Imua Project

In the Hawaiian language, "Imua" means the act of moving forward in a proactive and positive way despite barriers that exist. Imua is therefore an appropriate descriptive name for the project whose objective was to support youth with disabilities in transitioning from school to employment or higher education, with an additional focus on self-advocacy and leadership training. To meet this objective, Imua Project staff arranged group activities and site visits to universities, youth service providers, community leaders, government agencies, and potential employers. Youth participants also took part in career shadowing excursions and participated in other activities aimed to build their knowledge about various career options, higher education, and community resources. Youth served by the program are also provided mental health and physical health services as needed.

The goal of the Imua Project is to support youth with disabilities transition from high school to employment or higher education.

The Imua Project staff served a total of 272 youth throughout the grant project period (October 1, 2001 through December 31, 2003). This included 84 officially enrolled youth who received postsecondary education, employment transition services, or both. Through the project, 188 additional youth also received supportive services and participated in the In-School and Out-of-School workshops focusing on Self-Advocacy and Leadership Training. Moreover, the project trained more than 400 people including WIA youth service providers, vocational rehabilitation, and education and partner agencies staff. Youth served by the Imua Project have demonstrated increased knowledge of community resources, skills in effectively accessing resources to improve their academic achievement or employment success, and skills in project planning and evaluation.