agency and me as a person.”

Kumukahi Health + Wellness, a harm reduction nonprofit that serves people affected by or living with HIV, was called the Hawaiʻi Island HIV/AIDS Foundation since 2003. Under Silva, it rebranded its name, logo and mission “to connect Hawai‘i Island’s at-risk community with health equity and wellness through collaboration, advocacy and education empowering people to live longer, happier and healthier lives.”

“We picked a new name that was unique to Hawaiʻi Island," he said. "Kumukahi resonated because it’s the easternmost point of the Hawaiian Islands, where the sun first hits the ridges to bring light to the entire universe. There’s a lighthouse there. That’s who we are: we shine light in darkness, we are a light of hope for people hurting in current health systems because of discrimination, because of stigma.”

Born and raised in Hilo, Silva returned home to join the organization in 2020, having served as an advocate for the LGBTQ+/māhū community for more than 25 years. He says what wakes him up in the morning is “the passion of telling our story and uplifting and empowering the people who work for us. … I’ve loved coming home to my people.”

“Just when I was about to throw in the towel, one of my executive staff sat me down and she said, 'Don’t let them win. There’s such a great story here. You need to get out of your office, stop watching everything that’s coming out of D.C., and talk to people and tell them who we are.’ It was the slap in the face I needed then that woke me up.”

Kumukahi Health + Wellness’ light is shining brighter amidst uncertainty with federal funding thanks to the grant from the Stupski Foundations, which will provide seed money for a new “sexual and gender minority” transitional housing program for those who have been or at-risk of becoming incarcerated, he said. The goal is to empower more than 10 individuals annually “to regain stability and transform their lives,” according to the nonprofit.

“We’ve seen when people are placed in the wrong-gendered housing, it can negatively impact their ability to successfully transition back into society,” Silva said. “We want to create a living space that centers the experiences of trans and māhū folks. This makes it safer for them to live as their authentic selves, while offering them the tools to potentially achieve health and productive lives.”

The grant will also support a newly created Health Navigator position, dedicated to assisting transgender patients with health care and other social services. This role will “help with legal documents, holding their hands to appointments, getting their medical transportation, etc.,” Silva said. “We are the main provider, but there are a few others on island. Without us, about 90 of these patients we know of getting hormone therapy would need to fly to Oʻahu for care.”

In addition to the Transgender Health Navigator, he noted that Kumukahi is hiring for a Hawaiʻi Medicaid, or Med-Quest, position that will help people enroll in health insurance out of incarceration. “So, itʻs going into the prisons and jails and reactivating their suspended Med-Quest or getting them enrolled again for seamless health care when they get out.”

Both positions will be posted on Indeed and its website, he added.

When asked what Kumukahi Health + Wellness’ greatest need is right now, Silva told ASD, “One is volunteers, having folks with a warm face at the front desk makes a difference for our patients. They’ve been trained to say and uphold that, ‘Everything is confidential.’ Those interested in learning more can contact us. Also, for donors, because this shores us up for the immediate cuts we’re facing … Itʻs individual donors that keep us going in the long run, which makes the biggest difference."   

Looking ahead, Silva said he is conscious about growing at a steady pace and improving upon health equity in the Big Isle's rural communities.

“I don’t want to grow too fast. If we try to address all the needs, we will fail,” he said. “It’s been a five-year journey of recommitting to our community. The immediate plan is for the transgender community, our interim plan is to grow behavioral health offerings, and this month, we’ll hold a strategic planning meeting with our board to see how we can pivot to ensure we’ll survive another 40 years.

“This grant from the Stupski Foundation gives us a cushion to ride out these waves. It stabilizes us. It gets us out of fear mode and gets us into bold and visionary thinking.”

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Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.