This Nonprofit Has Helped People Get Back on Track for Over 100 Years

Worried about making the rent despite working full time, or falling behind on your electricity and water bills? Struggling to find healthy, affordable groceries close to home?

If you answered yes, you have plenty of company in Hawai‘i. Aloha United Way’s latest ALICE Report found that 44% of local households are below the ALICE threshold. “So that means that even though people are working and doing all the right things, they’re still not making enough to actually survive, and certainly not enough to thrive here in Hawai‘i,” says Kayla Keehu-Alexander, AUW’s VP of community impact.

According to the 2024 report, 11% of Hawai‘i households fall below the poverty line. And for another 33% of families that make just enough money to be above the threshold, the struggles are just as real. They’re considered ALICE families: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

“ALICE is a demographic that both makes too much and not enough,” Keehu-Alexander says. “Think too much for government assistance programs, but not enough to have a savings account, plan for the future or even for an emergency.”

That is so common in Hawai‘i because we have the nation’s highest cost of housing, food and electricity – which adds up to the highest overall cost of living.

Legacy of Locals Helping Locals 

Aloha United Way was established in 1919.  In 2023, it says it raised $12 million to directly support Hawai‘i residents in need and to fund more than 250 partner agencies that deliver services. 

Those services include food, shelter, and emergency rent and utility aid. One of its most used resources is its statewide 211 Helpline, which received 58,143  requests for help in 2023. That number is a combined total of their two helplines. Last year, their 211 Information & Referral helpline received 47,620 contacts; another 10,523 contacts went to their  specialized Substance Use Disorder helpline, which began in 2022 (call or text 808-808-1627).

AUW’s 211 statewide database is updated and vetted regularly and includes over 4,000 local resources, including Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Mental Health Kōkua and Hawai‘i Foodbank.

In 2023, “the top requests were, one, utility assistance; two, rent payment; and three, food,” says Jennifer Pecher, VP of AUW’s 211 community response programs.

You can access the database by calling or texting 211; trained staff members answer the calls and texts seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. You can also go to auw211.org to access the database.

The online database is organized so users can find what they’re looking for, whether it’s help with childcare, health care, substance abuse, employment, education, transportation, kūpuna care, or legal or financial assistance.

Pecher says staff members refer callers to an average of four different services, “because the needs are diverse and usually multiple when someone is struggling.”

Even when no specific resources are available for a caller, 211 might still be able to help, she says.

“You say, ‘We can’t pay a utility bill and I don’t know what to do.’ We look it up. There’s no utility assistance available. Now, instead of saying, ‘I’m sorry we can’t help you, bye,’ what we’ll do is talk story with you for a little while and figure out if there are any other resources that could offset those costs.”

For example, staff members can help callers figure out if they qualify for SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps) or one-time rental assistance so they can offset those costs and allocate the savings to their utility bills.

She says a huge part of what makes the 211 Helpline so effective is that it’s operated by real people, not robots.

“The staff is in training for two weeks before we even let them near the phones. We train on motivational interviewing and trauma informed care. We really want to make sure that all our staff has everything they need in their tool kit to be the best that they can be when they’re talking with someone who might be really struggling,” says Pecher.

“We’re your neighbors and we just want to help. It’s different than calling an overseas call center or talking to a recording.”

Finding and Filling Pukas   

AUW’s community impact team collects all kinds of data from the 211 Helpline, including reports of missing resources. Its members use the information to identify gaps in the system and work to close them, which circles back to what it means to be ALICE – working but still struggling.

“You’re actually in a net loss once you make a certain amount because you fall off what’s called a benefit cliff, which is where you just make $1 too much, and you suddenly lose your housing subsidies, housing vouchers, SNAP benefits and you’re not making enough to pay for all those things. These benefits should be staggered off instead of cut off completely,” explains Keehu-Alexander.

She says AUW’s partner agencies help to make up for those deficiencies. “They’re filling the gaps that should be government, but the government isn’t covering at this time.”

They also help people in crisis by funding homeless programs, food pantries, domestic violence shelters and other programs to keep people “from falling into further hardship.”

Those in need are often far away from help, so AUW helps to bridge those gaps, too. On O‘ahu, “the farther you get from urban Honolulu, the sparser resources are,” explains Keehu-Alexander. She also says there are significantly fewer resources on the Neighbor Islands than on O‘ahu, although Maui saw a huge – but most likely temporary – uptick after the wildfires.

Once AUW identifies resource gaps, it works with partner programs to expand their outreach and fundraise to establish new programs that address unmet needs.

“If we can’t find a resource for you at that moment, we’re going to go hunt it down because our job is to meet community needs and weave those resources together so that we’re all able to live and thrive together,” says Keehu-Alexander.

Change in AUW Leadership 

John Fink says that when he joined AUW as president and CEO in June 2020, 211 had just four operators and was only open 9 to 5 Monday to Friday – 40 hours a week. Now, he says, it has about 12 operators and is open 105 hours a week.

“State and city websites tell people that when they need information, call 211. That’s an AUW program, not a government program.”

He is also proud of the annual ALICE reports, which he calls “the standard bearer for information about families and financial plight in Hawai‘i. The governor uses it in his State of the State. The mayor uses it in his State of the City.”

Fink says another important AUW role is as a filter, ensuring donations are used effectively. “We vet entities every year to make sure people know that when they give to these agencies, they’re not fly-by-night agencies,” he says.

Aloha United Way remains one of Hawai‘i’s largest charities. In Hawaii Business Magazine’s 2024 ranking of Hawai‘i’s Most Charitable Companies, AUW was fourth among charitable organizations in the state as ranked by 2023 donations and revenue. The first three were, in order, Hawai‘i Community Foundation, University of Hawai‘i Foundation and Kamehameha Schools. 

However, AUW was once Hawai‘i’s fundraising powerhouse. For example, the Honolulu Advertiser reported in 1991 that AUW raised $18.1 million in 1990 – $44 million in today’s dollars. AUW raised $13.4 million in 2022 and $17.5 million in 2023.

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation is now the state’s fundraising powerhouse. It’s 2023 fundraising total was $99.1 million. In 1990, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported that grants from HCF totaled $3 million – a record amount back then for the foundation – and that another $6 million in grants came from independent foundations that HCF worked with.

When Fink was interviewed, he said he planned to retire as AUW’s CEO at the end of 2024 but would continue to support the community. And he offers these words of encouragement to the many people in Hawai‘i who help others.

“Sometimes all the stuff that goes on in our society can feel overwhelming, but if you’re giving of your heart as a volunteer or donor – even though you’ve got your own issues to deal with – you’re helping make a difference. I think that’s one of the reasons we’re all here on the planet is to help make a difference.”