 One bingo. We're back 12 o'clock rock. I'm Jay Fiedel today is a really interesting day And it may be in the Chinese sense too because we have two tsunamis may be coming at us We have rain downtown We have our party at five o'clock at the at the Lonnie akea YWCA and also we have a show today about the Y What is it? MCA okay, and we're gonna distinguish that from the YWCA which we should do We're gonna, you know talk about the history of it and we have two people one Lori Moore She's the executive director of the armed services Why YW? YMCA and we have faith caribous and she is what's your title over there outreach director outreach director writing it down Okay, so we know what your respective areas are Okay, so Lori can you tell us about the why and what's important about the why what's the news? I should say the armed first armed forces why what's the news about the why so the armed services YMCA We've been in Hawaii almost a hundred years now You know anything close to that isn't it? I know. Thank you. I have aged very very well You must love your work. I do love my work. I always say I have the best job anywhere So I guess it shows Yes, thank you. So in 2017 we will be here a hundred years in Hawaii, which we think is amazing so that is the longest serving organization for Hawaii's military and This last year in 2015 we served over 44,110 service people and their families which is very substantial That's a lot of folks. We have a fairly small staff But we're doing great things and providing some great programs and services that really enhance their life in the military It's important to do that. You know, they're serving the country often They risk their lives or give their lives for the country. We need to we need to support them respect them and love them That's right. Yeah, and we're honored to be able to do that. Yeah, I would be too. Yeah, thank you Thank you. So what does outreach mean? I Tell people about the great things that the Armed Services YMCA does I let our military families know what we do Many people don't know about some of our programs. I also oversee What I think is the best program. I'm sure Lori says they're all the best programs But I oversee operation could comfort which is a program that it's supported by Our many local people in the community the Hawaiian quilt guild We have volunteers from there that create Handcrafted personalized quilts with pictures of deployed parents for children Who's who are experiencing sadness because their parents are deployed? So we we do quilts and we also do pillowcases for them. How are you guys funded? To generous donors like you From the public absolutely we do not receive any federal or state funding So it's all individuals who contribute foundations corporations So we're very fortunate to have a good cadre of supporters I'm sure you have a lot of people who want to you know follow what I was talking about namely to support our People in uniform. So what's the hundredth anniversary are you gonna do something special for it? Yeah? We've got a couple things planned. We'd like to Work with some partners and do some real special things probably in the spring I can't divulge all the details quite yet But at bases across the island so we have sites ten different sites across to Wahoo and three of our main sites at joint base Pearl Harbor Hickam Marine Corps Base Hawaii and at Wheeler Schofield and we expect to have some pretty large parties Shall we say at those locations? So what are we talking about when talking about the YMCA? You know and especially the armed forces armed services YMCA what comes to mind is that is that building on? Was it hotel and Richard's is it it's now the the art museum? Before that was the Hemeter building right before that it was you know the the YMCA Which I remember when I first came here was a pretty active place right so kind of an interesting story there because a group of folks here in Hawaii local folks Lauren Thurston and Dillingham got together purchased the original Royal Hawaiian hotel and Opened it as what we were known as the Army Navy YMCA at that time in 1917 that building Well, it was the original Royal Hawaiian. That was the original one. Yes. Yes, it was Then what is that you heard it here and think then move to what is now, you know the art museum and During that time in fact, I can tell you a really fun story that kind of relates to yesterday's events during that time it was so popular with the World War two era servicemen that They had 20,000 people come through through the course of the weekend So they were very very busy and so busy in fact that with as many rooms and cots and Dorms that they had they would still have to add beds to the gym in order to You know have a place for everyone to stay because when those guys wanted to get away That was the place to go. This is R&R. Exactly. That's what you provided You know right on through couple of World Wars and you know Sterling Kale who is a Pearl Harbor survivor You can meet down at the Arizona Memorial Visitor Center. He's down there several times a week He still talks about his time at the arm services YMCA downtown being in his 90s. Yeah, he is I want to say he's 97 Okay, actually he just had a birthday like that's news. Yes. It is big news You want to say something? Oh, I just was just going to say the Royal Hawaiian Hotel It was the original Royal Hawaiian hotel and I actually think that they tore the Royal Hawaiian hotel down because of termites Yeah, we have we have a great photo and you're talking about them sleeping We have a great photo of them sleeping actually on the lanai of the old Royal Hawaiian hotel Even during the 20s. It was so popular then too. Yeah, and it was popular during Vietnam, too I remember it was it was it was a hub of activity and Service men who wanted to get away from there, you know their units and had to leave They would go there and that would give them an opportunity to enjoy Hotel Street Exactly, right and the rest of the city. I mean it was off the basis Yeah, so the other thing that we're doing for the 100 years is gathering stories So all of your listeners out there if they have any stories of their experience with the arm services YMCA or the Army Navy YMCA As it was called formally and we'd love to hear about it We have a lot of stories from 1920s 1930s 1940s 1970s, but we're missing some from the 50s and 60s and would love to hear from people on their Experience and we would too so if you find people like that you want to you know provide Historical legacy let us know we've been right here on the show very important, you know because they're getting older We're gonna lose