New affordable housing honors patients’ legacy

Hawaii families with low incomes recently began to benefit from the legacy of Hansen’s disease patients and their friends who boldly but unsuccessfully tried to save their sanctuary in Pearl City more than 30 years ago.

The newest affordable apartment building on the site of Hale Mohalu was dedicated in a ceremony Tuesday.

The 84-unit building, which is named after two of Hale Mohalu’s last holdout residents, Frank and Mary Duarte, is being rented to low-income families who were selected in a lottery that attracted nearly 800 applicants.

A temporary sign hangs on the seven-story structure identifying it as the Frank and Mary Duarte Building until a permanent nameplate is made. But on Tuesday there were many more vivid reminders of the Duartes and others who lost the struggle to save Hale Mohalu but helped produce homes for others.

Wally Inglis, a former priest and friend of Hale Mohalu residents who formed the nonprofit Coalition for Specialized Housing to build affordable homes on the site, read excerpts from a book about Hale Mohalu, shared photos of the Duartes and displayed painted protest banners from the 1978-83 standoff.

"Here’s a picture of Mary," Inglis said, holding up a poster-size photo of Mary gripping a sign that read, "We will not be moved." "It says a lot about Mary’s spirit."

Mary Duarte died in 1980 in the midst of the protest, which started two years before when the state announced that it would close Hale Mohalu, which means "house of comfort," after letting it fall into disrepair.

The residential treatment facility for the disease also called leprosy was down to 13 occupants from a high of around 100, but some refused the state’s offer of relocation to Kalau­papa on Molo­kai or to the more institutional Leahi Hospital on Oahu.

Those opposed considered Hale Mohalu their home or sanctuary.

The state responded by cutting off services including water, electricity and medical care — moves viewed by some as another indignity toward patients who had long suffered at the hands of the government. Friends and volunteers including Inglis helped support the resistance.

David Gierlach, a priest who came to Hawaii in 1981 from New York and was invited to Hale Mohalu by a cousin, recalled pickets at the Legislature, fasts in front of the Father Damien statue at the state Capitol and luau at Hale Mohalu.

A 1983 federal appellate court decision against Hale Mohalu holdouts led to a pre-dawn raid by state enforcement officers who arrested 18 residents and supporters, some of whom were carried out in handcuffs. Bulldozers quickly followed.

At the time, state officials said they had no plans for the 11-acre property. A year later, however, the state approved a proposal for a sports complex on the site. Former Hale Mohalu residents argued that housing for seniors was more appropriate, and they rallied support for that vision.

With help from a lawsuit by the Hawaii Council of Churches, the Coalition for Specialized Housing was granted a lease for the state land, and in 1996 opened an initial 210-unit phase with the Hale Mohalu name. The phase was reserved for seniors, including those with disabilities.

A second phase comprising four seven-story buildings each with 84 units and generally referred to as Hale Mohalu II is now nearing completion. Two of those buildings, which are reserved for seniors, opened in 2013 and are named after Bernard Puni­kai‘a and Clarence Naia, two Hansen’s patients forcibly removed from Hale Mohalu.

The Frank and Mary Duarte Building is for families who earn no more than 60 percent of the annual median income for Hono­lulu. The limit equates to $57,480 for a family of four.

Monthly rent for two-bedroom units with about 600 square feet of living space is $445 to $886. Three-bedroom units with 750 square feet of living space rent for $1,258.

The final building, also for low-income families, is under construction and slated for completion by the end of the year. A name for this building has not yet been decided.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell called the effort to build the new Hale Mohalu homes — which involved state, city and federal assistance — as making amends for "past transgressions."

"By coming together … this is a better place, a more pono place, once again," he said.

The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., a state agency facilitating affordable-housing development, awarded about $145 million in loans, revenue bonds and federal and state tax credits for the second phase. The city awarded $7.5 million in federal grant money. Private lender financing also was obtained.

Gierlach considers the new Hale Mohalu homes a blessing that poured out of the eviction he and others couldn’t stop.

"These buildings and the people they serve are exactly what our friends had in mind," he said at the dedication. "I got to tell you, in my wildest dreams I never really thought we would be here today. It’s wonderful to see this like it is today."

Nancy Brede, a 92-year-old Kalau­papa resident who was sent there in 1936 when she was 13 but visited Hale Mohalu many times for medical attention, said affordable housing is a fitting tribute to former residents. "I think it’s great we have something like this," she said.

Tony Duarte, a nephew of Frank and Mary Duarte, was another guest at the dedication, which was held 25 years to the day of his uncle’s death on March 17, 1990. He said naming the building after his uncle and aunt was a nice honor. "It’s beautiful," he said.