Aloha Ohana! Here is some great advice from our friends at Everyday Health for all of you on this Wellness Wednesday.
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#bewell
#staywell
More good news! Hawaiʻi is expected to reach a 60% fully vaccinated rate by July 8. Because of that, we will be able to safely relax some of the travel and social restrictions currently in place.
Beginning July 8, Hawaiʻi will accept vaccination records from other states and US territories to bypass quarantine/pre-travel testing. Social gatherings will increase to 25 indoors and 75 outdoors statewide. Restaurants can also increase to 75% capacity.
Mahalo to everyone for doing their part to keep our community safe as we continue to begin resuming life “normally.”
Aloha Ohana!
Today is Child Tax Credit Awareness Day!
Here's what you should know and share this to spread the word:
The #ChildTaxCredit has been expanded this year to $3,000 per child 6-17 years old and $3,600 per child under 6. Most families will automatically start receiving this new credit through monthly payments.
Low-income families who don't normally file taxes can still get this benefit. They can sign up at childtaxcredit.gov.
This increased tax credit is currently only for this year. President Biden’s American Families Plan calls for extending this for more years to come.
Mahalo from the team at KHC.
Aloha Ohana!
Did you know about the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)? WIC is a federally funded program that provides Hawaii residents with nourishing supplemental foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion, and health and social service referrals.
The participants of WIC are either pregnant, breastfeeding, or postpartum women, and infants and children under age five who meet income guidelines and have a medical or nutritional risk.
Click on the link below for more information or to apply:
https://health.hawaii.gov/wic/
#bewell
#staywell
Aloha Ohana! It’s “Mindful Monday” here at Ko’olauloa Health Center. Here are a few tips on seven things mindful families do differently.
Busy schedules, digital devices, long commutes—all of this leads to families who are disconnected from each other as never before. Here are 7 ways mindfulness can strengthen your relationships, increase your well-being, and bring the family back together.
As the world gets seemingly faster, it’s more important than ever to build the strength of presence within ourselves and in our families. Our culture is sensing this need and that is why we see an increasing amount of people in all sectors of life exploring ways to become more grounded through yoga, diet, and mindfulness. This yearning is making its way into our homes as many of us have searched for practices and experiences to slow down and bring more connection into our family life as well.
7 Things Mindful Families Do Differently
Embrace Imperfection
Listen with Curiosity
Communicate Courageously
Practice Appreciation and Gratitude
Forgive Ourselves and Each Other
Practice Support and Generosity
Don’t forget to play and have fun!
#bewell
#staywell
Happy Father’s Day from all of us at KHC!
This Father’s Day we were touched by a beautiful letter from a father to his two young daughters. Here are a few excerpts:
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Every year, I make time to reflect on the promises, lessons, and ideas that I want my two young daughters to learn when they’re older.
This Father’s Day I wrote a short letter encompassing many of those things that I look forward to sharing with my kids one day:
Always look for opportunities to grow as an individual, in both your personal and professional lives.
Beyond family, there are broader cultural forces that will continue to shape your lives and world views, and I’m increasingly seeing the positive, amplifying role they can play.
I hope you’ll join these conversations - not merely to participate, but to grow. Seek out diverse perspectives. Find ways to educate yourselves.
The conversation will always be just the start.
Starting a conversation makes a huge difference. But taking action is the standard, in part because there are fewer barriers today. It’s so much easier to discover and support causes you believe in.
Amplify your voices, share your stories and listen to other people’s stories, too.
Understand the power of using your voice and sharing your stories. Welcome the opportunities to speak on panels and sit in on listening sessions to better educate yourself and those around you.
Be an ally to the communities around you, but also to yourself.
Have deep ownership of your identity. Your passion, energy, and commitment will make you an ally to all communities around you.
Don’t let your support for others overshadow the progress you want to make for your own community. Teach others, and yourselves, about the richness of your culture and history.
