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How did Kealahou West Oahu (KWO) get started as a nonprofit working on behalf of the homeless? What particular gap in services is it trying to fill?
KWO is a nonprofit organization that has provided homeless outreach services to the unsheltered and at-risk populations on the Leeward Coast of Oahu for over 33 years. KWO also manages two homeless shelters and successfully launched the Halona project.
In homelessness there is really not a particular gap of services that is not being provided by KWO or any other organization. Generally speaking, KWO goals are to provide comprehensive services to individuals and families so they may become self-sufficient and stop the revolving door of recidivism among homeless.
How do the needs in West Oahu, your base of operations, compare with other neighborhoods on the island?
All neighborhoods around Oahu are faced with homelessness issues that depend on the clients and their needs. Differences occur from urban to more rural areas in that the needs and how they act may be a bit different, but all have some trauma that lead them to become homeless and exhibit the various behaviors that we see, i.e., drug/substance abuse, domestic violence, not wanting to engage with others, resisting any change that makes them uncomfortable.
These are just some of the various behaviors that need to be discerned to be able to even attempt to help them move from their current comfort level of being homeless.
What is the approach taken at the two Kapolei facilities, helping clients progress from the emergency shelter to the transitional shelter?
I love our emergency and transitional shelter program approaches on finding solutions. That’s why I’ve stayed with this organization for so long. We know that the participants of our programs, they sometimes have unhealthy behaviors.
We’re not going to judge them on those unhealthy behaviors. We’re going to give them the time and opportunity to make healthier decisions and choices — with us encouraging them on lifestyles changes, and some take longer than others. But to me, there’s no timeline in changing behaviors. There really isn’t!
Kealahou also has worked on the city’s Halona Road project, with permanent affordable modular units. How is that going?
The Halona Project served a total of three households, who were all participants from the project’s inception. Although each household had their own challenges in retaining their home, with supportive guidance from KWO, all households demonstrated improvements in tenant behaviors.
All three tenants are taking advantage of community resources and using programs such as financial literacy to pay down their debts and improve their credit scores with the vision of becoming homeowners.
The management of this project was returned to the City and County of Honolulu on May 31, 2018. The project objective was to stop the revolving door of recidivism among homeless tenants along the Leeward Coast of Oahu.
What do you wish people would understand better about the homelessness issue?
The need for affordable housing is apparent and at the top of everyone’s minds.
Creating truly affordable housing for residents of all income levels can help solve some of Hawaii’s biggest problems our community faces today, including homelessness and high cost of living. There is no doubt that the state of Hawaii is experiencing a housing crisis which impacts the homeless crisis.
As housing and services providers, we can house many program participants throughout the year; at the same time more are entering homelessness and each individual’s story is so complex as to why they became homeless, or became homeless again.
Bonus question
What does success mean for you in this work?
What success in homelessness means to me? Providing a program participant with the tools they need to close the revolving door of recidivism among their ohana.
Tools, meaning community resources, reaching out to support systems as needed, truly providing a person with the skills to make healthier life choices, regardless how big the climb may be.
THE BIO FILE
>> Title: Executive director, Kealahou West Oahu.
>> Professional history: More than 19 years at Kealahou, starting as a college student intern, case manager, supervisor and program director before taking the current post in 2014. Now in contractual execution for the city’s newest project, called Kauhale Kahana Project, a housing project for those earning up to 60% of Oahu’s area median income.
>> Educational history: Graduate of Waianae High School; associate’s degree in human services at Kapiolani Community College.
>> Family: Born and raised on the Waianae Coast; six children, ages 24, 23, 21, 18 and 17-year-old twins; one granddaughter.
>> Community history: Kapolei Pony Baseball volunteer, member of Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board, Agriculture Farming Committee and Waianae Community Committee. Current chair of the Leeward Housing Coalition, which deals with housing and homeless issues along the Leeward Coast.
>> One more thing: I went to KCC, human services. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to give back what was given to me freely when I needed it … At one point in my life, I was homeless, but I didn’t know about any of these programs. … I had outreach workers that came up to me when we were out there. … I’ve been through the system, and I got out. I got out by trusting those guys God placed in my life. Honestly, all it took was a bunch of strangers to come in my life and guide me the way I needed to, that led me to where I am today.
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