🧵The Big Island Homelessness Grift —
Part 1: HOPELESS: Millions In, Nothing Out
How HOPE Services Hawai‘i became a revolving door of cash, cronies, and contradictions

For over a decade, HOPE Services Hawai‘i has branded itself as a leading voice on homelessness on the Big Island. With photos of food distributions, press releases about shelter openings, and a warm glow of Catholic nonprofit credibility, the public story is simple: "We're helping."

But when you dig into the numbers, leadership, and financial flow of HOPE Services Hawai‘i, a different story emerges.

This isn’t just a struggling nonprofit. It’s a multi-million dollar public-private machine with growing revenue, rising executive salaries, politically connected partners, and very little to show in terms of results.
_____________________________

✨ The Core Problem

The Big Island’s homelessness crisis is worse than ever.

Year after year, homelessness statistics rise. The Big Island now has one of the highest per-capita homelessness rates in the country. Yet HOPE Services Hawai‘i has seen its annual revenue triple since 2014, while its leadership collects ever-larger paychecks.

This isn’t just inefficiency.

It’s institutionalized stagnation funded by state, county, and federal grants with no visible accountability.
_____________________________

📈 Financial Overview: 2014–2023

From 2014 to 2023, HOPE Services:

● Increased annual revenue from $4.5M to $10.9M
● Accumulated $4.98M in net assets (as of 2023)
● Raised executive compensation by over 70%

Despite this, homelessness on Hawai‘i Island has:

● Stayed flat or risen
● Seen little to no permanent housing expansion
● Remained reliant on temporary shelters and transitional programs
_____________________________

🚩 Red Flags in the Financials

Let’s break down what doesn’t add up:

● In 2023, HOPE reported $10.9M in revenue, yet spent $5.1M on salaries alone

● The organization ended 2022 with a $548,000 deficit

● Executive Director Brandee Menino’s total compensation reached $171,767 in 2023

● A share of grant income came from external NGOs — including a Texas-based Women’s Fund, raising serious questions about fund purpose and targeting
_____________________________

🤝 The Brandee Menino Factor

Menino isn’t just a local nonprofit leader. She’s a 2023 Omidyar Fellow, plugged directly into the elite network that influences nearly every major policy sphere in Hawai‘i.

She also sits on multiple county and state homelessness advisory panels.

That makes her both a grant recipient and policy gatekeeper.

It’s a classic conflict of interest structure that ensures HOPE Services continues to receive funding, regardless of outcomes.
_____________________________

🚨 The Big Picture: HOPE Isn’t the Exception—It’s the Model

What we’re seeing with HOPE Services isn’t a one-off case.

It’s part of a broader nonprofit-industrial complex on the Big Island:

● Centralized funding with little oversight
● Overlapping roles across nonprofits and public committees
● State insiders determining grant eligibility
● Rising pay, falling outcomes

This system is designed to sustain itself — not solve the problem.

⬇️ Coming Up in Part 2: "Boardroom Hawai‘i"⬇️ The Big Island Homelessness Grift —
Part 2: Boardroom Hawai‘i: The Overlap Economy

Now let’s talk about who’s actually running the show behind HOPE Services Hawai‘i and its nonprofit allies.

The same crisis managers who claim to fight homelessness sit on the boards of the same organizations receiving housing and health grants. They sit on public advisory councils, fund each other’s programs, and present themselves as community voices.

But what they really are is a tight-knit web of recurring players, entrenched in a taxpayer-funded nonprofit economy with no competition and no consequences.

