West Hawai‘i Health Center to Receive $1.2M+ Grant

West Hawai‘i Community Health Center at 75-5751 Kuakini Highway, Ste. 104, in  Kailua-Kona. Photo source: http://www.westhawaiichc.org.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced today that Hawai‘i would receive $2.3 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for programs that offer quality healthcare and prepare young children for school.

Nearly $1.3 million will go to the West Hawai‘i Community Health Center, which offers health care for residents of Hawai‘i Island, regardless of income. The West Hawai‘i Community Health Center will receive an HHS grant for $1,278,328 for its comprehensive health center program.

The center has five locations in West Hawai‘i.

“There are few investments that pay off like ones in healthcare and early childhood education,” said Sen. Schatz. “Our communities will always be stronger when kids have a strong foundation to succeed, and when people can get health care when and where they need it.”

More than $1 million will go to Maui County to fund Head Start, a federal early childhood education program.

Maui Economic Opportunity Inc. will receive an HHS grant of $1,047,514 to help fund 13 Head Start centers on Maui and Moloka‘i. These centers support comprehensive child development and family engagement for children up to age five.