Young adults who have lived on the street and are trying to kick a substance use disorder have found a place to call home for now at the newly opened ‘Apapane, the first clean-and-sober house established by Residential Youth Services & Empowerment.

‘Apapane, which is in Kalihi, is the latest of several transitional housing projects RYSE has set up on Oahu to offer low rent and comprehensive support to homeless youth ages 18 to 24. It opened in August.

The nonprofit RYSE organization started in 2018 as an emergency access center that still offers daily assistance to ages 14 to 24, one of a handful of programs at the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center in Kailua.

Executive Director Carla Houser said RYSE soon expanded its focus in 2019 to provide long-term affordable shelter and other services with a housing project in Haleiwa. In addition to low rent, clients receive assistance to find employment, further their education and obtain professional counseling to change their lives for the better.

“We want to be able to provide a healthy resource where they can come to feel supported and start to heal from the life of trauma that they’ve had,” Houser said. The trauma can include substance addiction and mental health disabilities.

“Many are suffering from generational homelessness, and generational and cultural trauma, especially our Native Hawaiian youth,” she said.

RYSE also provides desperately needed housing for those who are aging out of the foster care system and simply cannot afford housing in Hawaii, especially on minimum wage, without a network of support, she said.

Kanoeleihua Murakoshi, 22, who has lived for two months in the Kalihi sober house with eight other youth, said, “It’s been really good, I feel a whole lot better. It feels like somebody’s got my back.”

Her adjustment to house rules has been smooth: “I have my own room, food, and know people who I knew before. … Everyone who works here is really cool.” She said the staff is nonjudgmental.

“If I make a mistake, they help us through, we find our way,” Murakoshi said.

Alicia Marie Lader, ‘Apapane’s site coordinator, said, “All the youth that I see come in here with a big drive and a big passion; they have a lot they want to accomplish, and so I see that kind of grow when they’re with the program.” As they become involved in the education and employment opportunities RYSE provides, she said, the residents seem to become more engaged.

“They want someone to believe in them and to know that someone’s there for them and to be seen,” Lader said. “They all are great kids, and they all have great drive and desire to do some great things in life.”

Murakoshi said her goals are to “finish my GED at RYSE, stay clean and sober, find a job. … (Eventually) I want my own house, car and family.”

While she said she’ll probably end up working in retail, “when I was little I had big dreams and stuff. … I wanted to be a firefighter.” She also dreamed of working for National Geographic because she loves being around nature.

“I like the way it (nature) looks and being outside. I used to help care for my grandparents’ yard — there was a mango, plumeria tree and some other things. I had my own papaya tree when I was little. (Outdoors) I just feel free and feel so relaxed and calm,” Murakoshi said.

‘Apapane encompasses six bedrooms, two kitchens, two living rooms and four bathrooms, with a maximum capacity of six clients. The clients can stay at the sober house for up to one year or until the age of 25, whichever comes first. After the first six months rent-free, they pay $400 a month for rent for one year, with a possible stipend.

Houser said RYSE sheltered 122 youth on Oahu in 2023 and has a waiting list of 31. Everyone has been referred by its emergency access center, where the nearest bus stop is a mile away.

“They are incredibly resilient — for them to show up in Kailua (at the center), which is not an easy feat, and to come in and say, ‘Hey, I am ready.’”

A key policy is not to evict clients if they break shelter rules or make mistakes as they adjust to recovery and changing the path of their lives.

“Rather than kick young people back out, which many of them have experienced in their life — they don’t follow rules, they get kicked out — we tend to approach this work in a more nurturing (way),” Houser said, as RYSE regards failure as a part of their learning process.

The 2023 Point-in-Time Homeless Count recorded 130 homeless youth, ages 18-24, only on a given day, and the count does not reflect the entire total of youth living on the street. In 2020 there were 271 homeless youth. This indicates a decrease in the past few years, thanks to organizations like RYSE, which works in partnership with state and federal housing agencies and other nonprofits, she said.

But there is an unrelenting need for more, and RYSE plans to open two more housing projects in Waianae by the end of the year.

“Our goal is to make housing really, truly affordable so that young people have time to get on a path to either healing from mental health and trauma or a path to making a living wage, career, and finish their education,” Houser said.

The true benefit of providing low rent is to keep young people from leaving the state to live on the mainland where it’s more affordable.

“It’s painful because when our young people leave, their culture and language leave, and that’s not the Hawaii I want to live in. Making sure that we are providing a space to keep our children who are from here and born here, that’s something that’s deeply our kuleana,” she said.

Residential Youth Services & Empowerment

>> Information: 808-498-5180, rysehawaii.org

>> Crisis outreach line: Available 24/7 for housing emergencies; call or text 808-861-6606