The Neighborhood Place of Wailuku is preparing an ambitious parenting and cultural training program for at-risk Hawaiian families in a three-year demonstration project supported with a $1.1 million federal grant.

Wailuku Ho’onui Mana ’Ohana Initiative is a "family empowerment" effort aimed at helping families deal with life challenges of poverty, drug abuse and domestic violence, said Venus Rosete-Hill, executive director of the Neighborhood Place.

In addition to the grant from the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rosete-Hill said the Neighborhood Place has been provided an eight-acre cultural site in Paukukalo.

The Kaehu field, a rich agricultural area fed by fresh water springs, with wetlands and inland fishponds, will be used for cultural training programs as part of the initiative.

With the grant, Neighborhood Place has begun advertising for five staff members to help run the program that will offer parenting classes, culturally based experiential learning opportunities and leadership training. Neighborhood Place has already been offering parenting classes to families living in Wailuku.