Partners In Development Foundation

Partners in Development Foundation (PIDF), an IRS Section 501(c)(3) non-profit public foundation, was incorporated in 1997 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. It has established and implemented programs in the areas of education, social services, Hawaiian culture, Hawaiian language, and preservation of the natural environment and traditional Hawaiian agriculture. These programs now have served close to ten thousand people in communities throughout Hawai‘i.

Programs of PIDF

Education

• Tūtū and Me - A travelling preschool with the goal of meeting the developmental needs of children ages 0-5 years old in order to prepare them to overcome the challenges of kindergarden and of life. It is a statewide program having locations on Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi.
• ʻIke Noʻeau - A traveling preschool program provides developmentally appropriate, culturally relevant math and science preschool curriculum to families at the shelters and at Hawaiian Homelands in Wai‘anae and Waimānalo.
• Nā Pono No Nā ʻOhana - A comprehensive family education program. The program is located at Blanche Pope Elementary School in Waimanalo where the family comes to school to learn together.
• Ka Paʻalana - The Ka Pa‘alana Traveling Preschool and Homeless Family Education Program serves houseless families on the Leeward coast of O‘ahu. Through collaborative partnerships with Leeward coast outreach agencies, Ka Pa‘alana assists families by delivering or providing access to essential services, such as a parent-child participatory preschool, food bank, toiletry, and dental supplies distribution, and more. Ka Pa‘alana also serves as an initial contact agency for families who are ready to transition to local shelters or temporary housing facilities.
• Ka Hana Noʻeau - Located in the rural North Kohala district of Hawai‘i-island this project has developed innovative mentoring programs for Hawaiian youth that meld traditional knowledge with contemporary technologies. Traditional Hawaiian products and crafts have been slowly disappearing due to fewer opportunities for adolescents to learn the skills necessary to produce them. Ka Hana No‘eau brings an older generation of craftsmen and practitioners, and puts them together with young students in a unique mentoring program that will preserve traditional knowledge, products and, skills. An important and major portion of the program is an entrepreneurial component that introduces students to the marketing possibilities that their newly acquired skills will produce.
• Tech Together - A hands-on energy technology class that teaches sixth graders and their families about renewable and non-renewable energy in a classroom setting. By going into the classroom for two weeks, the Tech Together Program benefits the students as well as the participating schools by offering high tech projects that integrate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) focused on the energy industry.
• Hoʻomaʻemaʻewai - A watershed inspired experiential education effort to assist with the implementation of Hawaii content standards based math and science curriculum with an emphasis on Hawaiian culture and values for project based learning at Halau Ku Mana Public Charter School. Through a partnership with the Hawaii Nature Center the program staff creates meaningful mentoring opportunities based around environmental science activities on the island of O‘ahu.
• Native Hawaiian Science & Engeneering Mentoring - (NHSEMP) is designed help create a model for Native Hawaiian Higher Education through comprehensive support involving outreach, recruitment, retention, and placement strategies aim to increase the number of Native Hawaiians in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM.)

Social Services

• Hui Hoʻomalu - A foster care program, it aims to provide stable, caring homes for at risk children with reunification with their birth family as the ultimate goal. They achieve this by recruiting, training, and assessing resource caregivers for children in foster care.

Environmental

• Green Machine - A tank based constructed wetland wastewater treatment facility located in beautiful Makiki Valley State Recreational area in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. It recycles wastewater from the Hawai‘i Nature Center for irrigation on site in nearby fields. Constructed wetland technology uses the biology of Native Hawaiian wetland plants and bacteria to purify water.
• STEM Scholars - The programs mission is to positively impact Hawai‘i’s students in the content areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Using the Hawaiian value of Malama ‘aina as a guiding principle, STEM offers programs to make students aware that they are stewards of our island home, and encourages scholarship in the STEM fields.

Language

• Baibala Hemolele - This project involves republishing the Hawaiian Bible in both a digital and hardcopy form to increase access for the next generation of Hawaiian language students.