Kalaʻi Miller / Home is Here Host Aloha, I’m Kalaʻi Miller.

Hawaiʻi’s homeless crisis is not new.

And while outreach and services are often times focused on adults, there is a growing number of youth who are living on our streets.

Based in Windward Oʻahu, RYSE is a multifaceted access shelter, designed to give young people the tools they need to move beyond homelessness.

Carla Houser / RYSE Executive Director We are seeing an increase in the number of youth that we see annually that are unsheltered on the streets.

That's a big part of the work that we do is going out island wide, identifying areas where young people tend to congregate.

RYSE started in June of 2018 and we are an access center and an emergency shelter for young people, ages 14 to 24, who are experiencing homelessness on Oʻahu.

Before we can really start the work of trying to move a young person out of homelessness and that street life mentality, we have to be able to provide basic needs services.

Sleep is something that is incredibly crucial at this point in an adolescents life.

And so the fact that we're able to put a roof over a young person's head, start to make them feel safe.

And then from there, they guide us, they really do on on what they want their pathway to be.

Charisse Kupahu / RYSE Program Manager This is our shelter.

This is where we hold our 10 females and our 10 male beds.

Carla Houser / RYSE Executive Director We do run a drop-in service, so seven days a week, from 8am to 8pm, you don't have to be living at RYSE.

In fact, it's really a challenge to be able to live at RYSE, because we only have 20 beds.

But for those youth who still want to be engaged, it's not their fault that we're full, it's not their fault that, you know, we don't have enough beds on Oʻahu for youth that are transitioning into adulthood.

So, they come they they sleep on our couches during the day work jobs at night.

So, even if you don't live here, you're you're allowed to access any of our services, from shower to food, you know, just getting some respite on the sofa for a little while, you can meet with case managers.

Charisse Kupahu / RYSE Program Manager So, the way I can relate to the young people is I've been there.

I've been on the streets, I know how it feels to live on the street with nobody there.

And on top of that I lived there with my kids.

Carla Houser / RYSE Executive Director When you talk about the causes of youth homelessness, you, you'd be wrong to look at it from from one lens.

There's, we have generational homelessness.

We are seeing young people that have been part of homeless families.

We are seeing children that are have parents that are incarcerated, or parents that are battling their own challenges and barriers from substance use.

Sometimes it's not safe for young people to stay in their family home.

You know, when young people have experienced trauma, and they're in a constant fight or flight, they are constantly looking to survive, it's really hard to start to heal from that trauma until you are surrounded with safety and a supportive environment.

So for many of our young people, it's it's they've either been kicked out of their family home, because it's not safe for them to be there.

And where does someone who has not yet fulfilled their educational goals or who hasn't quite yet mastered the vocational skills that they need to make a living wage?

Where do those young people live if you don't have a supportive family?

Kylee Soares / Former RYSE Resident Well, I had a lot of family issues at home that forced me to move out.

And I moved to Kahuku and that wasn't really good for me.

And my brother them stayed here for about a month in RYSE and they said I should give it a try so I came.

Machijah Fonseca / Former RYSE Resident Yeah I just became like homeless at a young age in my life.

So yeah, how I heard about RYSE was umm, Miss Carla, the founder of RYSE she was actually doing da kind umm, like youth outreaches and stuff like that, where she would just come out and walk the street and talk to like youth homelessness and stuff.

She told me at the time if I wanted to come to RYSE and stuff like that, but at the time, I was like, I wasn't really interested because you know I wasn't in the right state of mind.

I was just like, aah I don't need this.

What this place going do for me and stuff like that?

So at that time, I was really thinking straight but then yeah, I guess as I stayed on the streets longer and longer, I just decided, check out that place called RYSE.

Charisse Kupahu / RYSE Program Manager My challenging part of the job is getting them to trust you.

So, a lot of young people that come to the shelter, since they're been out there on the street their whole, you know, their entire life, they have nobody to trust.