🏛️ HOPE Services Hawai‘i Board & Leadership — Cross-Affiliation List

1. Brandee Menino
◦ CEO of HOPE Services Hawai‘i
◦ Director, Community First
◦ Director, Bay Clinic Inc
◦ 2023 Omidyar Fellow
◦ Member of county/state homelessness advisory panels

2. Charlene Iboshi
◦ Vice President, HOPE Services Hawai‘i
◦ Director, Community First Inc
◦ Former County Prosecutor (Hawai‘i County)

3. Patrick Hurney
◦ Secretary, HOPE Services Hawai‘i
◦ Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity Hawai‘i Island
◦ HOPE board member while receiving housing-related grants through another nonprofit

4. Peter Hoffmann
◦ President, HOPE Services Hawai‘i
◦ Board Treasurer, The DeGood Foundation

5. David Kurohara
◦ Director, HOPE Services Hawai‘i
◦ Board Member, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i
◦ President, Hawai‘i County Economic Opportunity Council (HCEOC)
◦ Treasurer, Hospice of Hilo

6. Janet Taaffe
◦ HOPE board member
◦ Program Manager, Bay Clinic Inc
◦ Bay Clinic board overlaps with Community First and Menino

7. Kaleo Takamine
◦ HOPE board member
◦ Prominent union leader in Hawai‘i
◦ Linked to local political campaigns and fundraising

8. Toby Taniguchi
◦ HOPE board member
◦ President, KTA Super Stores
◦ Trustee, Parker Ranch Foundation Trust
◦ Parker Ranch is financially linked to Iole Stewardship Center (co-founded by Micah Kāne) and Omidyar

9. Kimo Alameda
◦ Director, Community First Inc
◦ Director, Alu Like Inc
◦ Former Director, Bay Clinic Inc
◦ President/CEO, Hawai‘i Primary Care Association (2022)
◦ Mayor of Hawai‘i County (2024–present)

10. James Takamine
◦ Treasurer, Community First Inc
◦ Director, Boys and Girls Club of the Big Island
◦ Treasurer, Kohala Center
◦ Former CEO, Hawai‘i Community Federal Credit Union

📌 Why This Matters
When the same individuals:
● Sit on multiple boards
● Serve as public policy advisors
● Lead or influence grant-making bodies
● Receive government contracts
...they control every stage of the pipeline — from policy creation to funding decisions to project execution.

There’s no independent review. No dissent. No pressure to deliver results.

🕸️ Boardrooms as Battlegrounds

Each board seat gives these individuals power to:
● Approve funding to each other’s organizations
● Create advisory panels to recommend their own programs
● Coordinate media narratives about housing, health, and “equity”

This is not public service. It’s governance by echo chamber.

And because so many of these individuals are unpaid on paper, it’s even harder to track influence and accountability.

💥 Who’s Left Out?
You are.
Regular citizens, Native Hawaiian families, and taxpayers are left with the illusion of community-based leadership, when in fact the same dozen names recycle through every major nonprofit and public body related to homelessness, housing, and health.

There’s no room for new ideas, new leaders, or real transparency. Just a feedback loop of insiders, writing each other grants while homelessness grows.

⬇️Coming Up in Part 3: “Community First, Accountability Last” ⬇️

I suggest you all take a quick look at this document.... it's Hawaii's 2025 Voluntary Local Review from the UN Summit earlier this month...... isn't it just great being the ONLY state in the USA participating "voluntarily" in this globalist event for the 3rd time! 🙄

"It provides a comprehensive update on progress achieved over the past five years and reflects Hawaiʻi's collective journey at the midpoint toward the Aloha+ Challenge, Hawaiʻi’s 2030 localized sustainable development goals aligned with the global SDGs. As indicated in the report, Hawaiʻi’s youth have not only embraced this important commitment, but champion innovative solutions and a place-based vision that aligns with indigenous values."

I screenshot the non profits that were included too so we are aware...there are 5 of them...so next post has the rest ⬇️


I'll post the link in the comments...⬇️

🧵 Why Pierre Omidyar is the King of Narrative Change
This isn’t philanthropy. It’s behavioral control.

Here’s how Omidyar is rewriting reality — and why Hawai‘i is ground zero.

With quotes. Receipts. And no sugarcoating.
👇 ✳️ 1/ Narrative Change: What It Really Means

“Narrative” isn’t just storytelling. It’s a system of control. Narratives shape the boundaries of what is politically possible.”
— Narrative Initiative (Omidyar-funded)

“Culture is upstream of policy.”
— Pop Culture Collaborative

It’s not about facts. It’s about changing what you believe before facts even matter.