them. Yeah, we want to catch them before they go. Thank you. So historically now 100 years It was a hub and there were other YMCA's in town, but this was the only You know like in a civilian community the only on services YMCA, right? That's correct That's and that meant that it was it was reserved for military people It was and you know most other YMCA's Operate off a membership program But for the arm services YMCA as long as you were military you were a member and there were no dues to be paid It was just come let us take care of you. Let us offer you this place of refuge Let us help you write a letter home You know get a hot dog a bed a Blanket and a coat for 50 cents a night. What's the difference between that and the USO? So interestingly the arm services YMCA Became the USO so USO was United Services Organization six different organizations that came together during that World War II Period of time and the arm services Y was one of those organizations that joined with Catholic Charities and travelers aid and others To form the USO Interesting. Yeah, so can you give me the the depth and breadth of all your units now so to speak on all the bases What have you got out there? So we're busy Like I said, we've got our three main branches that I mentioned those We've also got Ali Amanu military reservation, which is right in housing over in the Salt Lake area And that actually it used to be Coast Guard housing then it became army But now you'll find just about every branch of service living there, right? we also operate out of tripler and Schofield medical clinic as well and and those particular units we have a children's waiting room So families can go that are receiving medical treatment or perhaps one of their children is receiving medical treatment They can drop off the well child The well child can be well cared for and have a lot of fun while mom or dad or you know siblings at a medical appointment because what you see it like tripler and Schofield is you can't always Take your child with you If you're an adult and you have a lab at any hospital, yeah, you've got to find care and what happens is, you know People move here. They come from the mainland. They don't necessarily have the support system in place You know, they don't have the family here to back them up They don't have perhaps they just moved they haven't made close friends yet And so that's an area where we can help and and of course tripler and Schofield love it because they've seen a 33% increase in the number of medical appointments that are actually attended You know, people don't miss their medical appointment because they can't find child. So what I'm getting out of this is that your organization the armed services YMCA Offers help in various ways. So many it's not limited to a single thing or recipe It's like whatever needs to happen you make it happen. That's right. Well, we were means I expect. No, you're exactly right You're right We work with the local commands and we fill in gaps because a lot of the military, you know provide services So MWR and others will provide services But there's some things they don't do and they can't do and that's where we can work with commands And we step in and do it so the the YMCA the armed services YMCA as a whole has a set of core programs But then each individual area is allowed to do, you know, what is necessary for their local community Yeah, and on that note local community the operative word if you look back, correct me if I'm wrong But if you look back historically what the armed services YMCA in in Hawaii Honolulu as I knew it Was not just a little island of military people. It was A place for exchange. It was a place where the public was invited Where people could come and meet. I mean, I'm sure there were dances, you know a lot That organization we talked about a minute ago the USO USO it was a place where the Soldiers and sailors could meet people from the community is a place where the community could come and meet people You know and Allah a restaurant something like that or some kind of Economic, you know transactional thing so it wasn't just reserved. It wasn't locked up just for the military It was a place in the community like the one on Richard Street where people could you know meet each other And I and I am concerned that what you're doing is all on the basis So have we lost that with the loss of the of the unit on Richard Street? No We haven't lost that. I think that the local community still cares about Military families who we serve and we still care about the local community and we make We help facilitate some of those transactions we have local volunteers who will come in and care for example with operation to comfort about our kids they they Tell their neighbors about a program actually how operation could comfort got started in Hawaii Was a local volunteer found out about it through her friend She began it. She actually brought the program to To our attention and we were on joint baseball Harvard Hickam But that didn't that did not stop her from saying hey, you know, I know that I'm making these quotes for Fraction at the time for children outside of Hawaii. I know there's tons of military around here I would really like to do something for Hawaii's military children. So she made that happen She told me a story about how her next-door neighbor across the Bay Was really interested in what she was doing and donated she was actually a local artist who had a second home here She donated a lot of her fabrics that had used her artwork to us so that we can make quilts with that fabric and and that's I think the The caring concern that the local community has shown has been steadfast throughout those hundred years One of my favorite stories is from World War two when the bombing occurred The army called us up and said hey We need to find shelter for many of the families and they be evacuated from the various bases that have been bombed Can you do it? And of course we can do it We opened up all of our facilities But we ran out of room as well and it was the local community who said hey We'll open up our bed. So sort of a backup system the connection And what could be more appropriate now with the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor when I Imagine that the one on Richter Street was really busy. It was busy Break you guys I'm gonna come back. I want to talk about you know the future of the armed services Y MCA And how it plays with today's military Tomorrow's military We'll be right back Aloha kako. I'm Marsha joiner inviting you to navigate the journey with us We are here every Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. And