Building Industry Sponsored Non-profit Approves First Three Housing Projects to Support Homeless Shelter and Services
Houser. Jeff Prostor, President of Brookfield Homes Hawaii, is the Builder Captain for this project.
Washington, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — Next Step Shelter is an emergency and transitional shelter located in Kaka’ako. Next Step houses up to 297 unduplicated clients in any given month, including children and families. In addition to safe shelter, Next Step provides residents with meals, job training, children’s activities, and other services.
HomeAid Hawaii will provide needed roof repairs to the shelter. Harry Saunders, President of Castle and Cooke Hawaii Inc. is the Builder Captain for this project. “The roof repair at Waikiki Health’s Next Step Shelter will go a very long way in helping us to maintain a safe environment for our residents, staff, and volunteers,” said Lambert Lum, Director of Shelter Services at Next Step.
Tutu Bert’s House is facility that will provide needed respite for newly discharged hospital patients who are experiencing homelessness. IHS, The Institute for Human Services, will operate this new program in a residential home, providing a clean, safe place to complete follow up home care and allow time to fully recover after an episode of hospitalization. The program will provide up to 12 new beds and expects to serve approximately 75-90 homeless guests per year, with a target maximum length of stay of about six weeks. Discharge from the facility will be to permanent housing whenever possible. “Queens Medical Center identified a need for such a program and we stepped up to meet that need. But, the partnership with HomeAid Hawaii’s construction teams were a huge blessing because we had not anticipated as much retrofitting or renovation to make the house the healthy, inviting, and safe home it has become,” said Kimo Carvalho, Spokesperson of IHS. Alan Arakawa, Senior Vice- President of A&B Properties Inc., Stanford Carr, President of Stanford Carr Development, and Harry Saunders, President of Castle and Cooke Hawaii Inc. are the Builder Captains for this project.
Through the generosity of our local builders, vendors, suppliers, and trades, HomeAid Hawai‘i will provide the renovations at these facilities pro-bono or deeply discounted, allowing the non-profit operators of these programs to dedicate their limited resources where they need them most: in their program services. “The building community has demonstrated a generous heart and responsibility toward giving back and helping address homelessness. We’ve seen an incredible response in the amount of materials and labor that have been committed as donations for these important projects,” said Nani Medeiros, Executive Director of HomeAid Hawaii.
Today, the American Resort Development Association (ARDA-Hawaii), the timeshare association, demonstrates that support with a $1,000 donation to HomeAid Hawaii for the YO renovation project. “The timeshare industry applauds the valuable work of HomeAid and looks forward to helping our community,” said Henry Perez, ARDA-Hawaii Chair.
The three projects are expected to be completed between now and June 2016, with Tutu Bert’s House slated for completion later this month. “Tutu Bert’s House is a great example of three sectors coming together to address homelessness: the homeless service provider, the healthcare system, and the building community. When you look at what’s happening, the partnering, the education across sectors on what is needed and how to best accomplish that, the swiftness with which people respond, it’s encouraging and inspiring,” said Medeiros.
About HomeAid Hawai‘i
HomeAid Hawai‘i is a chapter of HomeAid America, a leading national non-profit provider of housing for homeless families and individuals founded in Southern California in 1989. Through the generosity of builders, their trades and their suppliers, HomeAid chapters have completed over 400 housing projects nationwide at a value of more than $200 million, of which nearly 50 percent has been donated by the building industry. HomeAid Hawaii is a partnership with the BIA-Hawaii and our local development and building industry. HomeAid Hawaii started in July 2015. For more information about HomeAid Hawaii, visit www.homeaidhawaii.org.
