 Welcome to Quok Talk. I'm Crystal here Tuesday morning. Gosh, there are so many important sensitive social issues about women that I want to cover that we never have time to cover. Today we're having one that we kind of like have an umbrella of some amazing group that supports all these underprivileged women in Hawaii who are, you know, for whatever reason it is, they just happen to get the short end of the stick and how do you get back on your feet after you've been, whether you've been incarcerated, you've been homeless, you have juvenile issues. Gosh, there's so many things. But, you know, in the short time, we're going to hone in on some issues. We're going to go straight into it. Let me introduce our wonderful guest today. On behalf of the Women's Fund of Hawaii, we have Ph.D., our incarcerated women's topic, but Leila Bilmes is it? Yes, that's exactly right. Goal thing. Thank you. Welcome so much. Thank you so much, Crystal. Glad to be here. And privilege for us to hear what you have to say on behalf of the Women's Fund that covers all these women's issues. So let's go a little bit backwards and give us a small kind of a history of how the Women's Fund was started and what you focus on first. Okay, great. Well, we are a 12-year-old non-profit and prior to receiving our 501c3 status, we were incubated at Hawaii Community Foundation. What distinguishes us is that we're community based, which means we bring together donors, activists, community leaders to identify problems for women and girls in Hawaii and to solve them together. We invest in our community through $5,000 grants. That's the maximum amount for each grant. And last year, we gave $100,000 to programs for women and girls. So that was a milestone for us, and we were thrilled to be able to do that. We invest in programs again for women and girls, and the organizations are predominantly led by women. Excellent. So I don't want to rain on your parade because it sounds wonderful, but $5,000 grant, how much can that possibly cover that will make an effect, that particular problem or issue? Yeah, well, you know, you'd be surprised. Yeah, okay. Sometimes in several cases for several of the non-profits, we seeded programs. So a couple of the organizations for which that's true is Surf Riders Spirit Sessions. Yes, I know where that is. Yeah, that's a great one. You're working with Girls Court, and they were just launching that program, and so the $5,000 made a difference. I'm pretty sure we weren't their only funding, but it helped. Another program that was launched with our help was the behavioral therapist at Waikiki Health. So Waikiki Health is a big organization, and they do a lot of terrific work for the entire community. But this particular therapist was to work or is still working with the women who are pregnant and dealing with substance abuse issues, and that program started as a result of our $5,000 investment. So I can tell a great impact story about that, too, of a woman who is so proud of her progress. Her name is Christina, and her real name, according to her wishes. She arrived at Women's Way and started working with the clinic, Waikiki Health. She was three months pregnant, had been battling substance abuse for 20 years. How old is she? You know, I'm not sure how old she is. I think she's in her, she now is in her 30s. She arrived in shackles in a green prison jumpsuit because she was arrested for auto theft and she was three months pregnant. And she worked with the behavioral therapist and the other service providers at Waikiki Health, gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She's reunited with family. And last I heard, she had moved to the mainland. She was getting her degree so that she could help women who are in the position she was in to get better too. So that's a great story. Absolutely. And we'll start with that success. Do you think that women who have gone through so much, so much life-changing issues that they feel the need to give back, to help others, to get themselves back on their feet? Is that some way of almost a therapeutic process for themselves? I do think so. I think that's generally true of women. But also, our tagline for our organization is when women thrive, communities prosper. And it's exactly that instinct that I believe makes that statement true. So when women do well, they invest in their families. A woman will spend 90% of her income on her family. But that also involves spending in the community. So the family gets stronger, our community gets stronger, our society gets stronger. And I'm glad you mentioned income because I feel like women, as opposed to men, let's just say incarcerated women, for example. People don't really think about all the aspects that are consequential in them being away from family. If they have family, if they have children, if they have other things or people that they need to take care of, and how that affects everybody else. When guys are behind bars, they just think, okay, so we'll take care of things while you're in there. But when women are away, it just destroys a lot. You're