Partner with Us:  A Vision for Cultural Connection

At Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (HMH), we believe that strong communities are built through shared purpose — and we are looking for like-minded organizations to grow with us.

Our Volunteer Exchange Program is simple and mutually rewarding: HMH volunteers show up for your mission, lending their time and energy to your community projects and events. In return, your volunteers are invited to HMH for a complimentary one-hour guided tour of our National Historic Landmark in the heart of downtown Honolulu’s Historic Capital district.

During their visit, your team will step inside Hawaiʻi’s oldest Western-style structures — including the 1821 Mission House and the 1831 Chamberlain House — and explore the complex, layered history of these islands: the relationships between the American Protestant Missionaries, their descendants, and the people and cultures of Hawaiʻi, and how that history connects to contemporary life today. With over 80,000 digital archival pieces and one of the largest collections of Hawaiian language books in the world, HMH offers an experience that is both deeply local and globally significant.

The program creates meaningful cross-cultural learning opportunities — volunteers gain deeper appreciation for Hawaiʻi’s diverse cultural institutions and their interconnected histories, develop new skills from different organizational contexts, and return to their home organizations with fresh insights and renewed enthusiasm. Most importantly, it strengthens the bonds between the cultural institutions that collectively tell the story of these islands.

We are proud to have partnered with some of Oʻahu’s most distinguished organizations, including the Mānoa Heritage Center, the Waikīkī Aquarium, the Judiciary History Center, and the Honolulu Museum of Art — each exchange offering volunteers a unique window into Hawaiʻi’s natural, civic, artistic, and cultural heritage. Our most recent collaboration brought HMH volunteers to the Kuliouou Ridge Trail alongside the Aloha Tree Alliance, in the spirit of Mahina Lāʻau Hawaiʻi — Native Hawaiian Plant Month.

HMH welcomes volunteers of all ages and backgrounds — from schools and colleges to kūpuna and everyone in between. Whether your organization is rooted in conservation, education, the arts, or civic life, if you are passionate about Hawaiʻi’s people, land, and future, we would love to explore how we can support each other.

Let’s build something meaningful together.

For more information about volunteer opportunities at Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, contact Matt McConnell at schoolprograms@missionhouses.org or (808) 447-3918.