Hawaiian Hope

The sight of a homeless woman sleeping on a park bench at 4 a.m. next to the Waikiki police station was an epiphany for Curtis Kropar.

"I was instantly infuriated to think that this was the best option she's got," he said of the experience a few years ago. "I seriously could not tell the difference between her and my mother in Pennsylvania. She had the same build and same poufy hairstyle."

The woman's plight so disturbed Kropar, a highly paid computer programmer at the time, that he grew determined to help people like her improve their circumstances. He quit his job and founded Hawaiian Hope, a nonprofit technology-based company in Kalihi that views computers as a key to success.

"People that are struggling to get food to eat are not going to spend $300 to $1,000 on a computer," he said. "It's phenomenal what we've done in the last year. Dozens and dozens of computers were given away for free to people who have never owned a computer before."

On the receiving end have been charitable agencies and shelters.

"Hawaiian Hope is bringing technology to the people ... bringing hope into Hawaii," said Kropar, noting that computers make functioning easier in today's society.

In a job search they are increasingly necessary: More than a third of the 100 private and government employers his volunteers surveyed this year take job applications online only.