🧵I’ll probably be writing multiplethreads on this topic…

But for now, I’m just going to copy and paste every single question I asked — and every answer ChatGPT gave me.

No edits. No filters. Just raw curiosity and research.

Join me on this investigation to figure out why things in Hawai‘i are the way they are.

Thread title:

🧵 HAWAII DEMOCRATS SAY “NO KINGS… UNLESS HE’S WEARING A STETHOSCOPE AND COLORFUL BANDAIDS” 🩹
👇 🧵1/ After digging into the mBloom/Elemental Impact scandal, I was left seriously confused…

1. Taxpayer money went to HSDC — the Hawai‘i Strategic Development Corporation.

2. HSDC is a subdivision under DBEDT — the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.

3. After the mBloom controversy, HSDC was quietly dismantled… after taking public funds.

❓No press, no investigation, no accountability. Just—poof—gone.
❓How is that legal?
❓How can a state agency just vanish after misusing public money?
❓And why wasn’t DBEDT held responsible — especially since the whole mBloom mess was a “partnership” between DBEDT and HSDC?
❓Also… what even is DBEDT?

The deeper I looked, the more my head started to hurt.
So I Googled DBEDT... and found this chart.

👇

The Obama Foundation is a global recruitment machine — with 7 different programs training “values-based leaders” in activism, identity politics, and narrative control.

Let’s break down each one and what it’s really doing.
🧵👇 1. Obama Foundation (The Mothership)

The central nonprofit hub behind it all. Based in Chicago, but its reach is global — funding programs, conferences, and content that trains activists in “community organizing” 2.0.

📦 Think Amazon, but for progressive operatives.

🧵 1/ Meet Tamara Paltin — the activist-politician who now controls disaster funds, ethics enforcement, and land use in Maui.

She wasn’t just elected. She was groomed, trained, and installed by the HAPA/Soros machine to push a radical, anti-American, anti-development agenda.

Let’s break it down. 👇 🧵 2/ Paltin holds an unusual amount of power:
🔹 Chair: Disaster, Resilience, International Affairs & Planning Committee
🔹 Vice-Chair: Ethics & Transparency Committee
🔹 Vice-Chair: Government Efficiency

That means she oversees:
✅ Ethics complaints
✅ Wildfire disaster funds
✅ Development plans

Conflict of interest? Oh yeah.

A thread about the Hawaii Elections Commission and people talking shit about our man Ralph Cushnie....

Crazy stuff ...and it comes back to Obama's Norm Eisen, and Josh Greens minion Erica Yamauchi from the Office of Wellness and Resilience...
👇👇👇 So I asked what the controversy was and they cited an organization called States United Action....so I looked them up....

🧵 FROM ALOHA TO BEIJING PART 2:
How Pierre Omidyar’s Hawai‘i Network Can Exploit the Federal Reserve

Let’s be real: in Hawai‘i, “advisory roles” aren’t about service — they’re about strategy.

Here’s how HCF (and its patrons like Pierre Omidyar) could weaponizethese two Federal Reserve council seats to quietly advance agendas, funnel funding, and silence scrutiny.

🧵(1/11) 👇 First, a recap:

Michelle Kaʻuhane is a top exec at HCF, formerly CNHA. She sits on the Fed’s Community Advisory Council (CAC).

Catherine Ngo is Chair of Central Pacific Bank, and just joined the Fed’s Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council (CDIAC).

Both are deep in the HCF-Omidyar network.

🧵(2/11)

🧵 From Aloha to Beijing: The Rise of Federal Reserve Insiders

🧵 From Aloha to Beijing: The Rise of Federal Reserve Insiders

Two women from Hawai‘i are now influencing U.S. monetary policy from inside the Fed.

Wait until you see the China ties, activist pipelines, and nonprofit laundering.

Let’s talk Michelle Kaʻuhane & Catherine Ngo.

