Throughout the course of this school year, the MEO Head Start program has done so many wonderful things for my child and our family.
My son has learned many useful skills, such as sharing, socialization, managing feelings, and so much more.
The program also does a lot to support families by making sure our keiki are kept healthy and making it doctor's and dentist's appointments. Each center has a caseworker who works vigorously with families to make sure we never struggle, and if any type of struggle may occur we have proper support.
A few months ago, I was solely a parent, struggling to find a job that I could work while my kids are in school, until an opportunity arose as a teacher aide here at our Lahaina Head Start center. I have never enjoyed a job as much as I do with this position, I get to teach and learn along side our keiki daily and I couldn't be more grateful.
Amber Salvador

My child is a student with the MEO Head Start program, and the impact it has had on my family is tremendous.
Coming from a small community on Molokai, it's hard to find a free preschool program for our Keiki, and with continued funding it would provide 20 families with services from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and summer school options, With our Keiki in preschool, it provides the opportunity for parents to work or continue their education. For my Family, the program not only provides services for my child but for myself, too.
MEO Head Start has a lot of information to offer parents when help is needed. I myself was able to seek help in starting out. The program was able to provide me with the information needed.
If Head Start Kaunakakai Center was to change their hours or close, my family would be greatly impacted in many ways. It would cause financial stress on myself and other parents. We would have to find another preschool that could charge $800 monthly or more. It would leave families with only one working parent for a full-day's worth of work in this high cost economy.
We the parents of Kaunakakai Head Start appreciate this opportunity we have with the funding provided by the County of Maui. Mahalo.
Macy Hiro
Maunaloa, Molokai

MEO Head Start provides equal opportunity for my family and me. My daughter gets to go to school full time, gets the right education she needs and makes new friends. Having my daughter attend Head Start also gave me an opportunity to find a job, so that I can provide for my family.
We are truly grateful to Head Start in our community for our kids.
Tiara English

The MEO Head Start program is the only free program that we have here on Molokai, which helps my family.
I work a full-time job as a cashier and my husband is in the Drug Court program. MEO has helped us in many ways; it's affordable and dependable. I get off work at 6 p.m. throughout the week, and Marc meets with his counselor from time to time. The program calls the morning they need him to do UA or counseling and-or court, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and Friday, 7:30 a.m. to noon.
My daughter Ka Liliko loves Head Start, and the staff is great. If it wasn't for MEO, I wouldn't be working or we wouldn't have been able to get the things that we needed done.
It's a safe and awesome environment for my child.
Mehana Pupuhi and Marc-Wayne Smith

Having my child be a part of the MEO Head Start program has been nothing but an amazing experience for her. The program has taught her many things from writing her name to recognizing the letters in the alphabet to being able to identify numbers. She has also learned daily life skills and tasks that we use in our everyday lives.
If it wasn't for the MEO Head Start program being available and open until 3 p.m. for my child, I wouldn't be able to work my full-time job because I wouldn't have someone or somewhere for my child to go. Being able to have my child learn and attend the program while I go to work has been a blessing for my family. We're beyond grateful for the summer program, as well because it keeps her on track with learning and helps as a safe place for my child because I can't afford to pay for a sitter.
Losing this program would be a tremendous loss to our community as it is the only preschool program that is free of charge to low income families on Molokai and Maui.
Chantey Uahinui

Aloha. I am a single mother with two keiki currently attending MEO Head Start. MEO helps me out a lot with my two children attending the program.
I am able to work my full-time job and not have to worry about where my children will go while I am at work. Having a reliable spot for my children is very helpful.
I am grateful for the school; it provides a safe place for my children. They learn a lot everyday.
Olivia Pescaia

MEO has been our first choice for education since 2018. As a mother of four, I'm grateful for MEO providing free early childhood education. We are offered a lot of support and services that other schools don't offer. Three of my four children have attended MEO and my youngest will be enrolled when she turns of age.
The staff is awesome. They're good with my children and have shown so much patience and understanding when my kids had a rough morning or when they constantly have to remind me of things.
MEO has been a blessing to the community, and I hope they will continue to operate in the future.
Ashlynn Kaulili

