Hāmākua Youth Center is dedicated to the children and young adults of the Hāmākua Coast. We began serving youth in 1996 when a grassroots group of community members saw the need for youth to have a safe place during non-school hours. For 13 years, the YWCA supported and sponsored the youth center. In 2009, the Hāmākua Youth Foundation, Inc. was established as a 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization to support the Hāmākua Youth Center in a new phase of growth in the grassroots mission to create nurturing and dynamic youth-centered activities for youth from six to eighteen years of age. Our Vision is that Hāmākua youth have access to unconditional support and guidance in life skills essential to their growth into kind, engaged, and inspired young adults. Our Mission is to open doorways to the world by sharing life skills rooted in the Hawaiian values of kuleana, aloha, laulima, and mahalo. KULEANA | Mālama i kou kuleana | Take care of your responsibilities ALOHA | Aloha kekahi i kekahi | Love one another LAULIMA | E kuahui like i ka hana | Let everyone work together MAHALO | Mahalo i ka mea loaʻa | Be thankful for all that you have Our programs engage these values to cultivate the awareness necessary for Hāmākua youth to thrive both here and beyond.