Waimea Futures: Giving Voice to Waimea

Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) was designated by the late Richard Smart in 1992 as one of the beneficiaries of the Parker Ranch Foundation Trust (PRFT) and has provided grant funding from the PRFT distributions to benefit the Waimea community since 2001.

In 2023, HCF worked with consultant Waiwai Collective to host community conversations in Waimea to explore a more community-based approach to its philanthropic distributions from the Richard Smart Fund. Over 130 Waimea residents
from across the community participated in what became known as the Waimea Futures community conversations, sharing what they loved about Waimea, their aspirations going forward and their concerns. A follow-up summit held in May of 2023 helped to further flesh-out community views and priorities for collective action. These priorities included:

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• Keeping the Culture

• Affordable Housing

• Food Security

• Wai (water)

• Lack of Resources/Info/Jobs

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HCF then established a volunteer advisory committee to incorporate this input into redesigning the Richard Smart Fund (RSF) grant program. The intent was to direct funding to support core values as well as critical issues and opportunities identified by the community. Central to this transformation of the RSF grants was perpetuating Waimea’s culture of aloha and kuleana and building stronger pilina – connectivity – that intertwines individuals with the ‘āina (land), their ‘ohana (family) and the community.

The advisory committee calling themselves the Waimea Community Weaving Hui included Pomai Bertelmann, Patti Cook, Mike Hodson, Tricia Hodson, Rich Matsuda, and Susan Maddox. Working together with Waiwai Collective they digested what they heard from the community and recommended actions to use the RSF funding to help shape the future of Waimea.