FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Media Contact: Marina Satoafaiga Phone (808) 244-7467 ext. 241 Email: msatoafaiga@imuafamily.org, or Dean Wong Executive Director, Imua Family Services Phone (808) 244-7467 ext.223 Email: dwong@imuafamily.orgImua Family Services-2014 Best Places to Work
Wailuku, HI, Friday April 4, 2014
Today, Hawaii Business Magazine named Imua Family Services one of the 2014 Best Places to Work in Hawaii and the Nation for the third consecutive year. This is the non-profit’s fifth award in this class making the local Maui agency an exclusive Platinum Winner. The list of “Best Places to Work” is published annually by Hawaii Business Magazine. As in previous years, the data from Imua Family Services employees was gathered and analyzed by the Best Companies Group – an independent research organization which conducts similar research in states throughout the nation. Imua Family Services was previously awarded the Best Places to Work award in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and now 2014.
The survey and awards program is designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Hawaii and nationally, benefiting the state’s economy, its workforce and businesses. Selection is based on a comprehensive review of each organization’s benefits, career development, training and retention as well as feedback from employees through an extensive survey. Imua received their 2014 award on Oahu, Friday, April 4 on the eve of the agencies anniversary gala fundraiser Fantasia Ball.
In a congratulatory article written by Hawaii Business Magazine, one word resonates louder than the rest when Dean Wong (Imua’s Executive Director) describes the people and programs that collectively make up Imua Family Services: Progressive. While the non-profit has been helping children with developmental and behavioral challenges on Maui and Lanai since 1947, the desire to keep moving forward, or in Hawaiian, Imua, has always been at the heart of this agency’s mission.
In line with being an up-to-date and progressive organization this year, Imua Family Services launched its free Mobile Application for smart phone users. “It allows families, parents and supporters to have instant access to the agency, its blogs, family support, social media and events calendars at their fingertips. New parents are busy people, with difficult concerns. We want to stay connected with them at all times to provide them with whatever resources they need to help their children reach their full potential in life,” says Wong.
2014 promises to be an exciting year of expansion and growth for Imua Family Services. Currently, the organization is collaborating with Easter Seals Hawaii to convert the old Maui Land & Pine 10,000 square foot property on Wakea Ave (next to the new Maui Easter Seals building) into a state-of-the-art campus for Early Childhood Intervention Services on Maui in what will become the Imua Family Services Early Childhood Training and Development Center. Building is set to begin immediately.
Imua Family Services is excited to be bringing this new facility to Maui, which will allow the organization to expand its services and programs that provide specialized services to Maui’s children with special needs. Included in the new state of the art facility will be innovative therapy rooms, sensory therapy rooms, designated areas for Family counseling and activities, an inclusion preschool facility, an education and training center, office space to accommodate over 45 staff members and an outdoor covered playground. The new campus for early intervention will exist on the same grounds as the newly developed Easter Seals building, and the combined collaboration of the two agencies will ultimately mean that services for special needs individuals on Maui will be available from birth through life in a single location.
Today, Imua Family Services provides comprehensive early childhood development services to children and their families with the support and resources needed to achieve their full potential in life. Each year, over 3000 community members on Maui and Lanai receive support from Imua Family Services through the Infant & Child Development Program, Early Childhood Development Program, Newborn Hearing Screening, and Camp Imua.
If you would like more information about Imua Family Services, please visit their website at www.imuafamilyservices.org or call 244-7467.
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