Emily Llewellyn hopes to own a home one day, but the 35-year-old acknowledges that she has a long way to go to make that goal a reality.

She says she was abused as a child and turned to drugs and the streets as a way to cope with her pain. After seeking help at Women’s Way, a residential and outpatient treatment facility in Kaimuki for women and children, she and her family landed in a studio unit at Ulu Ke Kukui transitional housing in Maili for about a year and a half.

Llewellyn, her partner and 2-year-old daughter, Embrace, were the first family to move into the city’s modular housing units for the homeless in Waianae last month, marking the first time Llewellyn has ever signed a lease. Another family — a mother and two kids who were living at Maili Land Transitional Housing — also moved in last month. Officials hope tenants will be chosen and settle into a third unit compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act later this month.

“I used to use drugs as a coping mechanism,” Llewellyn said. “(But) today there’s better ways to deal with things that come up in your life other than abusing drugs.”

She said she persuaded her partner, Brandon Abregano, who was living in a tent near the Kapalama Canal for about four years, to seek medical treatment and a better living situation. The pair say they have been sober for about two years.

“This is an awesome opportunity that they’ve given to people like us,” Llewellyn said. “We hope to see more of something like this for other people who want it.”

The city unveiled the three 500-square-foot modulars — a one-bedroom unit and two two-bedroom units — on the 7,500-square-foot Halona Road lot in October to much fanfare. Mayor Kirk Caldwell said in a statement that the units are “the latest example of our efforts to create immediate housing opportunities in neighborhoods where people are experiencing homelessness.”

The project is not considered an emergency or transitional shelter and is geared toward working homeless individuals and homeless families with children. The city-owned property had once housed a dilapidated structure formerly used for recovering substance abusers.

Monthly rent costs $1,050 plus utilities for the two-bedroom units and $950 plus utilities for the one-bedroom. Tenants who pay their bills on time should get $125 per month reimbursed when they move out. There is no limit on how long tenants can stay and families will be offered help in finding long-term housing, officials said. The units, which cost the city about $109,000 each, are equipped with bathrooms and kitchens.

Llewellyn, who works at Safeway, said her family is part of a rental assistance program where 30 percent of their income goes to paying rent. She said they hope to fix their credit and save money to work toward homeownership.

Kealahou West Oahu, a nonprofit that services unsheltered, sheltered and at-risk homeless families, was chosen by the city to manage the property and help with case management services, such as finance management and workforce development. Similar to an agreement at the city’s Pauahi Hale in Chinatown, which is operated by Mental Health Kokua, the city allowed Kealahou to use the Halona Road facilities in return for managing the property and offering services. Shellz Ohana Realty LLC assisted in selecting tenants.

Tenants were initially slated to move in at the beginning of November but the property management agreement took longer to finalize than expected, said Jay Parasco, the city’s homeless initiatives coordinator.

Polu Toa, Kealahou’s program director, said seven applications were initially received and that interviews were conducted as part of the review process. She said tenants were chosen based on who could afford to live in the units and preference was given to Leeward Coast families.

“The goal is to get them to homeownership,” Toa said. “This is the best opportunity for them so that they can save up (and) build their credit so that they can get some kind of loan or financial assistance so they can afford their own place.”

The project ran into opposition in 2015 at a Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board meeting, where several area residents contended that the location was not the right fit and questioned how the project would impact property values and whether tenants would be screened and monitored.

After the city unveiled the modulars in October, other residents raised concerns about the affordability of the units. But some neighbors had supported the project, saying the property looked better since crews cleared the lot and installed the units and that homeless individuals need a place to live.

“I think for the most part a lot of them (residents) were skeptical about how it would turn out. I know for myself I was concerned about what the finished product would look like,” said Marc Pa‘aluhi, neighborhood board chairman. “But I liked how it turned out. It’s cost-efficient and practical.”