About Healthy Steps Hawaii

Healthy Steps Hawaiʻi was founded in the summer of 2023 when co-founders Josiah Morita and Tyler Shimabukuro met during a summer internship at the Queen's Medical Center.

During a seminar during their internship, Josiah and Tyler learned about the social determinants of health. Inspired, they created the vision of taking a holistic approach to health, looking at factors such as financial stability, mental health, and more.

Figure from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK589923/figure/fig01/

In January 2024, Healthy Steps Hawaiʻi partnered with the Food Vault at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. 50 meal kits were donated to the food vault for students who may be facing food insecurity.

Following their first donation to the Food Vault, Healthy Steps Hawaiʻi was able to perform many more projects over the course of their first year. This included projects such as a meal donation to the Ronald McDonald House, a Thanksgiving meal drive for students at the University of Hawaiʻi, and a Festival in partnership with the Keiki Makers Market.

Although our vision is broad, we are currently focused on projects aimed towards addressing food, physical activity, and access to quality healthcare and how these things can impact health. 

As we look towards the future, we realize the problem we are trying to tackle is no simple problem. But, we believe that by taking small steps, we can help the people of Hawaiʻi improve their health and ultimately improve their lives.