The folks at Hina Mauka recovery center are pretty excited these days — and with good reason.

Since its inception more than 30 years ago, the grassroots organization has successfully provided prevention, treatment and recovery services to those affected by alcoholism, chemical dependency and other related challenges. With the state's growing drug problem and overcrowded prisons, such services are vital and deserve ongoing support.

To date, Hina Mauka has a permanent presence at 21 public high schools throughout the state, where counselors are available to students daily. Some students are referred by teachers, but 90 percent of the students who use these services come voluntarily — another sign of success.

"Some come in to ask if we think they have an abuse problem and if they need help," said Alan Johnson, Hina Mauka CEO. "We offer outpatient services right there at the school sites, such as skill building and counseling."

Funding for the school programs comes from the Department of Health, following a welcome push by the Legislature three years ago to expand treatment and prevention programs throughout the state.

Just as successful has been the agency's 50-bed "therapeutic center" at the Women's Community Correctional Facility on O'ahu. The two-year program focuses on group processes, education and skill building. Because a high number of the inmates are Native Hawaiian, culture, 'aina and ancestry are integral parts of the education. The women are then sent to re-entry programs, which are key to breaking the cycle of recidivism.

An average of 85 percent of women who go through the Hina Mauka program manage to reintegrate into society successfully, meaning no arrests, emergency care, or psychiatric disturbances. Instead, many have been able to find jobs and lead productive lives.

Now, inspired by the success of San Francisco-based Delancey Street, Hina Mauka is poised to expand. The organization was officially named a Delancey Street replication site, entitling it to consultation services from Delancey program officials.

Delancey Street operates a booming line of businesses: a moving company, catering service, restaurant and coffee house, all run by ex-felons, former prostitutes and substance abusers, and others who were formerly incarcerated who learned vocational skills through the program. In addition, Delancey boasts an impressive self-managed, self-built, self-help complex that houses 500 of its residents.

According to Andy Anderson, director of community and alumni relations, Hina Mauka hopes to bring the same kind of success here by building its own 500-bed facility for both men and women. After submitting a business plan, with help from the UH-Manoa's Shidler College of Business, Johnson says they've gotten positive response from the Legislature and the Lingle administration.

For such a project to thrive, location is key. In San Francisco, the Delancey Street complex is in the urban core. That, however, will be a challenge here where available land parcels are precious and few. Still, it's a project worth investing in — and with help from the community and our elected leaders, a creative solution should be found.

Hina Mauka has proven its ability to prevent adolescents from leading a life of drug and alcohol abuse. And it has shown that it can prevent many inmates from returning to a life behind bars. Now it deserves a chance to build on that success by following a proven model.

With the lower prison population and more productive members of society that this program can bring, everyone in the community has reason to be hopeful.