🧵(1/12)

👇👇👇👇 👩‍💼 Meet the players:

• Michelle Kaʻuhane – Senior exec at Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF), former CNHA officer, promoted equity operative.

• Catherine Ngo – Chair of Central Pacific Bank, venture capitalist, and Federal Reserve advisor… with direct China ties.

Both now sit on Federal Reserve advisory councils.

🧵 (2/12)

🧵THREAD: Josh Green’s Office Is Entangled with Indivisible, Everytown, and Political Lobbying Groups — And Nobody’s Watching

What I found is so insane, it honestly feels illegal.

JOSH GREEN...You should be nervous!!!

READ THROUGH THE WHOLE THREAD TO SEE THE RECEIPTS....👇👇👇 🧵2/

Indivisible Hawai‘i isn’t just protesting — they’re lobbying at the Capitol under the name “Working Families Team.”

That team is just a repackaged front for the Hawai‘i Working Families Coalition — a policy group run out of the HCAN network.

🧐 I’ve seen other lobbying letters from Indivisible — they usually just say Indivisible Hawai‘i.

This one accidentally slipped and exposed the truth:
They're operating under the “Working Families” banner — and they don’t want the public connecting the dots.
⬇️

🧵 Investigating CNHA's Financials: Year-by-Year Breakdown of Red Flags, Questions, and Discoveries
👇👇👇👇 1-📆 2018 I started with CNHA's 2018 990 form. First thing I noticed: CEO Joseph Kūhiō Lewis was listed as working 40 hours a week but receiving a $0 salary. That immediately raised questions. Was he being paid off the books? Through another org? Then I saw former CEO Michelle Kauhane still being paid nearly $93K. For what? Consulting? Severance? That wasn’t explained. Liabilities doubled from the prior year and over $143K went to professional services—yet CNHA only had 16 employees. One expense stood out: $177K spent on their annual convention. That’s a huge chunk of their budget. No information was given about what that convention even was. All of this, before they had begun receiving massive federal funds.

🧵 THREAD: How Governor Josh Green Turned “Public Health” Into a Private Business Plan

1/
What if I told you the Governor of Hawai‘i used his public position to build a self-serving web of nonprofits, consulting gigs, and real estate — all under the name of “health equity” and “housing justice”?

Let’s go through the receipts.
⬇️ 2/
Between 2016 and 2024, Josh Green:
💼 Ran a private consulting firm
🏥 Sat on health nonprofit boards
📈 Collected income while in office
🏛️ Pushed policies that enriched entities he was personally tied to

And yes — it’s all publicly disclosed.

🔥 THREAD:
After the Maui fires, many were left grieving, displaced, and desperate. Lāhainā Strong formed in that chaos — local residents stepping up for their neighbors when no one else did.

I'm not here to attack the people who tried their best to navigate the corrupt Hawaiian non-profit ecosystem after a crisis.

But people donated in a crisis. They were told it was for victims. And that money went to lobbying, political consultants, and salaries throught ActBlue.

So even though this started with good intentions — there still has to be accountability.

Here’s what the receipts show: ⬇️

🧵1/9 🧾💸 Lobbying disclosures show these payments from Our Hawai‘i Action — all going to organizers affiliated with Lāhainā Strong:

💼 Paele Kiakona
Jul–Dec 2023 – $4,000
Jan–Jun 2024 – $8,000
Jul–Dec 2022 – $4,000
Total: $16,000

💼 Jordan Ruidas
Jul–Dec 2023 – $4,000
Jan–Jun 2024 – $8,000
Jan–Jun 2023 – $4,000
Total: $16,000

💼 Nadine Ortega
Jul–Dec 2023 – $4,000
Jan–Jun 2024 – $8,000
Total: $12,000

💰 Total confirmed and probable lobbying payments = $44,000

But it didn’t stop there.

🧵2/9

THREAD: How Elemental Excelerator morphed from a tech nonprofit into a dark-money activist machine (2017–2023)

Let’s follow the money—year by year—using their own tax returns.

