$16.5M Waianae shelter is ready
The state is moving forward on three new homeless shelters that have been under construction, with the first scheduled to open next week.
Barring any last-minute hitches, the long-awaited Kahikolu Ohana Hale O Waianae is expected to start receiving residents on Monday, said Russ K. Saito, state comptroller and homeless solutions coordinator.
The Waianae shelter, a $16.5 million project in the works by the Hawaii Coalition of Christian Churches, should offer both emergency and transitional housing for up to 250 homeless individuals.
A preschool, day care center, case management, life skills and vocational training are also planned as the services to be offered at Kahikolu.
The shelter will open just as the city's schedule of nightly closures from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. at several Leeward Coast parks -- including Tracks, Nanakuli, Lualualei No. 2 and Pokai Bay parks -- goes into effect Aug. 11.
Other parks, including Ulehawa No. 2 and Lualualei No. 1, are scheduled for cleaning and maintenance closures in September and October.
A second shelter, a former military barracks at Kalaeloa (formerly Barbers Point Naval Air Station) dubbed Building 36, is being converted into a shelter for up to 150 homeless singles and couples without young children.
Building 36 is expected to be in operation in September, according to Saito.
The Villages of Maili, meanwhile, a $14.5 million project being built in partnership with Stanford Carr Development, also has been under construction and is on schedule to open in October.
The Villages, the largest transitional shelter to date, will offer 80 units, along with administrative offices, an adult training center, children's day care center and accommodations for up to 250 homeless individuals in five townhouselike apartment buildings.
All three homeless shelter projects were built primarily with state funding after Gov. Linda Lingle again extended an emergency proclamation this summer accelerating the construction of the shelters for the homeless on Oahu's Leeward Coast.