(Photo courtesy of Hawaii First FCU)

MEDIA RELEASE

As the nation recognizes April as National Financial Literacy month, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has shined the spotlight on the Hawaii First FCU OHA Individual Development Accounts program, recognizing the impact Hawaii First’s IDA program has made in the lives of their recipients.

This month OHA’s featured cover story for their monthly publishing “Ka Wai Ola”, is the story of three individuals whose lives were changed through Hawaii First’s OHAIDA program.

The story also covers the success of Hawaii First’s IDA programs as well as how and what the outcomes have been.

The Hawaii First team also had the opportunity to bring recipient Uncle Toma Barboza and his Hawaiian hand carved Hee to the Trustee’s of OHA as a mahalo for this opportunity.

“This program finally gave me the opportunity to get a generator, necessary tools, and business help I needed and never thought I would get. Hawaiian woodcarving is a dying part of our culture and is my passion, and Hawaii First has helped me to find a way to share my manao, teach this skill, and make an honest living at the same time. This opportunity has changed my life and I am now changing other people’s lives,” Barboza said.

So far to date, the OHA IDA program has created more than 36 new jobs in Hawaii County, as well as 10 newly educated community members who contribute to our Hawaiian Islands.

To view Hawaii First FCU’s Cover story in OHA’s Ka Wai Ola, visit www.oha.org/kwo/2011/04/KWO1104.pdf