On Saturday, Civil Beat writers will be accepting awards from two local organizations for stories and editorials we’ve done this year that have helped focus attention on important community issues.

The growing homeless population on Oahu has received a lot of media attention this past year. But the Chinatown Business & Community Association decided to honor Civil Beat with its media award. It’s one of five the group will present at its seventh annual awards dinner Saturday night to people and organizations that align with its mission of improving conditions and the quality of life in Chinatown.

According to the group’s Facebook page, other honorees include Honolulu City Council Chair Ernie Martin, for help getting funding for public toilets, homeless shelters and Housing First projects and for help getting approval for a senior housing project; Yuk Pang Law, for 46 years of advocating for and helping educate immigrants; Sen. Will Espero, for his work on public safety including police commission reform and better police leadership and transparency, and Lee Stack, a Chinatown business owner for her efforts to preserve and restore many Chinatown buildings and community beautification efforts.

Civil Beat is being honored for “unbiased reporting on our Chinatown issues highlighting awareness and summoning help from politicians (and) corporations, nonprofits and the community at large.”

The Chinatown Business Community Association was founded in 2009 by business owners and residents.

Earlier in the day, Civil Beat Opinion Editor Todd Simmons will be at a luncheon for the Hawaii Psychological Association. He has been honored with the HPA’s 2016 Media Award “in recognition of exceptional reporting on behavioral health issues of critical importance to the people of Hawaii.”

Todd led Civil Beat’s editorial board in supporting legislation that would have given highly trained and educated psychologists the authority to wrote prescriptions. The measure was pushed in part because of the dramatic shortage of psychiatrists in the state.

Todd also spearheaded editorials on medical aid in dying, another issue of interest to the association.

Civil Beat has received a number of national awards this year, primarily from journalism organizations that liked our stories on the homeless, on Hawaii’s prisons and on Micronesian immigrants.

But nothing matters more to us than helping people understand our local community and giving them the information they need to make Hawaii a better place. We’re thrilled that our journalistic efforts are resonating with local organizations that are doing important work.