Kû Aloha Ola Mau
A place of healing and recovery
www.dashhawaii.org
The roots of the organization trace back to its earliest efforts to advocate for and provide assistance to the most difficult, disenfranchised, unwanted and misunderstood population in the community - drug users addicted to heroin. In those days, John Howard Association worked with the population of career criminals on methadone maintenance and Waikiki Drug Clinic (now the Waikiki Health Center) provided detoxers for heroin users.
In 1976, the "methadone program" received a grant from the state legislature and became its own 501-C 3. Its new name, Drug Addiction Services of Hawai`i, Inc. was born. With these beginnings, DASH carried on its legacy of advocating for the population that is most stigmatized and plagued with misinformed myths about their population as a whole. DASH was there to address their unique needs and to provide the kinds of treatment that really work for them.
Out of these years of perseverance, our hope in the recovery for these persons and their families has only become stronger and have confirmed that our methods of intervention are effective and that anyone can recover from addiction.
This experience has also led us to believe that every person is very special and to be prized.
Since 1976, DASH has seen over 8,000 people addicted to heroin, cocaine, ice, methamphetamine, alcohol, marijuana and a combination of these and other drugs of abuse. In addition to the suffering of the individual, we have seen their families, children, and loved ones suffer along with the addiction. Addiction and recovery does not happen in isolation, and can destroy the most successful of lives.
In the 1980's, with the advent of HIV/AIDS, DASH was faced with a new disease and a new stigma. Its devastating effects threatened the lives of first, gay males, then injection drug users and then the general population. Forced now to pay attention to this stigmatized population, the community provided more resources to care for drug users and persons with AIDS. This movement miraculously saved the State from sky rocketing HIV infection rates that other states experienced because of transmission through injection drug users.
In the 1990's it was found that most of our clientele were Hepatitis B and C positive. The effects of this disease surfaced in this decade and DASH moved quickly to find ways to test for hepatitis and provide vaccines for Hep B. In 2002, DASH initiated its efforts to begin participation in clinical trials to offer new medication to treat Hepatitis C infection. These trials are vital in our attempts to save lives because of this disease.
DASH also provided services exclusively for the criminal justice referrals who had served time for felony crimes. This population, also disenfranchised, is very special to our organization, and we have learned to respect their challenges and their accomplishments when they successfully reintegrate into society as productive and responsible members of our community.
Crystal methamphetamine arrived quickly on the scene in the late 1980's and DASH created a unique hotline to deal with the onslaught of calls and crises. From this hotline, our intensive outpatient program, Cornerstone was created. Cornerstone responded to families who were confused, scared and lost because of a family member using "ice" or "batu". Traditional programs had no knowledge of "ice" and only the police department could come up with a description and explanation of the substance. Because of the time staff took with callers, they discovered the extent of the damage to families and the user of ice practically "over night". Calls shifted from problems with cocaine to almost exclusively focused on ice over a two week period.
In the 1990's, DASH responded to the need for culture-sensitive services on the Big Island. In its effort to assist, DASH communicated with Senator Inouye who responded to the urgent need. The community envisioned a healing center in Puna, with services that integrated traditional cultural healing and spirituality in the treatment of substance abuse and addiction. Hui Ho`ola O Na Nahulu O Hawai`I, named by a local kupuna was born and continues to provide services in a quiet, ohana centered, home-like atmosphere. Ho`oponopono, lomilomi, acupuncture, la`au lapa`au, and cultural activities open the way for a life of recovery and restoration of the family and culture.
In 2007, DASH's name was changed to Kû Aloha Ola Mau (or Kû Aloha) to reflect the deeper meaning of the services. It means "to stand and give from the deepest part of ourselves, love and compassion for health and life today and forever for our haumana. Ku means to stand. Aloha is love and compassion. Ola is life/health and Mau is forever. We work on recovery for health in this lifetime and focus on spirituality for a lifetime and beyond of total healing."
Today Kû Aloha provides programs and staff that are creative, loving and committed. Research and today's state-of-the-art knowledge and interventions are combined with the courage of our predecessors and the wisdom of our culture to offer unique services to those who seek recovery and healing.