Friday, Jul 22 2011 3:46PM
A new program should help assist people living in rural Hawaii.
The Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) has launched a new program to improve rural residents' access to the government and community programs designed to help them.
The Rural Outreach Services (ROS) initiative is a partnership that will bring together state and government agencies, local groups and nonprofit organizations working in the community in the hopes of improving access for isolated rural residents.
The first site will be in Honokaa, along the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii Island. There, various services ranging from job training, healthcare and
housing assistance will be provided at the North Hawaii Education & Research Center.
"We are creating an opportunity to better serve the rural communities of North Hawaii, which will be a model for other rural areas across the state," said Dwight Takamine, DLIR director. "This is truly community-driven effort to address barriers to services by empowering rural communities."
The state says assistance will be given without appointments on a first-come first-served basis. The initiative will start with a two-day-per-week schedule for the rest of this month, and expand in August.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly one-third of the state's 1.3 million people lived in rural Hawaii last year.