David Breese thought he was doing the community a favor when he began working part time as one of the only dentists in Kalihi Valley.

Thirty-three years later — and still a dentist at Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services — he said he’s the one who received a favor.

"Coming into Kalihi Valley, you know, not knowing anybody, these people became my family," said Breese, the longest-practicing dentist at the nonprofit health care organization, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new facility on School Street.

The new Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Wellness Center, in the former P&P Superfoods building across the street from Kokua Kalihi Valley’s Charles Judd Community Health Center, doubles the center’s dental care capacity to 12 exam rooms from the six that were housed in the neighboring health center. Those six rooms will soon be converted to additional medical exam rooms.

The 16,500-square-foot facility also features a pharmacy, an eye clinic, spaces for health and wellness education, vocational training facilities, including a commercial kitchen, and a showcase space dubbed the Wai­wai Room where Kokua Kalihi Valley program participants can sell handmade crafts.

Since it opened in a studio apartment at Kalihi Valley Homes 40 years ago, the center has been focused on holistic health and meeting the needs of a diverse community. The center’s work in the valley includes mental health services, youth outreach, organic farming, a mobile dentistry unit that goes to schools, an Elder Center on Gulick Avenue, and many other programs.

"It is a center for community health because KKV has not only treated the wounds of the community, but also empowered the community to seek their own medicine appropriate to the culture of the person and the community," said Jeffrey Acido, a center patient and Ph.D. student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Education.

Merina Sapolu, a staff member for the past 37 years, recalled during the ceremony her first day as a volunteer after being recruited by then-Executive Director and co-founder Jory Watland, who happened to be her landlord.

"Where is KKV?" she remembered thinking when she arrived to find two World War II military surplus trailers in the Kalihi Baptist Church parking lot. "The first day I was told, ‘OK, assist the doctor.’ My background was teaching — I had never assisted a dentist!"

"It wasn’t my last day because I loved it," Sapolu continued. "I kept coming back and coming back till finally they had some money to hire me."

The center bought the P&P building in the mid-’90s, Watland said. When he went to the federal government to ask for funds to turn it into a clinic, he was told the government would frown upon closing down the community’s main grocery store.

Plans were put on hold, and the property across the street, a former gas station, was bought instead. That property, about half of the size of the P&P building, became the Charles Judd Community Health Center.

Kokua Kalihi Valley’s current executive director, Dr. David Derauf, said during the ceremony that there is a strong connection between what the P&P store started doing for the community roughly 60 years ago and what the health center will do now.

"(It was) a place that provided the community with not only food, but a chance to meet your neighbor. And for jobs, especially for young people in the community," he said. "Food, jobs, a place to get to know your neighbors are surely no less important today than they were 60 years ago. And so today, after seven long years of planning, fundraising and construction, we come together to once again open these doors to the community."

State Rep. John Mizuno, along with state Sens. Suzanne Chun-Oakland and Donna Mercado Kim, attended the ceremony to congratulate Kokua Kalihi Valley for its 40 years of service.

"Going to Farrington High School and having to work, I was fortunate enough to get a job right here at P&P Superfoods," Kim said. "As a cashier, I got to see the community and support them in what they were doing. Just to see the neighborhood that I grew up in that has really blossomed into this community center, this health and wellness center, is very, very important to me and to my family and to everyone that I represent."

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Ino­uye also attended the festivities. His office has worked for many years to get federal funds for Kokua Kalihi Valley facilities.

"More important than financial donors are people like you, volunteers, staff members — that makes the difference," he told the audience. "You have really given me much spirit this morning. … I never thought I was going to be this entertained. But seriously, what you’re doing is God’s work, and you are helping thousands of people. What we do in providing money is nothing compared to what you do."

Derauf, who has been involved with Kokua Kalihi Valley for 20 years, said his 170 staff members work hard to keep the center connected to its humble beginning.

"We’ve grown a lot," he said. "But the most important thing, in that regard, is we haven’t lost our essence of who we are. When we were working out of rusty old trailers, or whether we’re working out of a state-of-the-art facility like this, we’re the same people. And our love for this community and our joy of working together with one another is the same as it was 40 years ago."