absolutely right. And we have a couple of grants that we've done to help women. There are a couple that work with women while they're in prison to maintain a connection with their children. For example, Read to Me International is one of our grantees. And they worked with writing and also illustrating so that the moms could do books for their kids and maintain that connection. And there are other programs at WCCC that help women with substance abuse parenting. There's a program that we funded through Parents, Inc. So these are programs that are working with the jails in Hawaii? Mostly WCCC, as it turns out. So they're working with the women who are incarcerated. Right. Can we talk a little bit about the life of incarcerated women? I mean, I know that's not something that you do deal with directly. But just an example, going back to Christina's story, her backstory, when she was incarcerated, the life there and the well-being and the lack of the support and how that affected her emotionally, psychologically, physically, because I hear there are a lot of chronic illnesses that come from women being in behind bars more than men. What are some implications as a woman behind bars? What do you think? Well, honestly, the first thing that jumps to mind is that the sexual abuse that occurs for women behind bars. And there was a big case, I think, recently in Kentucky involving Hawaiian mates, because we send a large number of our incarcerated men and women, I believe, to the mainland. That's a very sensitive issue. And people don't want to talk about it because there's so much shame and so much humiliation and sensitivity to that. But what can people do? Maybe acknowledging the fact that these things do happen to have programs after they come out to support that. Is that what people do? I think probably so here in Hawaii, 25% of the women who come out of prison go to Waianae. Yeah. Why is that? Is that just the community that supports incarcerated women? I don't know if it's that necessarily. I think maybe many women are from there. And we, as a community, could work toward providing more resources to help with transition and also rehabilitation, especially as regards, I think, substance abuse. I think half of the women who go back, or half of the women, excuse me, half of the women who go back, it's not because of a new crime, but it's because of a drug relapse. Yeah. I know it's a vicious cycle. And I read somewhere in your report that there's an overrepresentation of Native Hawaiian women, particularly behind Mars. Why do you think that is? Is that some kind of, again, it's the community and the environment? Yeah. I think that hopelessness and poverty exacerbate criminalization. Do you think women tend to be affected by hopelessness and poverty more so than men? Or they affect it in a different way? I don't think they're affected more than men. I think men are incarcerated at a higher rate than women. I believe the statistics will bear that out. But we still have a problem. The rates of incarceration for both genders have gone up, but the crime rate has gone down. Right. I don't understand that. Are they just trying to put more people behind bars because they think that can contain or minimize... I believe it's because of policy. There's the drug policies, the war on drugs. There's the truth in sentencing, which means that inmates must serve their terms, rather being let out for good behavior. I think there are new sort of guidelines for the good behavior and also more conservative parole boards. Do you think Hawaii tends to be on the conservative side or the more radical side in terms of incarceration for women, particularly? How do you place that in the U.S. in American statistics? I've read that we're more aggressive. Okay. Yeah. I don't have a personal opinion on that, but that's what I read. And the reason why I don't have an opinion is because I haven't done enough research myself to go out on that limb. But I read somewhere recently there's an article, or maybe it was a news article, about women behind bars and the lack of even the basic fundamental support like feminine hygiene in an average prison. It's always the men who manage a prison, so they don't think about, oh, sanitary napkins. We don't have those. So there was a case where a woman asked for it, and they're like, they had to get the emergency unit to get some like thick band-aids from the emergency. They don't even have pads. I mean, it's ridiculous. Yeah. The lack of support, the lack of, you know, just the overall well-being for a woman, wherever she is. Yeah. It kind of strips away a person's dignity. Yes. And it just goes to show how little we really focus on some fundamental things that women need to survive and just to well-being is so important. So going back to the Women's Fund is this well-being. How do you support that? And how are ways, how do you feel is the most effective way to support that for people who have been in such trying situations? Well, hopefully some of the programs that we've supported help to ease the transition back into the community. And