This isn’t just climate tech.

It’s ideological infrastructure laundering billions into activism.

🧵👇


2017: The Shell Is Formed

📄 Elemental Excelerator Inc. is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in Delaware.

💰 $3.3M in revenue—over half came from a single anonymous donor.

👀 Laurene Powell Jobs is on the board from day one. She's a known funder of progressive movements and a close associate of Pierre Omidyar.

🛑 No grants were issued this year. The org just held the cash, staffed up, and laid the foundation.

🚨 This looks like a shell being prepped for future ideological use.

📢Lāhainā Strong is NOT registered as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

It is a branded initiative under the 501(c)(4), Our Hawai‘i Action, and donations to it are not tax‑deductible.

💰 Donations to “Lāhainā Strong” are being processed as political contributions, not charitable aid.

💡Thoughts from Both Grok and Chat GTP:
Their setup looks like a classic activist laundering funnel: use the tragedy of Lāhainā to drive emotional donations, route funds through ActBlue, and spend them on progressive political organizing.
If confirmed, this could warrant investigative journalism or even AG scrutiny.

🌎 Real-World Analogy:
It’s like putting a “Help Wildfire Victims” bucket on the street — and routing the cash to a Democratic campaign PAC instead. Totally legal for political orgs to raise money, but notwhen pretending to be a disaster fund.

🕵️‍♂️Let’s take a deep dive into the Democrats stealing wildfire relief money to fund ACTBLUE

🧵1/10 🔍 Legal & Tax Status

🔹 It functions as a project of Our Hawai‘i Action, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization — not a charity

🔹 Donations intended to be tax-deductible go through a separate fund tied to Our Hawai‘i Foundation and the State Democracy Project, not directly to Lāhainā Strong

🔹 “Lāhainā Strong” is also a registered trade name of KA HO‘OILINA O LA‘IKŪ LLC, a for-profit entity that is not tax-exempt and not in good standing with the DCCA

📌 What This Means
Funds collected via Lāhainā Strong are treated as 501(c)(4) social welfare donations — not charitable gifts

🔺 Donations are not tax deductible like those to a 501(c)(3)

🔺 The organization is not registered with the IRS or State as a standalone charitable nonprofit

🧵2/10

🧵 D.O.G.E. the DHHL - Part 2

📢MEET KALI WATSON
🏡 the current Chair of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL)

🕸️DOGE found his resume and it reveals a tangled web of overlapping roles, questionable financial decisions, and longstanding access to government power.

🚩🚩Let’s break down the red flags 🚩🚩
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ 1️⃣ — “President & CEO” of Hawaiian Community Development Board (HCDB) since 2001

Watson boasts 20+ years leading HCDB, a nonprofit that exploded in revenue in 2018, receiving over $26 million in government funds in a single year.

🏛️ He simultaneously served in government housing advisory roles.

🚩 Red Flag: A nonprofit under his leadership saw a massive spike in revenue directly linked to government grants while he held state-appointed advisory roles.

🧵 DHHL: The Definition of WASTE, FRAUD & ABUSE- Part 1

🚨 What if I told you a state agency got $600,000,000+ to help Native Hawaiians…
…and somehow managed to build almost NOTHING? 🛠️

Yeah. 🏚️Welcome to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) — where money vanishes 💸, consultants thrive, and beneficiaries wait. And wait. And wait. ⏳

Locals have smelled the rot for years... but now the data is here to back it up. 📊

It's worse than anyone imagined. 😡

DHHL — you’ve officially been DOGE-d. 🐶🚫🏗️

(1/10🧵) 🧵 BUDGET VS HOUSING OUTPUT

📊 For 10 years, DHHL’s budget has skyrocketed…
💸 From ~$25M in 2013
💰 To $120M+ by 2023

But in that same period?
🏠 Housing units awarded annually: often under 30
👇 Look at this graph.

(2/10🧵)

🚨 Allies in Resistance (AIR)

🌊 A brand-new activist group in Hawaiʻi — formed just this year — already backed by politicians, influencers, and familiar funders.

