Hundreds gather for PHOCUSED rally at the State Capitol

HONOLULU—Hundreds wearing bright green t-shirts gathered at the Hawaii State Capitol rotunda this morning, singing songs to ukulele, in preparation for the PHOCUSED-Hawaii 2011 Rally and Gallery Watch this Thursday morning, April 14.

PHOCUSED is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of and investment in children and adults in Hawaii who are marginalized, impoverished, and underserved, and for whom access to health and human services is critical.

PHOCUSED announced in a recent newsletter: “We must continue to advocate for continuing investment in our keiki, protection for our kapuna and the provision of basic human need services for our most vulnerable residents. That said, our PHOCUSED Board is taking a measured and thoughtful approach to responding to the budget cuts. We are mindful that we are all in this together, and that this budget shortfall did not occur overnight. It is our expectation that as we participate in the budget discussions going forward, our concerns will be heard and heeded as all parties find that fiscal balance that allows our Hawaii to maintain the critical social balance for the disabled, poor, homeless, abused, vulnerable folks. That would be the saving grace at the end of the session.”

The PHOCUSED rally continues from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the State Capitol.

PHOCUSED-Hawaii passed out the following statement to the public and to lawmakers during its 2011 Rally and Gallery Watch on Thursday, April 14.

The time has come for a strong, united, organized and focused effort to make health and human services a priority throughout the State of Hawaii! We must stand together and fight for sound public policies that:

1. Increase revenues to support essential services.

2. Develop progressive taxes that do not hurt the poor; and the wealthy can tolerate.

3. Resist more cuts (they hurt the most vulerable and are job killers).

4. Prevent the erosion of needed services and come together to design strategies that help our ohana and preserve the quality of life in our community.

Challenging times call for leadership with vision. We must remind our elected officials that it is their duty to protect Hawaii’s most vulnerable citizens!