Homes for the holidays for 5 Leeward families

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For five families in Leeward Oahu, the old year brought new homes. Beginning with a groundbreaking for the Mitchell-Lefotu family in Waianae in January and ending a few weeks ago with the Kaneakuas of Nanakuli, Habitat for Humanity Leeward Oahu worked on a quintet of homes in 2007 for low-income, "gap group" families, those who owned land but could not afford to construct a house on their own.

Families work side by side with a mostly volunteer construction crew, logging on average eight hours a day on weekends on their preformed houses.

"I did about 15 jobs," said Ernest Sadamaru, who is raising four children and six nieces and nephews in a new six-bedroom, two-bath house in Waianae. "But it's good to know you're building your own home."

Approved by Habitat in December 2005, work on Sadamaru's home began in June 2006, and the extended family was able to move in a year later.

"I plan on staying here," Sadamaru said. "I don't ever plan on leaving the place. I'm going to pass it down to family and all the kids."

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The house alone was gift enough. The Christmas tree near their front entry was the Kaneakuas' symbol of seasonal good tidings and gratitude; Rose Kaneakua didn't want to give her six young children false hope that there would be gifts to open on Christmas morning under that tree.

But gifts did come after all: presents from people the Kaneakua family had met over the course of 2007, the year they built a house on their family homestead in Nanakuli. Kaneakua tucked the gifts under the tree.

Her family, as well as the family of sister Mahealani Keawemaulili, partnered with Habitat for Humanity Leeward Oahu to build a house on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property that her father, Kaulana Kaneakua, had owned since the late 1980s.

The Kaneakuas' 1,800-square-foot home was the fifth begun in 2007 by the Leeward affiliate and the latest one completed; housewarming presents have poured in over the last few weeks from teachers, credit union officials and other people the family connected with during the year.

"It's been a long year but very rewarding," Kaneakua said. "I've been rewarded with our own home and blessed with new friendships. I can't explain this year, and this has been the best year of my life. I've never seen my kids so happy."

NOT ALL families' members have made the transition into new homes equally. Kaneakua's father chooses to remain on the North Shore, one of an estimated 3,000 people living on Oahu's beaches. For the Sadamaru family of Waianae, a new, larger home built on the family's homestead has meant the beginning of new family arrangements, with new overlapping relationships.

The family includes the Stevens siblings, five brothers and a sister, whose mother, Antoinette Stevens, died in 1996. Now that their uncle, Ernest Sadamaru, has more living space, all are living with him and his four children.

Each sibling, ages 13 to 20, brings a different perspective to the situation and the challenges it entails.

"Before, we never knew what was going on in each other's lives," said Antone, 20. "Everyone has a different attitude toward life, and it's hard to trust. But we've become closer. ... We will sit down in a room and talk about disagreements."

Braxton, 16, said, "It's a new thing to me, not to be at my house. I was there all my life."

The new house was built on Sadamaru's family land. Three homes once stood on the property, including the last of the homes -- Sadamaru's two-bedroom, termite-ridden house, which was torn down to make way for the new six-bedroom, two-bath structure.

Some of the older Stevens siblings, including Antone and Braxton, were raised initially by their aunt, Trini Samildam, after their mother's death. For Samildam, who also grew up on the homestead, visiting the children's new home can be bittersweet. While she's happy, proud of her brother and hoping for the best for her nephews and niece, the new house is a physical reminder of the circumstantial division of the family. She has her own home in Waianae and her own set of children to return to now.

Samildam remains a link to the Stevens' late mother, sharing recollections with the children when they ask about her. "They don't have a mother and love to hear stories about her," she said.

AWAITING the completion of their new home with Habitat for Humanity Leeward Oahu is the Johnson-Hoohuli family. With drywalling and cabinetry expected to go up after the holidays, the move-in date is tentatively set for next month.

Liza Hoohuli and her grandmother Mary Johnson co-own the house built for 12; the family is currently living apart. Hoohuli said she's hoping they'll all be living together soon, including her grandmother, who has become ill since construction began last winter.

"We're all split apart and it's pretty hard getting together," Hoohuli said. "It's pretty expensive, and we all want to be together; and now that my grandmother is ill, she wants to see us be together now."

BEFORE moving into their new home, the Kaneakuas lived in a broken-down bus at Mokuleia Beach Park. They had outfitted the bus with a gas stove and old dressers before being evicted by the state, Kaneakua said. They moved into their new, permanent home three weeks ago, and Kaneakua is already planning to work with Habitat on homes for other families.

"With the blessings we've had, we're going to continue and give back what we've received. We're taking three weeks off, and then it's the Hoohulis' house to do drywall. We did the drywall on our own; we'd like to help push their house forward. They have little ones and would sure like to be in a house."