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Roots and RISE Hawaii thanks council for Bye Bye grant funding to support nature and arts therapy
Summary
A Roots and RISE Hawaii representative told the committee the nonprofit will use the county’s Bye Bye grant funding to expand nature‑based and arts therapy services for people with severe persistent mental illness, including transportation to reach remote participants.
Kayla Hill of Roots and RISE Hawaii testified in support of the organization’s application for the county “Bye Bye” grant funding, telling the Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions that the support would expand nature‑based and art‑therapy programs for people with severe persistent mental illness.
“Your support means some of our island's most vulnerable population, those with severe persistent mental illness, have regular access to nature and artist therapy, as well as a community they can feel safe in, accepted for who they are, and understood,” Hill said.
Hill said the current round of funding includes transportation so participants from remote locations on the island can attend events. She described the programs as focused on community, social connection and wellness rather than clinical treatment; organizers named co‑founders Eliza Gebben and Mona Trane Maynard as attending a separate convening on O‘ahu.
The testimony was delivered during the committee’s public testimony rotation and was limited to the speaker’s three minutes. No formal county action on the grant was recorded during this session.
