Is there anything else about your background or how you identify that you would like to share?

Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. Everything I am and everything that I have is because of Him. YWHW.

Please share one example of an initiative or contribution you have made to improve our community.

Providing fresh fish at no cost for the west side community. Take out children on the ocean to teach them about our resources and how to catch their own fish.

What is your vision for Kauaʻi?

Island unity and oneness. All of us moving forward together for the betterment of our island rather than self fulfillment.

Who is the most influential female figure in your life who is not in your family, and why?

Pastor Cathy Simao. She whole heartedly cared for people. The most selfless person I ever met. She led by example, and was a good role model in my life.

What will be your top three policy priorities if you are elected to Kauaʻi County Council?

1) Mental health and substance abuse

2) 100% Island grown food sustainability

3) Promote community and family development

(United we stand, divided we fall)

According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, Hawaiʻi is designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area. Only 14.2% of the Mental Health Care need has been met as of September 2021 (HRSA, 2021).

What concrete steps will you take to ensure the mental health of our community is addressed? What can the County do to ensure individuals seeking substance abuse treatment are able to access the care they need?

Although we are short in staff, there is a definite need for mental health. There needs to be a law to protect care givers to administer aide “without consent.” Substance abuse victims don’t seek help. (They don’t think nothing is wrong with them.) As a person who is dealing with two immediate family members with addiction and mental health, this is a near and dear subject to me. It’s a very lonely road as there is no help for families trying to help the mentally ill or drug addicted loved ones.

Kauaʻi and other rural areas have elevated rates of youth suicide. 16.6% of our high school students report having attempted suicide. The risk is significantly higher for LGBT teens on Kauaʻi, with 46.9% reporting suicidal thoughts (YRBS, 2021).

A key factor in youth suicide prevention is making sure that every kid has a positive relationship with a caring adult in their life. After-school programs and activities are key strategies to tackling this youth mental health crisis; however, we don’t have nearly enough after-school programs on Kauaʻi to meet the need and few safe spaces where our kids can go.

What can the County do to support the increase of after-school programs, community activities, and safe spaces for our youth?

We need to find ways to lower costs of living so that one parent can stay home to help and tend the children while the other goes to work to provide for the family. As long as we rely on school and after school programs these issues will always exist. Teachers and after school programs are way understaffed and are overwhelmed with how much students there is these days, they cannot effectively handle this many children. I feel that we need to submerse our children in our culture as a “school” and “after school” program (Fishing, Hunting, Gardening, Cattle Ranching, Foraging, Cooking, Sewing) some practical skills, just to name a few. Outfit our kids with the hands on survival skills that they need. The fulfillment they will receive will have such a profound impact on their lives not only will they be able to help themselves, but they can also help others. That is the true “Aloha Spirit”.

In 2023, there were 488 unhoused people on Kauaʻi, many of whom (27%) are houseless families (PIT, 2023).

What action will you take to address Kauaʻi’s housing crisis for families?

In short, houseless families need a place where they can live without fear of getting “sweeped.” If we can allocate some land to move house less residents of Kauai to and give them some running water and some bathrooms this would be huge! I know it may seem unfair to the rest of society, but nothing about houselessness is easy. As long as we are working for money and not for one another we will always have this issue. Implementation of some kind of gardening program to provide food and also help there overall wellbeing will be a positive move forward in the houseless issue. As prices continue to rise more and more of us are at risk of being one paycheck away from being houseless here on Kauai. We need to practice humility, because that can be anyone of us in that position.

We’ve talked about housing, childcare, and healthcare as separate topics. If we take a wider view, we can see these issues as interrelated and disproportionately impacting women and girls in our community.

How would you use your role as a community leader to address the impact of systemic injustices so women and keiki can have equal opportunities to live to their fullest potential?

The cost of living forces Mom and Dad to work. As long we continue to sacrifice time away from home just to make ends meet, our Keiki will feel left out and unloved forcing them to look for love and attention elsewhere (usually negative outcomes.) The saying that it takes a village to raise a child needs to be our motto again. Children need to be loved, wanted, and cared for. Having a child raised at home by Mom while Dad goes to work (or vise versa) makes a huge difference! Home is where the foundation is set! Family is everything!