Empowering Early Childhood Providers
The second Hilo Kahewai Live conference equips early childhood professionals with valuable tools.
Across Hawaiʻi, early childhood professionals are embracing trauma-informed care as a vital approach to supporting the health and well-being of our youngest keiki. On September 20, 2024, more than 70 early childhood professionals who serve children ages 0 to 5 gathered for the second annual Kahewai Live on Hawaiʻi Island, held at Hilo’s Nani Mau Gardens. Presented in partnership with the YWCA of Hawaiʻi Island, Hawaiʻi Department of Health, Ke Ala Ho’aka Associates, and Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, this event was the latest in a series of Kahewai conferences designed to equip early childhood professionals with the tools and strategies to create safe, nurturing environments that foster wellness and resilience. Kahewai Live is an offshoot of the yearly Kahewai Summit now in its fourth year of gathering over 300 participants to learn together about wellness, resilience, and trauma-informed strategies. Kahewai Live was the second time the planning group offered the conference to the Hilo community. Oʻahu has also held a Kahewai Live event thanks to planning of Ke Ala Ho’aka Associates, and generous space and planning team support by staff at Mid Pacific Institute.
Trauma-informed care is the awareness that young children may have experienced an adverse event, ongoing trauma or toxic stress. The way unaddressed trauma shows up for young children is often non-verbal communications usually behaviors like aggression or withdrawing in care environments. Rather than focusing on correcting surface-level behavior, trauma-informed care encourages early childhood providers to consider the underlying causes of distress and how to address them. It promotes an awareness of the physical, emotional, and social effects of trauma, allowing caregivers to offer support in ways that foster trust, safety, and ultimately healing for the child and the family.
At the most recent gathering in Hilo, early childhood professionals representing various settings including preschools and kindergartens, early learning centers, center-based care, family-child interactive learning centers, home visiting program, and family childcare homes, were able to learn strategies to help them recognize and address the impacts of trauma in young children, and ultimately, empowering them to create environments where children can thrive, despite adversity.
“Within the early childhood field, it’s so common to hit burnout! From working alongside keiki all day long to advocating for their needs and collaborating with other professionals, it can be a bit overwhelming at times,” said Ariel Halemano, therapist at YWCA Hawai’i Island. “Kahewai Live was a beautiful opportunity for early childhood professionals to receive some much-needed self-care. It was a meaningful experience for both seasoned and new professionals in this field to be seen, acknowledged and appreciated for their work. Kahewai Live also shined a light on relevant topics like mirroring healthy behaviors, recognizing signs of trauma (both in ourselves and the keiki we service), as well as tips to collaborating effectively with other professionals in this field. I left feeling empowered but also confident in my community to continue making a change, one trauma-informed care step at a time!” The impact of trauma-informed professional development opportunities like Kahewai Live reaches far beyond the event itself. "What I love most about the Kahewai gatherings is the opportunity to connect with fellow attendees on a naʻau level in such a short time,” said Jarissa Lum, program officer at Hawaiʻi Community Foundation. “Naʻau literally means intestines or guts, but what I mean by connecting on a naʻau level is that we connected to each other’s vulnerabilities– to our raw, authentic selves. I appreciate the intentional thought and planning that went into designing Kahewai Live. Each speaker session fostered a safe and nurturing environment, modeling for us what this space could look and feel like—an inspiration to create similar spaces in our own work environments. Although we started as strangers, I found myself able to be vulnerable with others, which led to meaningful healing and connection." As attendees return to their respective workplaces, they carry with them new insights that will help shape how they approach childcare and child development settings. Trauma-informed strategies are not just about helping individual children—they’re about transforming classrooms and communities. These approaches ripple outward, creating a culture of care that nurtures resilience and strengthens the web of support surrounding Hawaiʻi’s youngest and most vulnerable keiki.
Kahewai Live is more than a professional development opportunity; it represents a holistic approach to building a more resilient future for Hawaiʻi’s children. As early childhood professionals continue to implement what they’ve learned, the long-term impact of trauma-informed care will be felt across classrooms, families, and communities, helping keiki not only survive, but thrive in a world that is better equipped to understand and respond to their needs.
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