Good afternoon.

It's 102 p.m.

with a committee on energy environment and sustainability, please come to order.

I'd like to welcome Committee Vice Chair Del Santo Stam, Councilmember Tupola and Toba to the chamber as well.

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Thank you, Chair, committee members.

During this fall was a very difficult time in terms of getting meals out to the public in general, and we had a lot of concerns about our elderly Kapuna population, and especially with the things that went on with the federal government and such.

And I think what you'll see today is how we pivot during those times and be able to provide things for our uh our Kapuna.

So I have our our director, I mean administrator for Elderly Affairs Vision, Derek Arioshi, and members of Lonikila and YMCA here to present the programs that they did this fall.

Thank you.

Mahalo, director, we'll turn it over to them.

Um, just want to know we did have a discussion at the last committee meeting with partners just about the status of food security and in our community, and so we're grateful for all the partners here today to kind of dive into some of the ways uh the city and also other counties may be working in this area.

So I'll turn it over to you, Administrator Maholo, for being here.

Thank you.

So aloha and happy New Year Committee Chair Wire and honorable council members.

My name is Derek Arioshi, administrator of the Department of Community Services Elderly Affairs Division.

I have the unique pleasure and joined by our provider partners Leanne Landrith with the YMCA of Honolulu and Melissa Gibo and Laurie Lau from Lanakila Pacific.

It is said that a village without Kupuna is like a well without water.

And for that, thank you for the opportunity to be here this afternoon and speak to the topic that is Kopuna food access, what the needs look like, how our programs are impacting our community, and where opportunities lie ahead for all of us.

This presentation is organized largely around three goals.

First, to provide community context on the food and nutrition needs of Kopuna on Oahu.

Second, to explain how existing meal programs support health, independence, and the opportunity for our kopuna to age and place, thus preventing or delaying institutional care, for example, nursing home placement.

Third, to share system and community level observations, boots on the ground, if you will, that uh impact Kopuna access for older adults.

Research consistently shows that food security is closely tied to health, independence, and overall quality of life for our older adults.

This information is not new to all of uh all of you.

Many kopuna are already managing chronic health conditions, and inadequate access to nutrition, uh, nutritious food can worsen these conditions, often leading to more intensive and equally important costly medical care.

Hawaii's high cost of living forces many of our kopuna to make difficult trade-offs between food, housing, and medical care.

Nutrition programs help ease these pressures and serve as a critical preventive support that helps Kopuna remain healthy and equally important, independent.

On Oahu, Kopuna make up close to a quarter of our total population.

Fort three percent struggle to make ends meet.

Ninete percent live alone.

36% have some form of disability, and 28% speak a language other than English.

And that's the two-sided coin, right?

Of our of our diverse Kapuna population, right?

There's so much beauty in all the rainbows and makeup of our Kapuna represent.

But uh with that diversity comes a lot of different layered challenges as well.

As I shared already, many Kapuna lived on fixed income.

Lucky if they have a source of pension, leaving little flexibility to absorb rising food, housing, and medical costs, even the smallest disruptions can significantly impact food security.

Transport barriers and geographic isolation, further strain access, particularly for those kopuna who live alone.

Recent SNAP policy changes, as Director Krucky mentioned, and government shutdowns have really exposed, and I'm sure you folks see it in your own communities, have exposed vulnerabilities in the broader food system, increasing dependence on community-based nutrition programs, whether it be the Hawaii Food Bank or some of the programs that we administer with our community partners.

During these moments of strain, whether natural disasters, public health emergencies, or policy disruptions, EAD continues to play a critical role as system strategists, conveners, service implementers.

Our work during the COVID-19 pandemic to lead strategies to support food and vaccine access, and most recently, our help to expand meal distribution for our Kopuna Snap participants impacted by the federal government shutdown.

These examples demonstrate, and I see this as a positive, demonstrate the resilience of our community and our service networks, but also growing demand placed upon all of us.

EAD administers two primary nutrition programs, home delivered meals and congregate dining meals.

I'm confident that we have representation in all of your council districts.

Both programs support foster and foster social connection and help again to hit the point to the opportunity for Kopuna to age in place, though each of those programs are tailored to a specific population, which we'll talk about.

Home delivered meals is designed to help Kopuna remain safely in their homes and avoid institutional care.

Similar but different, congregate dining focus on focuses on keeping Kopuna active, engaged, and connected within their community.

Home delivered meals keeps our Kuna in the home.

Congregate dining programs keep Kopuna active and engaged in the community.

Similar but different.

Now, home delivered meals specifically are targeted to serve the most vulnerable and frailest of our Kopuna.

Eligibility criteria for participants established by our state funding are very strict.