Page 4 - MidWeek Kauai - Nov 3, 2021

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(From left) Tiare Kaolelopono, Kamaka Ka‘aloa, U‘ilani Fonoti, Allan Silva and Carolyn Murren of Kāpili Like
U‘ilani Fonoti and
her team at Kāpili Like are constantly working to help the underserved achieve sustainable and fulfifilled lives.
mother of four wanting to set an example for her kids as she gets back on her feet. A man,
These are just three examples of the people who’ ve been helped by Kāpili Like — a nonprofit organization that is the brainchild of executive director U‘ilani Fonoti.
— helping those who Fonoti saw were underserved within the community.
Soon, the work they were doing was noticed by entities that would become strong community partners.
did not want to go to higher education or were not college-bound. So, where does that leave them? There was no point in pushing them to graduate with no next step.”
laid off after 21 years and looking for a career change. A young man hoping to start his life off on the right footing.
“I would work in the community, just doing volunteer work because I worked in Kailua at the time and I would tutor families on weekends and support home- steaders to do just the basic stuff that you would assume would be done at school, through the education system,” she says. “They needed more. They needed more attention and then it led to understanding that it was a generational thing.”
“Luckily, word spread and Kame- hameha Schools and the Castle Founda- tion saw what we were doing there and they supported us and decided to fund us to help us build our foundation and ... help us be a functioning entity rath- er than just pull up a chair and a tent,” Fonoti explains.
The group sought input from the com- munity to learn what skills and industries were in-demand. Then, Kāpili Like de- veloped programs to provide training for those fields.
Years ago, while working in Wind- ward O‘ahu, Fonoti recognized a need for support services in education, job training and healthcare in Waimānalo.
So she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
That was in 2017. Today, Kāpili Like services people islandwide and its home base is now located in Kunia.
“We picked things that provided a livable wage, things they can maintain their families on (and) build careers on,” explains Fonoti.
“I noticed that our homesteaders, they were not serviced. It was a cycle of not promoting education and no support. We had basically a poverty rate that was just extended through generations,” she recalls. “We also had lots who could not even read.”
“We were there and we did ser- vices there on the homestead, back in Waimānalo,” recalls Fonoti. “We were working out of just basically a farmland with tables and chairs.”
She credits the move to the support of community partners that helped the group apply for a Youth Build grant, which was received in July.
Kāpili Like’s academy provides training in construction, sustainable ag- riculture, transportation (CDL, driver’s education and forklift certification) and auto repair.
Fonoti and other volunteers helped people receive assistance beyond edu- cational pursuits. They even helped with job placement.
“We went from training youth and working on academics to expanding and evolving into a trades academy,” she says.
The organization sees everyone’s potential, and while they are admitted
This was the beginning of Kāpili Like
“We realize that most of our youth
SEE PAGE 5