Find ways to proudly stand with- and stand up for - all in the broader Pacific Islander community. As with every dimension of your voice, the world will become a better place for hearing it.
Love always,
Dad
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Click the link below to view the full letter:
Today reminds us of our incredible capacity to heal, hope, and emerge from our darkest moments with purpose and resolve. Happy Juneteenth from the entire staff at Ko'olaluloa Health Center.
Happy Aloha Friday everyone!
Here is a friendly reminder of the great CSA pick-up and produce sharing program at Koolauloa Health Center, Kahuku Clinic.
Join our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for a direct connection to our farms and get a bag of fresh seasonal produce. You'll receive an assortment of seasonal fruits, roots, vegetables, and herbs from a collective of local farms that grow food in responsible and sustainable ways that is both good for you and the land, some of our farms are also certified organic.
Pre-order our assorted produce bag, meat, & fish below.
** New **
Each week we'll also email an updated produce list if you'd like to create a custom bag with items of your choosing.
Here's a list of produce we might rotate in depending on what's growing each week:
Lettuce, kale, baby lettuce mix, ong choy, bok choy, arugula swiss chard, collard greens, watercress, cabbage, carrots, beets, turnips, radish, daikon, olena, cilantro, parsley, green onion, basil, papaya, banana, seasonal lilikoi, mountain apple, citrus, tomato, green beans, peppers, eggplant, ulu, and kalo.
We pack 5-7 different items, usually, 1-3 items will be some kind of greens. Portions and the number of items vary due to farm prices, when there's abundance on our farms we like to share it with our CSA subscribers/members. $20 per bag.
We also offer farm & art goods add-ons (baked goods, eggs, poi, jams, greeting cards, etc.) to go along with your produce.
#bewell
#staywell
Great news from the Office of the Governor:
Don’t forget! Two new travel rules are now in effect. Starting today there are NO restrictions for inter-island travel (test or quarantine), whether you’ve been vaccinated or not. The second rule allows those who’ve been vaccinated in Hawaiʻi to use their vaccine card to bypass testing when traveling back from the mainland.
We’ll begin accepting vaccination cards from other states when we hit a 60% vaccination rate, which I hope will happen in late June or sometime in July. We’re currently at a 55% vaccination rate.
Cheers!
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#bewell
#staywell
Happy King Kamehameha Day! Photo credit: Adrien Ace / Ka Leo O Hawai'i
Aloha! It’s Throwback Thursday here at Ko’olauloa Health Center. We wanted to share a wonderful article published by Honolulu Civil Beat late last year that highlighted how the Hawaiian Monarchy was ahead of its time when it came to addressing public health.
Here is an excerpt:
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What We Can Learn From Hawaii’s Past Pandemics
Hawaii’s monarchy was ahead of its time when it came to addressing public health.
On Jan. 20, 1881, a large crowd gathered in Honolulu Harbor to bid farewell to King David Kalakaua, who was leaving for a yearlong diplomacy tour around the world.
Less than a week after he left, in part to work on labor negotiations with other countries, a foreign ship entered Oahu’s bustling harbor carrying Chinese laborers sick with smallpox — a disease that 30 years prior had killed 10% of the Native Hawaiian population.
Before his departure, Kalakaua had appointed his sister, Princess Lili‘uokalani, to govern in his place. It was a huge responsibility for any ruler – let alone an acting ruler who had no way to communicate with the king.
The decisions Lili‘uokalani made to keep people safe – and the pushback she received from angry citizens and frustrated business owners who didn’t want to quarantine or close down business activity – should sound familiar to people living through the coronavirus pandemic today.
Hawaii’s long history of dealing with foreign diseases made the Hawaiian monarchy ahead of its time when it came to addressing health issues. And Hanohano is not the only teacher looking to the past for lessons on how to get through the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
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View the entire article on Honolulu Civil Beat by clicking on the link below:
Today all of us at KHC celebrate World Ocean Day!