So everybody, they think that's going to help them, you know, are not going to help them.

So, we just have to build that rapport with them, and let them know that we're here, we're not gonna go anywhere, we're not gonna leave them stranded.

And then eventually, they open up.

Carla Houser / RYSE Executive Director We're pretty fortunate that they trust us enough to come in and be vulnerable.

But I think a big part of that is two guiding foundations of how we work with young people and it's unconditional positive regard.

That's the first big one.

So, no matter what a young person's going through, if they're having a tough day, we're still happy to see them and we're still going to treat them with respect.

Even if that respect is not reciprocated, it's still a foundation of how we work with young people.

And then the other kind of guiding philosophy is relentless engagement.

We do not give up on young people.

Young people are in a big journey, and they've experienced a lot.

They've had a lot of trauma, things that would make a lot of grownups curl up in a little ball and want to give up but not these young people.

And so to continuously want to provide services to them, when they're ready is really I think the, the keys to our success.

Machijah Fonseca / Former RYSE Resident I guess just me being over there, umm, made me like, realize, you know, there's like other people in life that got it going way more way more tougher than you.

Kylee Soares / Former RYSE Resident There are pros and cons to it.

The kids here they can get crazy at times, but it feels like a big family.

It was really lonely before I came here and everybody just came around and gave everybody love.

It felt really nice.

Carla Houser / RYSE Executive Director We offer everything from education, employment supports, we have a variety of mental health services, we have a partnership that provides medical and clinical services here two days a week.

We work on family strengthening, family reunification.

Kylee Soares / Former RYSE Resident So, the different services they provided for me when I was staying here were, they had a computer room, we had the field work that we could do.

They had field trips for us.

We got to go to the movies, hiking, it was really interesting.

They also had different workforce training that we could attend.

Carla Houser / RYSE Executive Director I think the most important thing that we do to prepare our young people for for life outside of RYSE is, what are those adult skills that your family would typically teach you?

So, you know, how do you apply for your first apartment?

How do you set up your first bank accounts?

How do you get driver's ed or connection to transportation?

A lot of those, you know, transitioning adult skills that our young people don't have the opportunity to have a supportive adult teach them and so that's a lot of what our responsibility is, is to make sure that they have the tools and the resources to be successful once they're on their own.

Machijah Fonseca / Former RYSE Resident They helped me get my documents, they helped me come over here to this farm for volunteer just to make a little money just so I can have money in my pocket.

And yeah, they just like they helped me out a lot because they put me into a house now, umm.

They're the one's actually showed me how to like maintain my rent and stuff like that and how to budget more.

Carla Houser / RYSE Executive Director When we were in the height of the pandemic and we knew we needed to create opportunity on this campus for our young people to be able to get out stretch their legs kind of continue to find purpose.

We had an opportunity through our work stipend program, it's called 4 for 40.

So, for our young people that don't yet have the documentation that they need to go get a legal paying job, we provide them an opportunity to do four hours of work for $40 and builds those employment skills.

They start learning how to show up on time, and just kind of work collectively with others.

And so we had this incredible opportunity to partner with Partners in Development Foundation, and the five acre farm that they run here on the KawaiIoa campus called Kupa ʻAina.

Our young people have been able to grow produce that comes back into RYSE to nourish and feed our young people.

In 2021 we had over 75 young people work on that farm and if you would have told me that you know street youth from Kalihi and Waiʻanae would you know want to get their hands dirty and roll up their sleeves, I would have thought you're crazy.

But our young people really do enjoy it.

They love being outside, they love being around the animals it's very therapeutic it's very nurturing for them.

Machijah Fonseca / Former RYSE Resident The reason why I like coming out to this farm is because, it just honestly, it's a good environment for me to be in.

This land helped me out a lot.

Made me, you know, reconnect with myself.

