HONOLULU’s “Life Interrupted” Webinar Series Concludes This Week Talking About Maintaining a Healthy Home Environment During This Anxious and Surreal Time

Join us this Thursday, June 25, at 1 p.m. for a free virtual talk-story session on getting by and moving forward and ask the experts your questions.

June 23, 2020

Robbie Dingeman,

Home got a lot more complicated for everyone since the pandemic. Suddenly, we were all home more: learning new work habits, figuring out distance learning, trying to balance the budget when paychecks slowed or stopped. Even now that more businesses are reopening, our lives feel fundamentally disrupted.

COVID-19 has given us more quality time with family and, while many say that’s been rewarding, the pandemic also stopped us from having regular get-togethers with our extended family, especially older adults. It put a pause for most on lunches out with coworkers, pau hana with friends, and made it a lot more complicated to see people who help keep us happy and mentally healthy.

We ask local experts what lessons have we learned about mental health during the first period of isolating that we can apply now as Hawai‘i sees cases increasing and our anxiety rising? What does a healthy home environment look like? What can we do to make our homes better supports mental wellness as we come out of the pandemic? We’ll talk about skills that are useful during challenging times at home and strategies to share as we look toward that uncertain future.

Please register for our free public webinar, which continues every Thursday. Join us for Life Interrupted: Home on Zoom or Facebook. Join the discussion and share what you’re thinking.

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PANELISTS

Licensed psychologist Allana Coffee’s experiences as a student, teacher and consultant in the Hawai‘i State Department of Education system make her especially sensitive to the unique experiences faced by parents, teachers and students. Her personal and professional background also contributes to her ability to provide culturally relevant and useful therapy in her private practice.

Kanoe Enos is a social worker who has worked with various populations in our community, including Native Hawaiian youth and families; and survivors of domestic violence. He earned a master’s degree from UH Mānoa’s Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work. Born and raised in Mākaha Valley, he has worked for Lili‘uokalani Trust for 10 years where he serves as systems innovation lead. He is the proud, loving father of two sons.

Trisha Kajimura is director of business development and public relations for Sutter Health Kāhi Mōhala, a behavioral health hospital focusing on children and youth in ‘Ewa Beach. She has worked for more than 20 years in social services in Hawai‘i. Her most recent role was executive director of Mental Health America of Hawai‘i, where she focused on normalizing discussion of mental health, increasing prevention and improving access to care. She also worked as social policy director at Catholic Charities Hawai‘i and in the areas of HIV care, child abuse and neglect prevention and substance abuse recovery. Trisha serves on the board of directors for the Hawai‘i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, advisory board for the Hawai‘i Children’s Trust Fund, and the community advisory panel for the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Office of Public Health Studies.

MODERATOR

Robbie Dingeman is editor at large of Honolulu Magazine. The award-winning journalist has more than 25 years of experience telling the stories of Hawai‘i in daily newspapers, magazines, television and on the web. She co-authored two books about crime in Hawai‘i and serves as co-artistic director of the semi-annual Gridiron show, which riffs on the news to raise money for internships for the Society of Professional Journalists.

Missed a topic? We’ve recorded each Life Interrupted session so you can tune in and listen from your phone, tablet or desktop computer. Find sessions here for Moments, Youth and Sports.

This article appears in the June 2020 issue of HONOLULU Magazine.