The Sentry Malama Na Keiki Initiative is a grassroots program dedicated to the well-being of Maui’s youth by meeting keiki where they are—in the heart of their communities. Through a presence at local events and gatherings, the initiative focuses on building trust, fostering relationships, and creating a supportive environment where keiki feel safe and heard.
With a strong foundation of community-driven support, the program has successfully reached and served over 5,000 youth across Maui County. By engaging directly with keiki in familiar and comfortable settings, the initiative opens the door to meaningful connections and provides an opportunity for timely referrals to clinical and social support services when needed.
This initiative thrives on the spirit of community helping community, ensuring that the collective strength of Maui is harnessed to care for and uplift its youngest members. Together, we are creating a brighter, healthier future for our keiki.
Holistic and Tailored Support
- Professional and paraprofessional team pairs conduct outreach in both community locations and office spaces for outreach and clinical services. These teams operate full time, ensuring their presence, credibility, and rapport with local families and service providers.
- Engagement through community events, such as school functions, open houses, and service fairs, where our teams bring outreach supplies—food, snacks, toys, t-shirts, and other "merch"—to encourage participation. This friendly, approachable method, combined with the presence of trusted local providers, helps break down barriers to mental health care and drives service utilization. We coordinate closely with a network of other local service and event organizers.
Collaborative, Maui-Centric Approach
One of the central goals of our outreach program is to increase mental health service capacity on the island, rather than strain the already overworked pool of providers. Our focus is on creating a system that is:
- Locally built and community-driven, utilizing Maui residents as service providers, ensuring that strategies are rooted in what works best for the local population.
- Cooperative, building on existing systems and fostering collaboration rather than competition for resources.
- Educational, strengthening the professional development pipeline for aspiring mental health providers to gain experience, log required hours for licensure, and receive compensation—all while working directly with the community.
To that end, our program is staffed entirely by locally trained and locally residing team members, many of whom are in the process of pursuing higher levels of education and credentialing, in order to increase our capacity for providing services locally.
Sustainable Path Forward
The Malama Na Keiki Mental Health Outreach Program is more than just an immediate response to the disaster—it’s an opportunity to strengthen the foundation for long-term, sustainable mental health care on Maui. By investing in local providers, creating professional development opportunities, and building trust within the community, the program works to set Maui on a path to mental health resilience that will serve future generations
The program focuses on:
- Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers
- School-aged children and teens
Those who would benefit from being seen by a clinical therapist are referred to our in-house network of clinicians, who can provide:
- Psychoeducation and supportive counseling
- Casework to connect families with housing and medical services
- Referral to higher levels of care, and provision of such care, including psychiatric or psychotherapy services