Makes me want to help other youths and stuff like that, that's like even the youth that's coming to RYSE now makes me want to teach them a little bit about natural farming and Hawaiian, ancient Hawaiian culture.

We also do like cultural healing and stuff over here.

So like, whenever kids are, like kind of struggling at RYSE, we tell them they can come over here because it's a safe environment for them.

Carla Houser / RYSE Executive Director For me, the first success is every morning that I'm privileged enough to come on this campus and walk up the stairs and see a house full of young people.

I think that that has been a great success for our community.

That in a short period of time, we have really been able to focus and and start to chip away at this, this idea that homelessness is okay for kids.

And so those are I think, personally like some of our greatest success is that we have a diverse work force of folks who really want to make a difference in these young people's lives.

A lot of our staff have their own kids, and they are willing to be here and support and love and nurture somebody else's kids.

And that is a success being able to retain and recruit those super humans that can do this work and show up day in and day out.

Our staff is probably my my proudest and greatest, they're pretty awesome.

Charisse Kupahu / RYSE Program Manager This is my best part of the whole house.

This is where all our young people that have came through into the shelter.

They put it and they leave to go into either independent housing or shared living they put their handprints, footprints, their famous drawings and their famous quotes on the walls.

So, this is my my best thing knowing that you know, me and the rest of the staff did our job when they move out of here.

Kylee Soares / Former RYSE Resident I feel like right now, in 2022, I am doing amazing.

Everybody's proud of me that I'm working now.

Because when I was staying at the shelter it's free.

So, I didn't really work over here.

But when they switched me over into my transitional house, I started working and getting my life together.

Machijah Fonseca / Former RYSE Resident Being homeless, for me, it wasn't really too bad because, I mean, even though we didn't have a house to go to, and stuff like that, we, we learn how to, like, make the best of what we got, yeah?

We're living in life right now and, you know, we get to appreciate that, you know, just us being here is a good purpose in life for us.

And, you know, just being homeless from back then to now, actually, I'm not really like, ashamed of it anymore.

Because back then, when I was like, homeless and stuff, I used to think like, people used to judge me and stuff.

Yeah, but I just look at it as whatevers.

They, they don't understand, you know, the struggle of living on the streets and stuff like that until you like witness it.

Carla Houser / RYSE Executive Director I absolutely believe that it is possible to end youth homelessness in Hawaiʻi.

When, year after year after year, we count between 200 and 300 young people experiencing homelessness.

Simple math, create 300 beds, and so that any young person that gets first kicked out, that their time being unsheltered on the streets is very minimal, that there is an opportunity.

We're one of many who are doing the heavy lifting.

The continuum of care on this island is made up of so many wonderful organizations that have found their niche to to be part of the solution.

Nothing more frustrating than people who complain, but don't have a solution or don't have any skin in the game.

It's easy to be part of the solution and whether that's signing up to help count on the night of point in time, whether it's, you know, working and volunteering hours at your local shelters.

But the only way that we're going to solve this is if we all come together.

Kalaʻi Miller / Home is Here Host At the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi is the campus newspaper.

For more than a hundred years, student journalists have been chasing down stories that impact the student body.

And while there have been lots of changes through the decades, some issues students faced in 1922 are still around today.

Krista Rados / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Editor-in-Chief (2021 - 2022) Journalism really is democracy in a sense.

The truth sometimes hurts.

But the truth also exposes fraud in government systems.

And, and journalism was really developed to hold our institutions accountable.

Jay Hartwell / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Advisor (1997 – 2017) Student newspapers have been part of American universities for over 200 years.

And when the college of Hawaiʻi was founded, there was a student government in place, but no student newspaper until about seven years in.

And there was an English class and they were talking about starting a student newspaper, and this student said, I'd like to do that.

Except for he was completely blind, commuting from Pearl City on three different streetcar routes, but he could type and he cared about student spirit.