we do provide through our grantees some, we hope, positive experiences while the women are serving their terms. So there's an example of one that I love, Ahahui Malama Ikalokahi. And they do restoration and education out at Kavainui Swamp out in Kailua. Okay. So I actually joined a crew of 10 women when we went to do this wetland restoration. And the leader there just gave us a great education about the native plants that were there and which were the invasive ones. And there's this boulder. And he explained to us why it was carved out. And it was just, it was very interesting. And there is something cathartic about working on the land, which is what we then did, which is, you know, with weed whackers and pulling weeds. And it was a great opportunity for me to get to know some of the women and connect with them and hear about what they thought of the program. And one woman said to me, you go in ugly and you come out beautiful. Oh, wow. That is beautiful. Yeah, it is. And another woman wrote me a letter and, you know, to thank us for supporting the program. And she drew a metaphor in her letter of how she felt that the whole process was like what she's doing, which is pulling out the roots and pulling out the stuff that you don't want there and planting new life. Yeah. And so that was really inspiring to me. Sure. And when you're stripped of everything, and I read, I listened to this radio interview about incarcerated women and coming back into the community. And one woman was saying how she lost her soul. And that's just so just crazy to, you know, we just stick for granted that people go through things, but they don't realize how much you're stripped of things when you're incarcerated or you're on the streets or anywhere and how you rebuild that. And so nature, like you said, is a beautiful, magical way to reintroduce a connection. Yeah. Yeah. So that's a great way. What are some other ways so that you have the nature? You have what about like, I know education programs sound so you know, been there, done that, but you need it, right? When you come back out into the real world, you need some kind of a transition. You need a community to build and support you so that you don't go back into your old life. Yeah. So one of our projects, or it's the YWCA's project, but we helped with that too, is a transitional housing living. And they provide opportunities for enrichment there. And I was able to visit and see their garden that they're working on. See, again, back to nature. Back to nature. You're absolutely right. And I happen to come with my dog who is a lovely, friendly dog and they love the, you know, the therapeutic nature of the interaction with my golden retriever. Yes. Animals and nature. Right. What a great thing. We're going to hold that thought because I think we're touching on to some things. You know, the powerful essence of nature and influence on how people can get back on your feet is something that really is something that maybe we should focus more on. We're going to take a quick break and come back and continue talking about people who need help and how to get back on their feet and how the women's fund supports that. Don't go away. Aloha. I'm Kaui Lucas, host of Hawaii is my mainland every Friday at 3pm on Think Tech Hawaii. We talk about things of interest to those of us who live here and my past blogs can be found at kauilukas.com. Okay. I didn't listen. Match day is no ordinary day. The pitch hallowed ground for players and supporters alike. Excitement builds. Game plans are made with responsibility in mind. Celebrations are underway. Ready for kickoff. MLS clubs and our supporters rise to the challenge. We make responsible decisions while we cheer on our heroes and toast their success. Elevate your match day experience. If you drink, never drive. Back to Kwok Tok, talking to Lila from the women's fund about incarcerated women and how to get back on their feet. Coming back here to the Hawaiian community and the support or lack thereof, you know, there's always a lack thereof, unfortunately, but we try to do as much as we can. We talked about nature being the healing thing. Now, getting back into the real world, unfortunately, it seems that the path, if not supported properly, is that you end up in the streets. Is that true, Lila? I think that's true. What we've seen in the past or what I've heard anyway from some of our partners who work with the homeless is that often people emerge from prison and they don't have anywhere to go. Right. And previously, the Nimitz Viaduct was a location. The city several months ago moved the neighborhood, let's say, because it is a community. It is a community. So yes, that's one option. Right. I mean, not to put the blame on anyone, but these women, when they come out, they've got nothing. They have to rebuild everything. Whose job is it to help support them and transition them properly? Shouldn't the government be having some more facilities or having more specific transitional provisions for them? Well, you know, I think it depends on who you ask. And I'm not sure if I want to