National Award for Health and Wellbeing

Photo courtesy of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

By Jack Kiyonaga

In a moment of major recognition, the Molokai community was recently awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize. Molokai was one of nine communities across the U.S. selected for the award.

The prize seeks to celebrate communities leading local efforts to strengthen their health and wellness environment. For Molokai, the award will specifically go to the Molokai Heritage Trust (MHT).

For Zhantell Lindo, chair of MHT, the award represents an acknowledgement in the power of land back initiatives as related to the health of a community. MHT is a nonprofit launched in 2022 with the aim of restoring community ownership of Molokai lands, with the specific goal of buying Molokai Ranch.

For Lindo, the relationship between land back initiatives and the community’s wellbeing is self-evident.

“This is us proving that the health and overall wellbeing of life is improved for our Native Hawaiian people when their lands are turned back and reunited,” she said.

The award likewise acknowledges the community’s resilience in the face of repeated challenges in accessing healthcare.

“I think how [the RWJF] had described their the prize itself, really jived with how Molokai is forced to approach public health, because we know that outside won’t save us, and that we have to build our own like community systems of care amongst each other and on Molokai that has to look different,” Puna Kalipi, manager of the Land Back initiative, told Catherine Cluett Pactol of Hawaii Public Radio, “because there are not many doctors that will track that Mokulele flight across the ocean to maybe get stuck for a few days.”

Kalipi said they wrote the grant to honor the legacy of the late beloved Molokai physician, Dr. Emmett Aluli, who cared so deeply for the health of both the land and its people.

The $250,000 award will help MHT reach their goals, explained Lindo, however the award means much more than just the money.

“The money is great,” said Lindo, “but the bigger deal is that we’ve now become a legitimate part of a network of people all over the country who are looking at land back efforts.”

For Lindo, the award signifies an ongoing relationship between RWJF and MHT.

“I absolutely see it as a partnership and collaboration,” she said.

A press release from RWJF explains that Molokai was recognized for its prioritization of ‘aina, community, health and self-sufficiency as well as being “a place where land and people have existed in a regenerative and symbiotic relationship.”

Learn more about the RWJF Culture of Health Prize at rwjf.org.