MEO is such a wonderful opportunity for not just my child but the whole family. MEO teachers are so resourceful and helpful in teaching parents how to build a loving, caring relationship with children. They always offer healthy food, and it shows when my child comes home asking for new things that I've never even thought to give her.
I am so grateful to the teacher who saw my daughter's speech wasn't the best. She met with me and filed the paperwork, and my child is receiving speech lessons that will continue when she goes to kindergarten.
MEO is not just a preschool; it is more like a family. They care about you and your health, as much as the kids. They also distribute so many things to take home, which is such a blessing, such as books, coloring supplies, toothbrushes, toothpaste, food and plants started from seed.
Mainly, the children take home the good manners the teachers are instilling in them, and all the knowledge that most parents don't have time to teach them
My family and I love MEO and everything they offer. The staff is always A++. I can't think of anyway for them to be better because they are at the top 100 in everything they do.
Natalie Stampson

I'm speaking on behalf of MEO Head Start.
My family and I are grateful for MEO Head Start because it gives my children the opportunity to attend school while I work.
My child has gained so much by being in MEO Head Start. She learned to write her whole name and knows her numbers. Without these programs, it would not be possible to work due to no child care.
This program did a lot for me and my Ohana. Please consider MEO Head Start in your fiscal year budget.
Mahalo and thank you for your time.
Patty Ann Ellis

Aloha yokwe/greetings.
My daughter Tiaina R. Lang is a student at the MEO Head Start UH-Maui College center. Since Day 1, I have never seen her wanting to miss a day of school. She loves school, not just to make friends while learning, but the professionalism of the staff (teachers) and all the management case workers, who help with this amazing foundation. Makes it more fun and safe for not just my baby girl but for all her classmates and friends.
My other half and I deeply appreciate the County of Maui funding of MEO Head Start. Honestly, it's a great help for our family with inflation nowadays. It help us a lot, because if it not for this program for my baby girl, it will put us in a really tight spot.
We humbly want to say thank you so much for this great opportunity. In the beginning, my other half was very nervous of bringing our eldest daughter to MEO Head Start, just like any parent. But as time went by, we saw a transformation in our daughter in an amazing way, and we would like to thank her teachers, staff and all the MEO department because she used to be shy and scared to open up to anyone and very fragile. Now, she's changing for the better and building a bond with her classmates and her teachers, as well as enjoying everyday while learning new things with all the great supplies and equipment provided by the school.
To us, Head Start is a blessing in the skies to have my daughter in this program. We would to say thank you x 2 very much. Wishing for the same for more families in the future to be blessed like we have been.
Mahalo Nui Loa and God Bless!
Ronny Lang

The MEO Head Start program and its full-day schedule are invaluable. As a single father of eight, the full-day schedule allows me the opportunity to work while my child receives the necessary tools to progress in our educational goals.
The Head Start experience has been very positive in all aspects of our lives. Parent-assisted programs and services are unique and helpful.
Anthony Buchanan

MEO Head Start helps:
- Employed parents.
- Older siblings, who finish school around the same time.
- Parents pick up their children, instead of someone else.
- Parents get more things done during the day.
Precious Castro

I greatly appreciate the county support for MEO Head Start. The program provides free early educational experiences for my children and allows them access to services, which promote health emotional/social well-being and early academic support.
Continued support will greatly impact the lives of other children and families that will enroll in future years. Mahalo.
Quentin Miyamoto

Aloha Mayor Bissen and Maui County Council Members, I'd like to thank you so much for your support of the MEO Head Start program. We as a community are so fortunate to have Head Start services, especially with funding that helps Head Start to stay open for its extended hours. It gives us parents the opportunity to have part-time/full-time jobs knowing that we have our children there. I appreciate the wonderful staff that helps teach and care for my daughter. They do such a wonderful job whether it be taking care of our children's needs or support for the rest of the family by notifying us of community events, programs that can help the family and job opportunities.
Please continue to support MEO. They do so much not only for our children but the whole county and the whole family in the Head Start program.
Georgigina Naeole