CVS Health on Wednesday announced an investment of almost $35 million for affordable housing developments in Kapolei and Lahaina.

The contributions will go toward construction of new affordable housing units, which has already begun, as well as the development of new early childhood education options for residents in the new communities and their surrounding areas.

“CVS has been a trusted partner and trusted health partner for every resident living in Hawaii,” Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said at a news conference Wednesday. “I’m just so thankful for the investment that CVS has made to ensure that people in the state of Hawaii have housing and child care needs, not just for the current, present time, but for the future.”

CVS Health’s latest investment brings the company’s total stake in affordable housing across Hawaii to a total of $62.2 million, a commitment Scott Sutton, regional director of CVS Health, said is because the company recognizes the connection between health and access to housing.

“We know that providing housing for our communities and our families here in Hawaii is very, very important, and will help them with dealing with their often chronic health conditions,” Sutton said. “That’s why we’re committed to addressing the housing insecurities both in the state of Hawaii and around the country, and also other social detriments in the community.”

CVS Health invested $17.3 million with The Kobayashi Group, The Ahe Group and CREA LLC, to build 169 affordable housing units at Parkway Village in Kapolei.

The Parkway Village project, which CVS Health’s investment will fund half of, will bring over 400 rentals, span 10 acres, and will focus on helping community members at between 30% and 60% of the area median income. The majority of the homes and rentals being built will be two-, three- and four-bedroom units, and will be “high quality,” with energy-saving appliances in the homes and green open space, walking paths and benches throughout the community.

Residents will begin moving in at the end of 2024, and the project is expected to be completed by the late summer of 2025.

CVS Health also invested $17.5 million with Urban Housing Communities, Ikaika Ohana and Hunt Capital Partners to build 200 affordable housing rental units at Kaiaulu o Kukuia in Lahaina. The community will target residents living at or below the 60% area median income, Hunt Capital Partners Executive Vice President Steve Colon said.

Construction on Kaiaulu o Kukuia began in July 2022 and was 35% completed when the August wildfires hit. Colon said that none of the buildings were seriously damaged, and that building resumed within two months. Homes are expected to be delivered to 138 residents in December, and the remaining delivered in the next four to five months after that.

The Kaiaulu o Kukuia project is the first permanent rental housing project to be built in Lahaina since the wildfires.

Another of Hunt Capital Partners’ housing projects in Lahaina, Kaiaulu o Kupuohi, which opened in December 2022, was destroyed in the wildfires. While all of the residents were evacuated safely, affordable housing is “a crucial need that must be addressed immediately,” said Jessica Lee Bal- Feliciano, the area manager and property manager of Kaiaulu o Kupuohi.

“Our culture could never have imagined enduring such a catastrophic event,” Bal-Feliciano said. “Private and public partnerships, such as our partnership with CVS, are essential to further betterment of our underserved communities, and for preserving our culture for generations to come.”

CVS Health also gave $450,000 to nonprofit organizations providing direct relief to Maui wildfire survivors, including the Hawaii Community Foundation, the American Red Cross and World Central Kitchen. The company also provided daily pharmaceutical deliveries to three community shelters, as well as ran a donation clinic to provide preventative care items to survivors.

But in addition to the construction of new homes, the projects in both Kapolei and Lahaina have a component of increasing access to early childhood education for residents.

According to Alana Kobayashi Pakkala, manager and executive vice president of The Kobayashi Group, the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) Report illuminated a need for early childhood education statewide, but especially on the West side of Oahu. Koba­yashi Pakkala said that on the West side, there is only “one licensed preschool seat for every 48 preschool aged child.”

“Early education is a component of the social determinants of long-term health, and a really important piece of the total solution to the crisis that our families are facing,” Kobayashi Pakkala said.

The Parkway Village project will bring an integrated preschool into its community that will exclusively serve its residents. Additionally, through a partnership with Kamehameha Schools, four public preschool classrooms will be developed for the broader Kapolei community.

In Lahaina, Kaiaulu o Kukuia was selected as Hawaii’s first site that the Bezos Academy, a network of tuition-free Montessori preschools, will develop a preschool at. The preschool will serve 40 children, and will provide three meals to each child that attends.

“This project is very, very exciting for us. We know how much it’s needed in Lahaina,” Colon said. “We thank the cooperation and the collaboration that we’ve been able to get from the various agencies involved in the rebuilding effort.”

The development of the preschools aligns with Luke’s Ready Keiki initiative, launched in January 2023, which aims to create universal access to preschool statewide.

Luke said that the combination of creating affordable housing and prioritizing early childhood education is a shift from how the state previously approached solving these issues, which she said was previously viewed “in silos.”

“It is a paradigm shift for the state of Hawaii, recognizing that working families don’t work in silos. They need all these things,” Luke said. “The important thing is it’s a partnership, and when we talk about what the state of Hawaii needs, it takes all of us.”

Residents of the new Parkway Village and Kaiaulu o Kukuia communities will also have access to educational and employment opportunities at two new career skills labs created through CVS Health in partnership with the University of Hawaii Maui College and Hawaii Job Corps, where participants will be trained in pharmacy technician skills.

“We must work together to find innovative solutions to this issue, and prioritize the needs of those who are most vulnerable. By doing so, we can create more of an equitable society and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to thrive,” Bal-Feliciano said.