And he said, ‘We can do this.’ And so, Henry Bindt, put it together, the first issue came out 100 years ago, four pages in which he encouraged people to be part of the newspaper, encouraged people to support student activities.

When the newspaper was started, the name was called the Hawaiʻi Mirror.

But people thought, hey, this is Hawaiʻi, we should have a name that reflects this place.

50 people submitted names that they thought would work.

And then they had a voting contest and they agreed Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi, the Voice of Hawaiʻi should be the name.

And after the 10th issue that became the name on the paper.

Krista Rados / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Editor-in-Chief (2021 - 2022) Ka Leo quite literally means the voice.

And so, we are the student run newspaper of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

So, all of the staffers here make decisions for this newspaper alone.

We are run on student fees, which makes us sort of have this privilege.

And so, if something corrupt happens in the university say, we're allowed to report on it without pushback.

And that's a privilege that I'm really grateful for.

Jay Hartwell / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Advisor (1997 – 2017) It's important to remember that student media programs are led by students.

The advisor’s job, my job when I was here was to provide advice, to provide training, to provide critique of work so students had the opportunity to grow.

The things that they would encounter is not something that you can fabricate in a classroom.

When, people are yelling at you because we didn't get the President's comment on a story.

Or when you've published an editorial that upsets people or a cartoon.

And so how do you navigate that?

How do you listen to your audience?

How do you make corrections?

How do you anticipate problems while reporting a story?

That's the advisor’s job but it can only be advice.

Krista Rados / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Editor-in-Chief (2021 - 2022) Ka Leo covers mostly UH centric news.

But at the same time, students at UH also live in the community.

So as long as we can kind of find a UH tie to community issues, we'll cover that as well.

The students on campus often feel more comfortable coming to us than to the actual university themselves because they know that we're students too, and they know something's happening, but they're too afraid to go to the university.

And so oftentimes, that's how we get tips for stories.

And I think that's really valuable, in a sense, because it means that we're approachable.

And the students know and respect our work to come to us first.

Jay Hartwell / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Advisor (1997 – 2017) Recruiting is an issue nationally, for all student media programs.

Students are often working two or three jobs to pay for the tuition to get the degree that they feel is necessary to get a job.

And then when they're commuting, and if you live past Nuʻuanu you know how long it takes to get to Mānoa.

So, providing a place where people feel welcome so they want to stay after class to be able to do the work is important.

That's true of any program on campus.

But it's a challenge because it is so difficult to, to balance all the needs that students have.

Krista Rados / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Editor-in-Chief (2021 - 2022) I always like to tell people when I'm recruiting new writers, recruiting new photographers, that Ka Leo is really the stepping stone between beginning and starting a job in this any any media organization, because we kind of diversify in that we have something for everybody.

So, we try and recruit from the English Department, the Bachelors of Fine Arts kids come in and they're designers, the photography, we actually, and even kids who aren't in those majors, they participate.

I find that sometimes I recruited students who were completely quiet at the, at the beginning of, of the semester.

And then by the end, since they're forced to talk to people with interviews, forced to listen to people when they do interviews, they come out of it being very good communicators.

Jay Hartwell / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Advisor (1997 – 2017) Every year you get new students but they're dealing with the old problems that the administration has challenges addressing.

Whether they be parking, food service, housing, those recurring challenges exist everywhere.

But regardless of how old and recurring they are, the news program has to cover them.

Krista Rados / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Editor-in-Chief (2021 - 2022) And if you look in these books, there's like moped thefts are still a thing, were still a thing in the 70s, like parking.

Jay Hartwell / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Advisor (1997 – 2017) I think as with any profession, you get better with repetition.

And so, if you're working on a program, like Ka Leo, which is a daily operation, you're learning how to work with a team.

You're learning how to file on deadline.

You're learning how to report and verify information that people may have different opinions about.

You’re learning how to digest that in a form that can be read and understood by people who are not familiar with a story.