wade into those waters, but we do support programs that help women who emerge from the system. Right. But if you weren't here, that's what I'm saying, is who would be helping them? You know, the government won't do anything because they say, oh, you got yourself in trouble, you're in, now you're out, you get back into your life yourself. They don't care. Yeah. Well, there's a wonderful little organization that's called Project Date, and Date stands for Dessern Assist. Oh, darn it, I can't remember the T, but the last one is Empower. Okay. Anyway, I'll have to figure out what the T was. And they have a program called A Holo Holo Kupuna Vahine. Okay. And we gave them a grant, it wasn't quite for $5,000, they asked for a bit less. And they wanted the money to purchase bus passes for the women. As specifically homeless women. Homeless women, and this is the Project Date was working with, and I say was not because they don't exist anymore, but because the location of the community has moved. Okay. But at the time, last year, the community was in that neighborhood of the Nimitz Viaduct underneath. Right. And the bus passes were supposed to provide a way out of homelessness, and there was a, these women loved the bus pass. I know, it's a little bit of a head scratcher when you first hear, but listen to this story. So I'll call her Leilani. Okay. Not her real name. Yeah. So she ended up homeless as a result of a bad relationship that had gotten worse. And she had been living there under the Viaduct for about 18 years. 18 years. Yeah. Like I said, I called her to neighborhood, right? There's a reason, I mean, that, you know, you have your space, you have your neighbors. Right. Support system. Just can't imagine being homeless for 18 years, but okay. Yeah, it's not an easy row to hoe. But so Leilani was the recipient of one of our bus passes. Okay. And she used her bus pass to get to the doctor because if you, right, if you're homeless, you don't necessarily have a car or a license or ID. Right. So she went to the doctor, the doctor certified her disability that allowed her to get a permanent bus pass. Because when you're disabled, you can get a permanent bus pass. Right. She used that to meet with her social worker because the social workers do not travel to where the homeless person lives. The homeless person has to go to the social worker. And then with the help of the social worker, Leilani was able to get her ID card and qualify for disability payments and also qualify for Section 8 housing and move into an apartment. Wow. That's amazing. And all that from a bus pass. That's wonderful. Isn't that great? So there, you proved me wrong because in my opening, I thought, where, you know, these grants, how far can it reach a person? But there you go. Yeah, that's less than $5,000, one bus pass. Yeah. And by the time I got down to the viaduct, because I do try to do site visits and to, you know, to see what the grantees are doing. I mean, I know what they're doing, but how are they doing it? I'm interested. And it's part of my due diligence, frankly. But by the time I got down there, the bus passes had already been all given out. They had used the monies already. And I was there on a day when Project 8 was distributing food, which is given by the food bank. We gave away in a half an hour, 90 bags of food. That's a lot. Half an hour. Yeah, half an hour. And women were coming up and asking, do you have any more bus passes? Yeah. So it was a popular program. It did a lot of good. Yeah. That's a brilliant concept. And we wouldn't think about that. And what about homeless women who are mothers? And do they have children that they need to support and their lifestyle and their well-being? They do. There are families who are living not outside of homes under viaducts. And the difference that I saw there was that a family would get fresh food. So where most people who came got a bag of, let's say it would be cereal or something in a can, I all preserved food. The family might get some eggs and also possibly some meat. Right. We really take things for granted in our lives. Just the simple things. It's just fresh produce. And so organizations like yours make this possible for just these individuals who are so unfortunate in their situation. Are there some visions that you have on behalf of the organization that you want to impact in Hawaii? Because there are so many areas. But are there any specific areas that you think need more support and maybe the support and awareness of the public? Well, I'm really glad you brought that up because as we speak, women's fund has just, well, not just begun. We're well down the process of commissioning research on the status of women in Hawaii. And we're looking specifically at poverty and opportunity and employment. And what we're trying to do is to really figure out where are we behind? What is standing in the way of the success of women and girls in Hawaii? And not just Oahu, the whole state. Of course. And what those data will allow us to do is to be more strategic about our grant making. So we will continue, I