Success Stories in Hawaii

Approximately 700 families are assisted every year in three counties: Hawai`i, Maui and O`ahu.

EFNEP Program Assistants are recruited from the communities that they serve. One of the EFNEP Program Assistants on O`ahu is a former EFNEP client, an example of how EFNEP can empower the families that it serves.

EFNEP collaborates with agencies and organizations to present a free series of lessons in consumer education. EFNEP provides the lessons, certificates of participation, and a cookbook for participants. Agencies recruit participants and provide a meeting place, child care, and food and supplies.

Participants report adopting improved food purchasing, handling and safety practices.

Pre and post 24 hour diet recalls show improved nutrition following the education program.

Agencies such as WIC (Women and Infant Children), the Parent Community Networking Center, Pregnant Teen Programs, and others report that the programs provide valuable assistance to their clientele.

The real impact of EFNEP is seen in the many individual success stories among program clientele. Here is one example:

EFNEP’s "non-judgmental attitude” assisted a high-risk client in "turning her life around". Based on a referral from a public health nurse on Oahu, an EFNEP program assistant jointly started visiting a high-risk client with children. The client and her son were living on TV dinners. Over a year of lessons, which is quite unusual for EFNEP on Oahu, the homemaker felt so much better about herself that she completed her GED, was able to leave the house by herself, began nurses aide school and then found her niche by completing her Realtor's license. When she first started EFNEP, she would not talk or socialize with anyone. Her interest in cooking initially motivated her and maintained her sense of well-being.