🧵THREAD⬇️ 1️⃣ Who Are They?

📍Formed February 2025
🌊Branded as "AIR" – Allies in Resistance
📢Anti-Project 2025, pro-DEI, anti-billionaire

Founders:
🔹 Chuck Freedman
🔹Ann Botticelli
🔹Nanci Kreidman

They market themselves as grassroots. But the political connections? Not so subtle…

I DOGE-d the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA)! 💰

A Thread 👇👇👇

🧵1/10 🚨 A 6-Year Financial Breakdown & Red Flags

1️⃣ Massive Surpluses, Year After Year
• Over $9 million in total surplus from 2019–2024
• That’s an average of $1.5M left over each year
• No major program expansion to explain it
🧾Translation: Members are overpaying, and the union isn’t spending it on them

2️⃣ Ballooning Assets
• HSTA’s net assets grew from $14.9M → $24.6M (↑ 65%)
• They’re stockpiling dues faster than they’re spending them
❓Why isn’t this reinvested into schools, classrooms, or actual members?

3️⃣ Executive Compensation Explosion
• All top 3 leaders now make over $200K/year when you include benefits
• In 2024 alone, each exec received $56,509 in benefits
• Those benefits are identical amounts — clearly a fixed-benefit scheme, not performance-based
⚠️$56K in annual perks = 25–35% of their base salary — extremely high for a nonprofit

4️⃣ Same Vendors, Big Money, No Oversight
• KUPAA Group (IT) + Dellew Corp (maintenance): $440K–$560K/year
• Combined total over 6 years = $3 million+
📉No visible bidding, no performance metrics, no cost transparency
🚨Where’s the oversight?

5️⃣ Repeated Losses on “Unrelated Business”
• IRS filings show losses every single year (totaling ~$63,000)
• These losses come from activities unrelated to union mission (e.g., building rental, side ventures)
❗May raise IRS red flags if they continue without justification

6️⃣ Political Machine in Disguise
• Annual spending on PACs, campaigns & lobbying: $250K–$313K
• That’s over $1.7 million in political spending since 2019
• Yet they claim they’re underfunded and fighting for survival
🗳️Is this a union, or a political action committee?

7️⃣ Staff Pay Dominates Spending
• 60–64% of all HSTA expenses go to salaries and benefits
• Common in unions — but it leaves less funding for training, outreach, or classroom impact
💰It’s a top-heavy operation with little return for rank-and-file members

A very important Hawaii DOGE Lesson on
DISREGARDED ENTITIES.....

All housing non-profits operate this way! That's why I know the $8.7M grant to KHAKO Homeless Center from Maui Strong Fund is a scam!

(ChatGPT knows me so well, tossing in Josh Green and Omidyar into my pics—love it!) 👇
🧵 🧾 What is a Disregarded Entity?
A disregarded entity is a legal entity (like an LLC) that is 100% owned by a nonprofit but is “ignored” for tax reportingpurposes. That means:
• The IRS sees it as part of the nonprofit, not a separate company.
• It doesn’t file its own tax return — all its income, expenses, and assets roll up into the nonprofit’s 990.

Think of it like a puppet:
The nonprofit is the puppet master, and the disregarded entity is the puppet — they’re technically different, but the IRS sees them as one and the same.

Ok so here is my LONG deep dive into the complex web of DIAPERS & the MAUI STRONG FUND...

$520,000 of diapers in just August 2023 seems excessive!!!

When you read the descriptions you can see they all "partner" with each other. This is a common tactic used widely through Maui Strong Funds.

Note: I have already in the past proved that
Maui Rapid Response = Maui Housing Hui = Maui Medi

🧵1/12 I highly doubt all of this money went towards baby supplies, they wouldn't even be able to store this - its absurd.

It also struck me as odd as how often I see Pacific Birth Collective & Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies come up...
They both received more donations from HCF after August and Maui United Way as well.

🧵2/12