Vaughn was in his senior year at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa—a straight-A dean’s list student on his way to a degree in social work—when a car accident left him with a badly broken jaw and opioid prescriptions for the pain. What was supposed to help him heal became...
Out of prison, out of work, and homeless. Abraham Kaulia was incarcerated as a young adult at 23 for robbery and assault. He spent the next 14 years of his life behind bars.
Tana Alualu, case manager for IHS’s community re-entry program, knows exactly what just-released prisoners face as they take those first steps back into the community. “They can go back to what they were doing or they can come here,” he says. “Some people aren’t ready to make changes. Sometimes it...
For years, Shatonya Tyler wandered between River and Sumner Streets, often seen at bus stops with a shopping cart packed with her belongings. Wrapped in a soiled blanket, she babbled incoherently. Painful wounds covered her legs. She was barely able to walk.
To stand in the kitchen of The Institute of Human Services, you can feel a sense of warmth, comfort, and happiness that’s palpable as smiles abound amidst the hustle and bustle.
