Frequently Asked Questions
What is PHOCUSED’s mission?
PHOCUSED works together with community stakeholders to impact program and policy change for the most at-risk citizens in our state. Our commitment to our people is reflected in our name, which stands for “Protecting Hawaiʻi’s ʻOhana, Children, Under-Served, Elderly, and Disabled.”
What are PHOCUSED’s main programs?
PHOCUSED has two main programs: advocacy and facilitation.
Advocacy: We develop grassroots leaders to advocate for policy changes that our children, families and adult citizens need to thrive. We also work with the health and human services sector to help build their capacity to provide quality programs and services. Our advocacy focuses on the four overlapping core areas of the social determinants of well-being: housing (especially affordable housing and homelessness), economic justice, health and education.
Facilitation: Because PHOCUSED works closely with the health and human services (HHS) sector but is not a direct-service provider, we can often fulfill a facilitator role for key HHS-related endeavors.
Why did PHOCUSED become a program of Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice?
PHOCUSED benefited tremendously from having Hawaiʻi Appleseed's former Co-Executive Director Victor Geminiani as a founding board member. We were then fortunate to have Hawaiʻi Appleseed's current Executive Director Gavin Thornton serve on our board as he helped solidify the collaboration and coordination of our efforts as one of our closest peer advocates.
With such overlap in values and mission, and a need for more efficient resource management, it made sense for PHOCUSED to become a part of Appleseed. The two organizations find strength in each other, and the merger allows each to focus more intensely on what it does best. For example, Hawaiʻi Appleseed is able to leverage the membership of PHOCUSED to support the key issues both organizations are working toward, while PHOCUSED can rely on the research and policy expertise of Hawaiʻi Appleseed in mobilizing and activating its network. This creates a positive feedback loop that allows both organizations to be more successful in our endeavors.
Has your mission changed?
No, we will continue to address critical issues faced by the health and human services sector in Hawaiʻi. However, PHOCUSED has shifted its emphasis toward building a robust community organizing model, engaging its organization’s constituents and empowering them to act, building leadership and capacity from the bottom up. This shift is in conjunction with our merger with Hawaiʻi Appleseed, which will continue to provide legislative advocacy and research and development capacity while relying on PHOCUSED to generate grassroots support for the policy proposals our organizations are championing.
How is PHOCUSED different from HANO?
HANO (Hawaiʻi Association of Nonprofit Organizations) explains that it is a large house for all nonprofits, where each room of the house might be seen as a focus area of those nonprofits (education, arts, sciences, etc.). Health and human services organizations make up about 60 percent of HANO’s membership, which makes us the largest room in the house. However, HANO cannot only focus on HHS nonprofit issues to the detriment of other focus areas. HANO and PHOCUSED are reciprocal members and work closely together on areas of overlap. The collaboration between the two entities continues to be very healthy and effective.
How are membership dues determined?
The dues for PHOCUSED members are related to the size of the organization’s operating budget. It is much more difficult to raise money for advocacy through grants and contracts since most are oriented to direct service provision. Health and human services organizations are doing a tremendous amount of work despite an increasing demand, flat contract rates, and increasing costs. We understand that paying dues to PHOCUSED can be challenging. However, there is a strong value in being able to advocate with and for the same people we wake up to work with every day.