Honoulu, HI

The Honolulu Division has selected Kids Hurt Too to receive the Director’s Community Leadership Award.

Kids Hurt Too plays an important role in keeping the youth of the Honolulu area out of harm’s way. This organization provides a peer support and mentoring program for orphans, foster children, and children separated from one or both parents because of divorce, incarceration, or other causes. Parent loss devastates children and families. It may lead to child abuse as families struggle with adjusting to unwanted changes. The death of or separation from one or both parents may result in health, mental health, and behavior problems as children's coping mechanisms are overwhelmed by the stress of a major life change. When a parent is missing, it tends to create a social stigma that blocks families from receiving the community support called for in a time of crisis, leaving them vulnerable to abuse, neglect, or an inability to manage their needs.

Kids Hurt Too strengthens families by bringing them closer in times of tragic loss and engaging them in needed community resources. Kids Hurt Too improves children's health and behavior by easing the suffering and pain that accompany parent loss. This nonprofit organization also reduces the stigma of parent loss, normalizing children's grief and giving them a caring community.

Kids Hurt Too nurtures children who are dealing with a great loss in their lives. Without their outstanding program, many of these children are likely to turn to drugs and other forms of juvenile delinquency. Ms. Cynthia White and Mr. Hiro Ito are the program directors of a deeply compassionate nonprofit organization.