River of Life Mission to relocate Chinatown food distribution program, but timeline for move is unclear

River of Life Mission has agreed to move its free-meal program away from its Chinatown location after 35 years of operation.

The Christian mission serves about 1,000 meals a day to those in need but has often clashed with Chinatown residents and business owners who say it attracts homeless people to the area.

Under an agreement with the city announced Thursday, the nonprofit’s meal distribution program will be dispersed across the island to what River of Life Mission Board President Rann Watumull called hubs.

The mission also plans to work with Partners in Care and other groups to provide social services and psychiatric care at the hubs.

“We could coordinate and deliver services in addition to just food,” Watumull said.

“Identifying locations that have the least impact on communities, maximum impact to those that are receiving the services — that all goes into the decision on the types of locations that would be suitable.”

River of Life’s administrative offices and retail chocolate shop will remain at the corner of Maunakea and North Pauahi streets. Its food box program where kupuna can sign up to pick up a box of food to prepare at home also will continue at the Chinatown location, but there are plans to turn it into a delivery service.

No city funds will be used to pay for the mission to relocate some of its operations. There is no concrete timeline for when the move to disperse meal distribution will happen.

“We had hoped to have a defined date. … We want to have this happen sooner rather than later,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “We’re trying to do this as humanely as possible but as efficiently as possible. It’s our intention to have River of Life move out of Chinatown.”

River of Life Mission Executive Director Paul Gates said the organization is procuring vans to provide mobile services to the new hubs and that it will likely take a few months to transition the operation.

“I would like people to understand the compassion and the heart that has gone into River of Life Mission for so many years. This is a major change for us, but we are trying to be good neighbor. And we’re trying to honor government and work together,” he said.

“We’re making radical efforts to do that, we’re going to spend a lot of money to do this. … We’re going to need support, we’re going to need prayer and we’re going to need volunteers.”

Hub locations will need to be away from schools, not in residential areas and not in parks, Gates explained.

He directed anyone interested in volunteering with River of Life Mission to visit its website at riveroflife mission.org.

Downtown-Chinatown Neighborhood Board members celebrated the agreement, citing it as a crucial step to revitalizing the area.

“I’m very appreciative for what they’ve done and how they’ve helped all those that needed to be helped. … They’ve done a great job,” said board member Ernest Caravalho.

“But Chinatown has taken the brunt of all this houseless; they all come from all over to our area. And so it’s time now that we give Chinatown time to breathe and rebirth itself.”

Neighborhood Board member Robert Armstrong said he wanted to see more specifics on the timeline for when the move would happen.

“I have no doubt that logistically this is a big deal. But I will say, as a member of the community, that talk can be cheap,” he said.

“We certainly get a lot of talk from officials, whether they’re in the state House or City Hall, and what we need is concrete action and a bottom line here on this agreement.”

Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, president of the Chinatown Business and Community Association, emphasized that she did not object to the organization’s mission of giving food to those in need but thought that there needed to be more effort put into sanitation once the meals are distributed.

“They just give them the food, and they go everywhere to make more mess. That’s why it came to a head,” she said.

“Then everybody’s got to pick up all these people’s trash.”

Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm was optimistic the move would help decrease criminal activity in Chinatown.

“River of Life’s move is a positive development for Chinatown,” he said in an emailed statement.

“We’ve been very happy working with HPD, the City, residents, and businesses to help make Weed and Seed a success and this development will aid our efforts.”

The Weed and Seed program aims to “weed” out crime and then “seed” community resources and initiatives in a specific area. So far, the Chinatown program has resulted in 56 misdemeanor and 116 felony charges.

Former Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced in December 2020 that River of Life Mission would be relocated to the city’s Resource Center at Sumner Street and Iwilei Road to add to the cluster of service providers in the area. However, that will no longer happen, and the city has put out a request for proposals for providers who want to use the space.