Here are just a few of the gifts we all enjoy from our oceans:
The air we breathe: The ocean produces over half of the world's oxygen and absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere.
Climate regulation: Covering 70 percent of the Earth's surface, the ocean transports heat from the equator to the poles, regulating our climate and weather patterns.
Recreation: From fishing to boating to kayaking and whale watching the ocean provides us with many unique activities.
Economic benefits: The U.S. ocean economy produces $282 billion in goods and services and ocean-dependent businesses employ almost three million people.
Food: The ocean provides more than just seafood; ingredients from the sea are found in surprising foods such as peanut butter and soymilk.
Medicine: Many medicinal products come from the ocean, including ingredients that help fight cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, and heart disease.
As more people get vaccinated, Hawai‘i is looking to change some of its restrictions on travel based on vaccination rates. The benchmarks are as follows:
On June 15, all inter-island travel restrictions will be dropped, and travelers entering the state who have been vaccinated in Hawaiʻi may bypass quarantine without a pre-travel test.
At 60% fully vaccinated, the state will accept proof of vaccination for domestic travel.
At 70% fully vaccinated, ALL restrictions will be dropped.
Hawai‘i is currently at a 52% completed vaccination rate. I know many of us are ready to get back to “normal,” and increasing vaccination rates will help get us there more quickly.
Aloha Ohana - did you know that the state is expanding its efforts to get people in Hawaiʻi vaccinated? Besides the new travel benchmarks (announced earlier today), the state is launching #HIGotVaccinated month through June. There will be several prize giveaways, including a total of one million Hawaiian Miles, a one-year luxury car lease, Vacations Hawaiʻi Las Vegas travel package, gift certificates, and more. The prizes will also be extended to those who’ve already gotten vaccinated because we want to recognize those who’ve already done their part to keep our community safe.
The campaign will also focus on expanding vaccination services in different locations and provide more information about the vaccine. Visit HIGotVaccinated.com to learn more.
We are excited to announce that KHC is a proud supporter of the Local Farms Hawaii CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) pick-up and produce sharing program. Use the links below to join the Hawaii CSA for a direct connection to local farms, to get a bag of fresh seasonal produce, and learn more about our involvement in the program.
Join & Order from the Hawaii CSA
https://www.letsgrowfarmshawaii.com/csa.html
Learn more about KHC’s involvement in the program
Aloha friends, it’s “Wellness Wednesday” here at KHC.
Here are a few of the many benefits of walking for your health:
Walking improves cardiac risk factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, vascular stiffness and inflammation, and mental stress.
And if cardiac protection and a lower death rate are not enough to get you moving, consider that walking and other moderate exercise programs also help protect against dementia, peripheral artery disease, obesity, diabetes, depression, colon cancer, and even erectile dysfunction.
Ready, set, walk!
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino
Celebrating Pride Month 2021 ~
Ko’olauloa Health Center welcomes ALL Races, ALL Genders, ALL Abilities, ALL Countries of Origin, ALL Sexual Orientations, and ALL Belief Systems. Ko’olauloa stands with you and you will always be safe with us.
Remembering those who have served on this Memorial Day.
We’re often asked what Ko’olauloa means. We put together the short description below together for everyone on this “Throwback Thursday”.
Ko'olauloa is the northeastern district of O'ahu, from Waimea Bay on the North Shore to Ka'a'awa on the windward coast. ("Ko'olau" means "windward"; "loa" means “long")
The valleys from La'ie to Kahana are well-watered and fertile. The most famous god of this land was Kamapua'a, "Pig-Child" whose home was in the valley of Kaliuwa'a (Sacred Falls) in Kaluanui.
The gods Kane and Kanaloa wandered through this district, creating springs and fishing. Fish is abundant; the coastline is also noted for its shark gods and shark men (mano kanaka).
Mahalo!
A few tips for you on this Wellness Wednesday. Aloha from all of us at KHC.