we really want you to be with us Where we look at the options and choices of end of life care, Aloha Hi, I'm Kili Akina president of the grassroots Institute I'd love you to join us every week Mondays at 2 o'clock p.m. For a Hanukkah co. Let's work together We report every week on the good things going on in our state as well as the better things that can go on in the future We have guests covering everything from the economy the government and society See you Mondays on a Hanukkah co at 2 o'clock p.m. Until then I'm Kili Akina Aloha We're back and we have Laurie Moore she's the executive director of the armed services YMCA in Hawaii and Faith Carbus she's the outreach director of the armed services YMCA in Hawaii So, yeah, so you were talking during the break about different programs and how you were You know dealing with the current configuration of troops here So what is it like talk about it? Well, you know one of the things that really concerns families these days and Studies literally just came out today and showed that both spouses and military members are very concerned about the effect of deployment on their children and legitimate concern, yes Deployment can be months and months. Yeah, absolutely and 37 percent of those surveyed said that was a huge concern for them And how they dealt with that was very very important and we all know that the children are affected by that You know when mom or dad leaves for six seven eight nine ten months at a time That's tough. That's tough on everybody and so some of our programs address that and we talked a little bit about the operation kid Comfort program and that offers some comfort to younger children But I think to address some of the issues that older children have we've got a program that's called Operation hero and that children specifically for elementary age kids and we divided up appropriately age-wise But what we found with some of these kids that are perhaps experiencing difficulty due to you know Mom or dad being deployed is that they're exhibiting social issues as well as academic and so this program addresses both It's a free program. We run it through our elementary schools Across the island and it helps these kids a with homework help right and a little bit of you know one-on-one tutoring as well as we do as well as You know, hey, I'm I'm feeling really anxious about mom or dad being gone. How do I deal with that? How can I address that and we give them skills to do that and a lot of it's self-esteem, you know Really just building their self-esteem and reminding them that hey, this is what mom or dad does Which are kind of the aspects of their job for the most part They're safe you are loved and you are well taken care of by the people that are here so you know fill the gaps so to speak in their lives and families but You know when I was in the service and we're talking Talking yesterday 50 years ago You know that the average enlisted and a lot of the junior officers they didn't have two farlings to rub together They were not well paid And they you know as a result you wouldn't call them middle-class you'd call them struggling And their families obviously was struggling and as soon as they get married the struggle became clear And I wonder if we are still talking about the same thing or it's different I know they're paid more now, and they get benefits maybe that are a little richer now But I'm wondering if you know part of what you do is really a social safety net for people in uniform Because they don't have enough money to be middle-class and you know take care of themselves I mean, can you talk about that? Absolutely. So we operate food Banks basically at all of our branches because we know that sometimes our military end up in a tough spot financially For whatever the reason may be so they can come to us and they can get you know a great meal and You know faith can tell you a really touching story I think that we had recently come up because there are organizations that do that besides us But some on base have very very Strict guidelines as to it has to be reported to the command it has to be for this reason We can be a little bit more broad in scope when we provide services and this is an example We've recently came about and it's it's quite touching. Oh, I can hardly wait We had a young Marine come into our office on Kanyohi Marine Corps Base, Hawaii and She was pregnant with her first child She you know is diligent hard-working like any Marine We we love our Marines especially because Lori's a wife of a Marine so yeah, so Marines are very special to us Anyway, so this young Marine came in pregnant hard-working and she had two other children with her and she told us that she had recently taken custody of her niece and nephew because her brother had Just suddenly passed away. So she she was not prepared to take care of Her young niece and nephew, but like any good US service person. She's she stepped up and said I'll do it I'll take care of them. It just it took a while for the process To go through the courts for her to get custody to get her to get the insurance all that So just boom she has this huge responsibility But we were able to set her up with groceries, but also diapers for her baby that would soon be born Gas cards commissary cards for anything else that she needed and and basically said if you need anything else come back You become the social safety net You know parallel to what's happening outside where the state of the city provides a social you provide a social safety net of sorts Yeah, and I think it's more than just I would hate to use the I Don't say social safety net I'd rather say we really become their family because many of these service members leave their family. So It's it's not just giving somebody a gift card or groceries and saying hey, thank you so much. We'll see you later It's I'll give you a call tomorrow and see see how you're doing or hey I know somebody that can help you so, you know this this all raises the issue of Outreach if you will but I wouldn't call it outreach for this it's more like in reach So you have a you know, I don't know how many whether a hundred thousand people here in the military right now 300,000 dependents and Fine Men children all that And you know you have to if you're going to be effective you have to reach them You have to let them know you're here Which they may or may not know about Now that's that's a burden at least as more at least as difficult as doing outreach outside You know the military and the basis What do you do in order to make sure that all these people in in uniform and dependents know about your services? What do you