HCF administered grants from the Hawaii Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund that resulted in lower smoking rates and a smoke-free workplace law.

Hawaii’s Legislature created the Hawaii Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund (TPCTF) in 2000. Under contract with the Hawaii State Department of Health, the Hawaii Community Foundation administered grants to support tobacco prevention and cessation, including the multi-lingual Hawaii Tobacco Quitline, as well as advocacy efforts, program evaluations, and a statewide communications campaign. In June 2015, Governor David Ige signed two tobacco control bills, one raising the smoking age in Hawaii to 21, and the other banning smoking at state parks. Both bills apply to e-cigarettes as well. These bills are the result of hard work and advocacy by public and private entities in the community, much of which was funded with grants and contracts from the Hawaii Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund.

Since the Trust Fund’s inception, the state has achieved significant declines in smoking rates for both adults and youth—even cutting Hawaii’s teen smoking rate in half and saving the state $17,500 in lifetime healthcare costs for every young person who does not smoke. The Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs indicated that Hawaii’s collaborative effort is one of the most successful public health initiatives in the state’s history.

The Trust Fund also supports policy and advocacy work; these efforts have resulted in enacting Hawaii’s smoke-free workplaces law, increasing taxes on tobacco products, and addressing second-hand smoke.

HCF is directly involved in the design and implementation of a community grants program intended to utilize Trust Fund resources for individuals or groups with a high rate of tobacco use (including youth who have not graduated from high school). The partnership and comprehensive tobacco control efforts made possible by the Trust Fund have clearly improved the health of Hawaii’s people.

HCF facilitated a public-private partnership to develop a comprehensive approach to ICE use involving enforcement, prevention and treatment.

Crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ICE, has had a devastating impact on this community. ICE brings violence to our streets, wastes young lives, and wreaks havoc on families. The drug saps millions of dollars out of our economy every year and drains the resources of our criminal justice and health care systems. Many violent crimes in our community are known to be related to this drug’s use, which also contributes to child abuse and police assaults. Many researchers believe that the manufacturing and usage of crystal methamphetamine may also be having a detrimental impact on the environment. Hawaii’s service economy and high cost of living puts workers at greater risk for crystal meth use, many of them "functional" users taking the drug in an effort to work longer, harder and multiple jobs.

Against this backdrop, 2003 saw the launch of a public-private partnership, the Crystal Methamphetamine (ICE) Initiative. The Hawaii Community Foundation began working closely with county governments, nonprofits agencies and community groups to develop a comprehensive approach involving enforcement, prevention and treatment around ICE use in Hawaii. HCF facilitated over $15 million into ICE related programs between 2009 and 2014. Some of this money went to programs like the Aloha House, a sober living residential program, TLP (Therapeutic Living Program) on Kauai, and Ku Aloha Ola Mau, a culturally based outpatient substance abuse treatment program.