hope, with the support of the community, the generosity of our wonderful donors, both old and new, to support those programs that we deem valuable and necessary. But we will also set aside a certain amount of our annual grant making budget to say, let's just say, for example, our study reveals that women aren't getting good jobs because they don't have sufficient job training. So we'll specifically invite nonprofits to submit applications to provide job training. And in that way, we hope to create great impact and improve the situation for as many women as possible. So you're kind of like the umbrella that threads out to so many different nonprofits. And these individual nonprofits, again, thread out to the people and they try to bring in the resources. Right. So we don't provide the direct service. But what we do, in addition to making grants to the organizations that provide direct service, is we bring visibility to women and girls issues and visibility to women and girls philanthropy. Why invest in women and girls? Which we touched upon a little bit at the beginning about how women reinvest in their communities. Right. We always talk about education and the importance of it and how that can keep you on track. But do you think that's something that's too far to reach for maybe underprivileged girls here? Or do you think that's something that should be a given and there are other issues that we need to really kind of focus on to support them? I think it should be a given. It should, right? I think so. Yeah. And I think that when parents, the children research has shown will strive for at least the academic or educational achievement of their parents. So when the parents have the education, they will instill that value in the kids. Right. But if they don't, that's the problem. Yeah. If they don't, I mean, it's not, you do have those individuals who will be motivated and who will succeed no matter what. Yeah. But by and large, that's what we see. We're focusing on the ones who need that support, right? So you have a regular fundraiser every year to kind of support all the different areas that you do do. You want to tell us a little bit about that or how people can support the women's fund and where it goes to? I would love to talk about that because our fundraiser is so much fun. We're sold out already. We've been sold out for three weeks prior to the fundraiser, which is on May 15th. But it's our tea in Champagne. This year is our 12th annual. And it's a celebration of the grantees from last year. So in this case, our 2016 grantees. And this event is really our method for, frankly, getting money for our grants for 2017 and forward. And we have this really fun activity that we do. It's called a dessert dash. And each table of 10 will donate each individual, let's say you put in 50 and I put in, I don't know, 25 and so on and so forth. And whichever table has the highest bid on down gets to have first crack at selecting their dessert. And these desserts are donated by chefs from a ton of great restaurants all over Honolulu mostly. So it's fun. It is fun. But we want to remind people that in the fun behind it is that whole purpose from the heart to support all these women who do, you know, it just reminds me quickly of an interview I did of this refugee back in Hong Kong who was from Africa. And she had walked by a bakery and she saw a cake that she was salivating over basically. She hadn't had cake for so long. But she didn't have the resource and the means to buy a piece of cake. And it just tore my heart apart. I mean, I just like like bawling at the interview because we just really take for granted that we have things and we can support other people. And it's all good on paper, like we're supporting these great issues. But to really feel for them, I think, I don't know how we can really remind people to be more compassionate. Well, we do a little bit of tea and champagne. We always have a grantee speaker come and to tell about how they benefited from the work of the non-profit and also indirectly from Women's Fund. You have a website. If people can look for more information on how they want to support you and where it goes. Yeah, our website is women'sfundhawaii.org. And of course we have a donate button. This is your program, right? That's not the program for our event, but that's our brochure for our organization. Right, okay, yeah. So this is the Women's Fund of Hawaii and it has information. The website has all the information on the types of areas that you cover. It does. And we're rehabilitating our website actually here shortly. So look for a new, fabulous, great Women's Fund of Hawaii website coming up soon. Well, that's what you're doing, though. You're rehabilitating women of Hawaii. Yes, everything. Thank you for that. Thank you so much for supporting because you know women need all the help here and we really appreciate that. So thank you for sharing all the information with us. And good luck with your tea and champagne. Sounds so fun. Thank you. All right. Thank you for tuning in. We'll talk to you next time. Bye.