And all those skills, whether you be in journalism or not, are transferable to any profession.

Krista Rados / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Editor-in-Chief (2021 - 2022) The biggest thing that I've learned from Ka Leo, is that collaboration is key.

And that I think that's why we value our group camaraderie so much is because without the copy editor, without the designer, without the little pieces in the puzzle, it doesn't get done.

Jay Hartwell / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Advisor (1997 – 2017) If you look at a lot of the journalists in town, many of them came through Ka Leo and continue to come through Ka Leo.

Our community here and all communities need good journalists.

So, anything that Ka Leo can do to improve reporting, benefits the entire state.

There is nothing like a student media program for learning at a university.

You have the opportunity to cover everything on campus.

This place is the most interesting community in the state in terms of people doing research, in terms of issues that are being addressed, in terms of spirit for the, for the athletic teams.

And to be able to cover that and share that in a variety of mediums is an opportunity you won't get anywhere else.

And the learning that comes with that, through the, the triumphs and the mistakes and having to navigate that, is something that is critical to, to learning.

And so, my hope is that the university continues to recognize the value and will continue to support the program and the students who want to be part of it.

Krista Rados / Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi Editor-in-Chief (2021 - 2022) Sometimes when I call people up for interviews, the big icebreaker is, they're like, whoa, like, I looked you up on the internet and you work for Ka Leo.

Like I, I was in Ka Leo or I used to read the Ka Leo.

And that's always the biggest icebreaker.

They, I always get that.

So, it just shows how much the community has been involved with this newspaper.

So, I hope it stays in print.

Kalaʻi Miller / Home is Here Host This next story is one you’ve got to hear.

Beatboxing has its roots in the origins of hip-hop when performers began mimicking drum sounds.

The popularity of the art form is growing and a young man on Maui is spitting his own grooves.

Hey what’s up, my name is Pono Akiona and this one’s called “Step Up to the Plate.” (Beatboxing performance) Step up to the plate.

Pono Akiona / Maui Beatboxer Beatboxing is a form of art where you use your body to make music so your mouth, your tongue, your throat, chest, all those body parts to make a musical track.

When I first started beatboxing, I was 13-years old.

I saw a video on YouTube of a beatboxer named oZealous.

So after watching that video, I remember I just trying it.

And I was really surprised because I could do a good amount of the fundamental sounds just intuitively.

And the first sound I remember learning was tongue bass.

It uses your tongue and this sounds like... (Beatboxing tongue bass) That's the one I actually had to really try and put a lot of effort into learning how to do that sound.

And then from that, I was just really hooked.

I practiced the fundamentals every single day, just watched a lot of videos, and eventually started talking to other beatboxers.

And that gave me a lot of motivation and inspiration to continue and push and just get better and better.

The easiest sounds in beatboxing, I'd say are the kick, and the hi hat.

Those are pretty easy to get in the beginning.

Another thing that people can do is hum.

A lot of people can already hum, so you can hum over your beats.

So instead of like, you know, you throw a beat over.

So, you can do a lot of simple melodies with just humming and doing a beat over it.

(Beatboxing) I feel like in the beginning, my parents might have not understood completely what was happening or what was going on.

But as I showed them more, and as I showed them that I progressed, they were on board and they were willing to help me.

And they helped me in any way that they could.

David Kawika Akiona / Pono’s Dad When Pono first started beatboxing we weren't aware of it.

He was doing it away from us a little bit secretive.

When he did show us what he was doing, it was fun and exciting and you know, different.

Cheryl Akiona / Pono’s Mom I didn't really know anything about the art so I was just listening to him.

It was new and exciting, impressive.

(Beatboxing) David Kawika Akiona / Pono’s Dad At early age of all of our children listen to the music we listened to in high school that inspired this type of craft such as Doug E. Fresh or Run DMC or the Fat Boys or Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

Pono Akiona / Maui Beatboxer I really love to compete.