do? Well, I think the Beauty of what we do obviously we reach out to our spouse clubs and and to local commands and and to other Organizations, but when you form those deep bonds with people They end up being the outreach for you as well So many people that I've spoken with and I said hey, how did you hear about us? Oh, I heard about you from my neighbor or heard about you from somebody that I met the playground or Actually, we have a preschool family that came through she found out about us because her sister is stationed here So if you service people well if you become not their social safety net, but but their family safety net They're gonna share with their neighbors with their friends. Yeah Of course, we we do go out and we do outreach, but what is that teaching? lectures we go out and we meet with Various spouse groups that could be officer spouse To help you what I was gonna say we also go to in newcomer briefings So each newcomer briefing we make sure to let people know we're available part of that process One of the things you know in years past. I was a director of the Coast Guard Foundation because I'm coast guard. Yeah Not Marines coast guard. That's all right. I like them. We love the coast guard, too We love the coast guard, too And what they did is they took care of the families of just as you mentioned You know when they went out in deployment when the service member went out in deployment They took care of the families, you know The wife usually who stayed at home with the kids and you know that was stressful and their spouse wasn't around and the coast guard Foundation would help them out sort of like what you're talking about and raises the question in my mind is that there are probably a Number of other organizations that do the same kinds of things for different niches, you know within the military establishment here And I like to know how you deal with them if you deal with them and how you collaborate with them Yeah, so we do partner with Anybody and everybody quite frankly because we believe in the strength of partnerships And our goal is just to meet the needs of our military You know our egos are not it wrapped up in this at all We have a job to do and if we do it well by partnering with someone that's what we want to do So for example Navy Marine Corps relief they do some similar things in terms of financial assistance as to what we do But again, they have I would say stricter guidelines Into what they can and cannot do and it's more direct support to family So for instance this Marine that we spoke about she couldn't we were her only option for assistance in that case becomes Of some of the guidelines that they have to adhere to so we're a little bit again filling in a gap, right? You know, we have a new almost a new president He has different views about many things Mm-hmm including military, you know military bases and assignments around Various places in the world. I think and the world's changing more and and the way the military works is changing Yes, it's no longer the you know the the greatest generation kind of experience. It's different now It's high-tech Maybe fewer people doing more leveraged jobs Traveling quicker and being very mobile and all that and of course diplomacy changes international relations change How can you change to meet that? How can you change? How are you? What's the plan to keep up with what I consider a very fast-moving world a very fast-moving military? I think when you have deep relationships like we do with all the military commands and with our families keeping up with the changes is Simply listening to what they need and then following through and doing that So if they if they need to if we need to tweak a program in order to meet a need in order to fill in a gap We're going to do that. I think we have The staff and the community support that allows us to be flexible and and change as we need to change with the military Yeah, I think you occupy a very interesting spot in the sense that in Hawaii I'm sure you know people are not close to the military they You know, they remember the Massey case back in the 30s You know, although the military has been here for more than a hundred and fifty years the American military You know has been here for more than a hundred and fifty years I think there's a lot of you know We had a program about the military in Hawaii a couple years ago at the Launayakea down the block and there were protesters outside What are they protesting? Well, they're protesting in military. Sure. So it go home kind of thing, you know And that's a great concern to me and it sounds like you know, you are a connection You help the you know, local people people in Hawaii civilian people have nothing to do Any aspect of the military presence here you help them understand what's going on? I think that's very important. It is important and we feel that you know These people are making routine sacrifices on a daily basis and for our community to understand that Makes all the difference in the world and also for our community to understand the economic difference that the military makes for our state So talk to them talk to them now Talk to them Laurie that see that camera with a red light Do you see that camera the red light tell them what they should be thinking and doing about, you know The armed services YMCA and about the military, you know presence establishment here here in Hawaii Well, we're fortunate to have the heroes that we have we're fortunate to have the heroes Representing us fighting for our freedoms, you know taking care of us as a nation and I am the spouse of a retired Marine I'm also the mother of a student at one of our service academies So I do think being a mother of a service member is probably more difficult than being a spouse and I Asked for your support for my family for other families and for all of those that that sacrifice for us and Faith Faith caribou's how much of that do you agree with? Well, I agree with Laurie. I I think in some cases I disagree with you Because I think Many of the Hawaiians that I've met or the citizens of Hawaii are our supportive of our military I have a wonderful story my Father was stationed here as a young child with his family so my grandfather was stationed here and They made great friends with the local family and not a cooling and I actually have an appointment to meet with The daughter so a very young child Back in the 60s. I'm going to meet with her her son also graduated yours hasn't yet, but one from one of the service academies and There are actually deep roots. I think with the Hawaii Thank you for coming in our shit. Thank you very much