We help passionate people find a path that inspires them, and develop new skills along the way.

So many! It’s really hard to get into everything our community members learn, because we are still learning so many things collectively, but here’s a summary to start.

Farming: We run regular instructional classes on natural farming methods and learn a lot through doing. Preparing beds, propagation, weed management, mulching, composting, amending the soil, harvesting, preserving, animal care and so much more!

Cooking: We make many of our meals together, and often share this experience with our guests. You can start our assisting with cooking classes, and if you are a natural, can even lead them yourself!

Construction: We are often building something, whether that is more cabins for community members, shelter for our animals, or big projects like hydro electric and solar systems. When we are building, you will learn about basic tools, framing, roofing, drywall and maybe even a bit about plumbing and electrical.

Landscaping: Everything grows here, all the time. Sometimes we are planting things, and other times we are cutting them back. Balancing these makes our home look beautiful.

Hospitality: It’s core to how we make our lifestyle financially sustainable. We will teach you how to make a home welcoming to guests, cook and serve in a fast paced setting, and welcome guests while helping them navigate the experience we have designed for them.

Adventure Guiding: Are you afraid of heights? If not, maybe you will take on the challenge of learning how to safely help our guests rappel over 120 feet down a waterfall! This includes rope work and wilderness first responder skills.

All community members (Apprentices and Fellows) pay membership dues, which cover your food, utilities, and community overhead (like management, etc).

Apprentices also pay a program fee, and that program fee generally INCLUDES your membership dues.

In exchange for your program fees and/or membership dues, and the work you contribute, the community provides you with housing, food, education, and mentorship, all of which is designed to help you identify what you are most passionate about, and develop and refine the skills that will allow you to pursue that path in life.

Your program fees help cover communal expenses ranging from food to fuel, instructor costs, stipends for KCP management, and the costs we incur in occupying and maintaining our land, such as lease payments and equipment / vehicle maintenance.

Our Apprentice program is about learning by doing, and living together. It is not an alternative to a job, or a place to live. If you just want a job, or a free place to stay in exchange for supporting a for-profit business, there are alternatives out there.

It is important to understand that small scale farming, and living off the grid is very expensive, and is generally not financially sustainable on it’s own.

We make our lifestyle sustainable by partnering with companies that financially enable us as a non-profit. Our partners provide us with sources of income like customers for our cabins and cooking classes, and offer us the option to pay for our land lease in the form of work exchange from our community members.

For our programs to make sense, you need to value the lifestyle and personal / professional development provided by the Kulaniapia Community Project at about $2000 per month, when you consider that it includes housing, food and education. If you do not value your experience in this way, there is a good chance this program will not feel like a good fit.

A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available to Apprentices that have 2+ years of relevant work experience, and we occasionally make considerations for those with challenging upbringings, and/or who are members of an under represented group.

Scholarships are awarded based both on the merit of applications, and our particular needs at the time.

It is possible that even if you have relevant experience, if we already have someone with that experience under scholarship, we may not be able to allocate another.

Scholarships are funded in multiple ways, but these include our program fees and contributions from our partners that enable us financially.

Community members (Apprentices and Fellows) live in private off-grid cabins, surrounding our communal barn or harvest house. While these cabins do not have plumbing or electricity, they do have a solar powered battery so you can use LED lights and charge your phone. These cabins are typically just a few hundred feet away from communal bathrooms, showers, etc.

Farm Stay particpants live in shared cabins with bunk beds, surrounding our havest house, on the farm.

Farm Stay participants stay in shared cabins with bunk beds, whereas community members (Apprentices and Fellows) have more comfortable private living spaces, whether in a standalone cabin, or private room in a cabin.

This is one of the things your program fees and/or membership dues enable.

We provide simple vegetarian food including staples (think bulk section of natural food store) and produce, eggs, etc. from our farm. Since you will help grow this food, we have found that makes it particularly nourishing and delicious!

Please note, most community members supplement what we provide, whether that be with meat, or specialty items they enjoy. If you do not have another source of income, or a large savings account, you may be eligible for food assistance from the state, and we will help you apply, if you are part of our Apprentice or Fellow program.

Community members and farm stay participants, regardless of their program, are expected to contribute 25-30 hours per week. This will generally take the form of 5x five hour shifts, although sometimes a day goes over a bit, or we get rained out, and need to make one up. Fellows typically work 3x eight hour shifts so they have time to spend two days a week working in a paid capicity.

These shifts may be allocated among farming, construction, grounds maintenance, community operations, and supporting partners that enable us financially.

Common shifts include: farm work, manual labor / construction, making breakfast for guests, housekeeping, cooking classes, farm tours and hosting / welcoming guests.

For Apprentices, we make a point to teach each community member how to perform each of the tasks that make our community work. What that means is you will see big burly boys cleaning rooms, and itty bitty girls swinging hammers, along with every task and gender identity in-between.

Once you have learned how to do all the things, and if you both excel and and have a preference for certain types of shifts, we will of course take that into consideration when making the weekly schedule. However, it is important to remember that we can’t always accommodate every preference, and some weeks are just tough.

Fellows will typically spend more of their time working on their track, whether that be with one of our partners, of community operations.

Farm Stay particpants will typically focus more on farming and construction.

We are just about 10-15 minutes away from Hilo, Hawaii.

While Farm Stay paricipants do not have vehicle privileges, Community Members (Apprentices and Fellows) in good standing, with a valid drivers license and 5 years driving experience, are able to checkout vehicles. There is a fee when this is for personal use, but not when used communally, such as group trips to the store, or weekend adventures open to anyone.

Each community member who checks out a vehicle is financially responsible for that vehicle until returned, and this is one of the reasons a $500 deposit is required to join our community.

Hosting guests is a big part of what makes our lifestyle and community sustainable. Our common areas are all shared with guests that stay in our off-grid cabins, and in turn, this provides a major source of income for our community.

This means that our common areas must always be kept clean, to a hospitality standard. If you have every lived with roommates, you will appreciate how nice this is for everyone involved.

Farm Stay participants do not have access to common areas shared with guests, except for community events like potlucks, etc.

Our community is alcohol free. While our guests may choose to drink in common areas, we do not join them. We also do not allow drinking in private on the farm. Community members that are of age are welcome to enjoy a drink at a restaurant or a beer on the beach. We do not have anything against responsible alcohol use, but have found that it is one of the easiest substances to abuse, and do not prefer to have it in our home space.

If you found us through WWOOF, applying as a Farm Stay participant will look most similar to other WWOOF opportunities.

If you you would like to stay for longer, we encourage you to apply as an Apprentice of Fellow, as our community programs offer many benefits beyond what is typical for a WWOOF program.

One thing that is different from WWOOF is that you will help out with tasks that are not strictly farming related.

Another thing that is different from WWOOF is that you may have the opportunity to earn extra money, after your community hours.

Overall, we have had great experiences welcoming community members that have found us through WWOOF, both with Farm Stays and as Apprentices and Fellows.