Naiah, 4 years old, HI

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Naiah and her sister were recently removed from their home due to their parents' incarceration, substance abuse, and unsafe living conditions. While Naiah's sister has been placed with a different family, the two girls spend time together a few days a week to maintain their bond. Naiah is minimally verbal and exhibits signs of developmental delays and autism, which her foster family will be assessing. She has a lot of energy and enjoys running, climbing, and jumping. Additionally, she likes to play with blocks and Magna-Tiles, and she has a strong affinity for water. Naiah is sweet, good-natured, and very curious.

Naiah loves food but is very picky and still needs help eating. She enjoys fresh fruits and proteins like eggs, chicken, sausage, beef, and cheese. Since she was placed in her foster home as an emergency, her foster parents didn’t have time to prepare for her arrival. Naiah often tries to run away, so she needs constant supervision. This has led her foster parents to reduce their work hours to care for her. They have to manage home visits, therapy appointments, and more, making it tough for them to work regularly. There are five people living in the house. Even before all this, they sometimes needed help from places like the Maui Food Bank and Facebook groups for food. Now, with the loss of SNAP benefits, they need even more assistance. Getting help with food would really be a blessing for them.