Our Mission
To strengthen West Oʻahu ʻohana through Indigenous food sovereignty and access to origin-story foods— restoring people's relationship with ʻāina and food, nourishing families, and cultivating community resilience for generations to come.
Our History
The Waiʻanae Coast is a region with deep agricultural heritage and cultural ties to the ʻāina, yet continues to face persistent disparities in health and economic opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the rising food insecurity and need for a coordinated, community-lead approach to address the health-related social and economic issues on the Leeward Coast.
In 2021, ʻElepaio was founded to align healthcare, agriculture, and community resources toward a shared vision of health and economic prosperity. What began as a response to food insecurity has grown into a community-lead effort to serve the Waiʻanae Coast.
ʻElepaio is a wholly owned nonprofit corporation of Waianae District Comprehensive Health and Hospital Board, Incorporated.
ʻĀina is medicine.
ʻĀina is not simply the land beneath our feet. It is what feed us in body, mind, and spirit. ʻĀina is a source of identity, education, culture, and belonging. When we nurture the ʻāina, the ʻāina, in return, nurtures us.
The “Āina is medicine” framework guides our three pillars of work:
Our Pillars
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Access to healthy food is one of the most basic foundations of health. We distribute free food boxes and prepared meals to keiki and kūpuna through 15 pantries throughout the week. We operate two farmers’ markets with the state’s largest SNAP and WIC doubling program, increasing affordable access to local grown produce.
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Food has the power to prevent and manage chronic diseases. We connect nutrition and healthcare through physician-referred produce prescriptions and food subscriptions. Participants health measurements are tracked throughout the program to understand how diet affects physical health.
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Providing people with healthy produce isn’t enough. Our monthly cooking workshops provide gathering spaces where people can discover recipes, learn where their food comes from, and build community.
Our work with Waiʻanae High School’s Culinary Program to provide meals at our Kūpuna Pantries and School ʻOhana Nights helps students to develop career readiness skills.
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Lasting health comes from strong connections to food, culture, and ʻāina. Through our backyard food-growing program, we help families build the knowledge and skills to grow their own food, we strengthen resilience in our food system, and reconnect people with ʻāina.
Our Impact
13+ million
pounds of food distributed
3,000+
people helped through our Food is Health Programs
15+ million
dollars generated in economic activity
Mahalo to our amazing donors, partners, and volunteers for your continuous support.