A Hawaii island man\u2019s journey from homelessness to steady employment shows what\u2019s possible when job seekers get the right support.<\/p>\n
When Kevin Aki Jr. first
\nattended an American Job Center Hawaii community outreach event a decade ago, he and his family were \u201chomeless and low-income.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to be homeless by the soccer field downtown,\u201d Aki recalled.<\/p>\n
Now Aki helps others
\naccess jobs and social
\nserv\u00adices as a Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act specialist with the same
\norganization in Hilo.<\/p>\n
When Aki was 17, Native Hawaiian support nonprofit Alu Like Inc. had identified him for eligibility in Goodwill Hawaii\u2019s Ola I Ka Hana youth employment
\nprogram, which partners with American Job Center, he said. After attaining a competency-based diploma in just eight months, Aki landed his first job as an American Job Center Hawaii apprentice receptionist in downtown Hilo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had applied at different places for work, but I \u2026 wanted something that was more where I could learn and help people,\u201d Aki said. \u201cIt turned out to be the greatest opportunity that landed in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Through partnerships with training programs, Aki takes the time with individuals to unearth the best job opportunity for each person specifically, and the best pathway to get them there. He says American Job Center Hawaii\u2019s partner training programs, paid for by federal grants, maximize job access to people of all ages.<\/p>\n
Aki said grant funding through the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act allows American Job Center Hawaii to pay for training programs in various industries, as well as entry-level wages at some jobs.<\/p>\n
In 2018, Aki was hired by the county\u2019s Office of Housing and Community Development. After six years with the county, Aki returned this year to the place his journey began, ready to offer guidance to others.<\/p>\n
Aki said he aims to provide a supportive, welcoming energy to the clients who come in to the Hilo office, who he said are sometimes emotional until he walks them through job opportunities. Aki said that in 2025, the three industries with the highest demand for new hires are tourism, customer service and commercial driving \u2014 a sector he said has shown the highest success rate for getting a secure job quickly.<\/p>\n
Aki recommends becoming a commercial driver to those needing employment on a short timeline because they can earn approximately $28 to $30 per hour and
\nreceive their covered necessary training in a matter of months.<\/p>\n
Helping people become licensed commercial drivers is one area in which American Job Center Hawaii partners with Good Jobs of Hawaii, a training program offered by Hawaii Community College, Aki said. He said the job center also partners with the college\u2019s Advanced Continuing Education Office to cover training programs in industries including hospitality, plumbing, electrical and accounting.<\/p>\n
Additional partners include 808 CDL and Hawaii Island Training Service, which he said offers various health care training opportunities.<\/p>\n
Aki said the job center offers employment assistance to clients as young as 14, as well as individuals over 55 seeking full- or part-time work through the county\u2019s Senior Community Service Employment Program.<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s also helped people find second or third jobs to supplement their income, and explained that job center staff also can help with questions about applying to social services like the Supplemental Nutrition
\nAssistance Program and
\nMedicaid.<\/p>\n
Aki said his goal is for people to never feel merely passed from agency to agency, but to offer a supported track where the individual is connected from one person to another directly to help them get out of challenging situations, as he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started off with zero resources, not knowing that this was available, having to find out about it through another resource,\u201d Aki said,
\n explaining that even people unsure of what work they hope to find or needing help on a different island can find a path forward through the center. \u201cIf I can do it, they can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
American Job Center Hawaii is located at 88 Kanoelehua Ave., Suite A-204 in the Waiakea Kai Shopping Plaza. The Hilo office can be reached at 808-935-6527.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Hawaii island man\u2019s journey from homelessness to steady employment shows what\u2019s possible when job seekers get the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[6813,192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-148494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-editors","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}