The stress from COVID-19’s impact on our health, finances, and way of life is affecting many Hawaiʻi individuals and families. So the question for Human Development and Family Sciences is, “How can we help?”

“Practicing mindfulness is like weight-lifting for the mind’s frontal cortex,” says Thao Le of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. “Mindfulness provides the tools and resources to navigate through the ups and downs, the uncertainties of life, as we are now during this crisis.” And that’s where The Pause Space comes in. A calm retreat located at Kuykendall Annex, The Pause Space offers guided mindfulness meditation to the UHM community.

What social programs would best serve the community? To gain a better understanding, Extension agents Marielle Hampton, Heather Greenwood, and Hallie Cristobal have put together a “Hawai‘i Needs Assessment of Intergenerational and Youth Development Programs.” The survey will gather important feedback on educational and social programs.

UH Mānoa Facilities is asking for donations of masks for its 300 employees, all of whom are still at work on campus keeping the buildings and grounds safe, sanitary, and operational. They include the janitors, the groundskeepers, the repair people, those who pick up the trash, all those who do the often-unnoticed but utterly crucial work that allows the rest of the University to do theirs.

Healthcare workers are America’s frontline fighters in the war against COVD-19—but their supplies are getting desperately low. You can join CTAHR’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in helping to make washable, reusable masks that disposable N95 filters can be inserted in, which can significantly help protect the medical community and others who work with vulnerable populations.