When I'm at competitions I get really amped up and it's really exciting for me to be onstage.

I love getting up there and battling the person that I'm going against.

Because it's really different from offstage.

Offstage, you know, we're just hanging out.

We're all good friends.

We’re just doing some circle jam stuff.

Let’s go.

(Beatboxing) But on stage, it's a whole nother story.

You know, I get up there and I give it my all trying to show much show my best and show why, you know, I'm better than the guy that I'm going against.

(Beatboxing) But I’m going to put ‘em in their place.

A lot of people talking now.

But I’m about to shut them down.

(Beatboxing) My family was really really supportive from day one.

They, they helped me out with everything.

My dad came with me on my first competition to New York.

And both my parents went with me to Atlanta.

Cheryl Akiona / Pono’s Mom Yeah, we’re super proud of Pono and all of his achievements.

Just taking the initiative to learn and experience and travel and compete.

(Beatboxing competition) Your 2022 American Beatbox Solo Champion is... Whoa... Make some noise for Pono!

(Crowd screams) Yeah!

Let’s go!

Let’s go!

David Kawika Akiona / Pono’s Dad So Pono had the idea of bringing community together, the beatbox community here locally.

Pono Akiona / Maui Beatboxer I organized the first Hawaii Beatbox Championship in 2021 and that was held in Kihei.

Wow I’m so, I’m so, I’m so happy to be here.

Cause this has literally been my dream for years.

It was the first competition to really bring everyone together.

So, we had competitors flying out from Oʻahu and the Big Island and some from Maui as well.

(Beatboxing competition) I hope that the Hawaii Beatbox Championship can inspire all of these Hawaii beatboxers to come out and bring their best, give their best performances.

So that they have something to work towards, they have a goal.

Because my first competition I had to fly all the way out to New York so that was a big commitment.

And I know not a lot of them have the means to do that.

So, I just want to give them a platform and give them something to work towards.

David Kawika Akiona / Pono’s Dad We're extremely proud that he's done that.

That's, really giving back to the craft.

(Beatboxing) Pono Akiona / Maui Beatboxer So, I'll walk around the house and just beatbox kind of subconsciously not really thinking so like, similar to like, if someone hums a song or if someone is just singing while they're, you know, opening the fridge or doing the dishes.

David Kawika Akiona / Pono’s Dad We hear Pono beatboxing throughout the day, any given time, early in the morning and evening at nights.

In the beginning, it was difficult and there was times where we had kind of a zone I guess, a no beatboxing zone.

After a while we've gotten used to it and now it's like, you know, regular.

Cheryl Akiona / Pono’s Mom So we've gotten so used to hearing Pono beatboxing around the house that when he's away for his tournaments and it's so quiet, it's unusual.

Pono Akiona / Maui Beatboxer I feel like I, I beatbox and I use it as like an outlet as an escape.

Because no matter what, no matter where I am, I can always beatbox.

I don't need an instrument.

I don't need a controller.

I don't need anything.

I can do it in the car, in the bathroom, wherever.

When I'm walking to school.

And I feel like I continuously do it because I know I can always come back to.

This is something that I love and that I just have like a deep love and passion for that I just continuously I can't I can't stop.

You know, I'm just really like in love with it.

(Beatboxing) Yeah.

Kalaʻi Miller / Home is Here Host Thank you for joining us.

Head to PBS Hawaiʻi dot org for a bonus feature from this episode including a short beatboxing tutorial from Pono.

For Home is Here, I’m Kalaʻi Miller, a hui hou.

(Carla Houser) These are not bad kids.

These are not criminals.

These are not scary teenagers.

These are incredible, resilient young people that really just need a safe place.

(Krista Rados) There's something really special about opening your first publication and seeing your name in that byline.

And students get to experience that before any other job.

(Pono Akiona) I feel like my goal as a beatboxer is to just push the art form and really take it as far as it can possibly go.