Press Releases

(Washington, DC) - Congressman Ed Case (HI-01), a member of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for all federal discretionary spending, announced today that H.R. 2471, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 signed into law by the President yesterday, included his request for $1 million in community project funding for Kōkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services (KKV) to build a health and education center for indigenous people. 

“For the FY 2022 federal appropriations, I secured this funding through Congress’ Community Project Funding (CPF) process for ‘Hale Lauele’, KKV’s center in upper Kalihi Valley which will integrate indigenous knowledge and practices into conventional clinical programs to address the unique health needs of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and other populations,” said Case.

“Hale Lauele will be a center for Native Hawaiian land-based healing, health education and training of health professionals built at Ho‘olu ‘Āina,” said Diane Evans, grants manager for KKV.

Evans says the 7,500 square foot structure will provide community space for cultural activities, patient education, instruction for medical providers and residents in indigenous healing and activities that support forestry and agroforestry programs. 

“The last two pandemic years have only emphasized that much more must be done to address social determinants of health and tackle the root causes of health disparities in differing ways that are often unique to a specific community”, said Case, who personally visited KKV and the project site. “This is especially true in the community of Kalihi Valley with its diversity of communities and needs, and I believe that Hale Lauele will prove a highly effective example of addressing those needs in a community-appropriate way.”

KKV (www.kkv.net) is a federally-qualified community health center that serves the diverse ahupua’a of Kalihi, from upper Kalihi Valley through Kalihi-Palama to Honolulu Harbor. Begun in 1972, it has grown into an integral part of the Kalihi community, serving as the primary deliverer of health and other community services for much of its population, including in recent decades its Compact communities. The staff is fluent in 26 Asian and Pacific Island languages and dialects and work out of nine locations. It is also the nation’s only community health center to have a nature preserve as a site for healing.

This year the U.S. House incorporated CPF requests by individual Members of Congress for specific projects and purposes in their district into its annual appropriations process. CPF requests may only be directed to governments or non-profits, not for-profit businesses or individuals.

They must have demonstrated community support, and they are subject to audit by the independent Government Accountability Office.

Finally, all Members must publicly disclose their CPF requests and signed required ethics certifications. Case’s disclosures are here: https://case.house.gov/media/funding-disclosures.htm.

Case made ten CPF requests, all of which were funded.

A rendering of Hale Lauele can be found here.

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