By Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald

The Kailua-Kona area may be a popular tourist destination nicknamed “the Gold Coast,” but for the many Big Island residents who cannot afford to live in the area, even to the point of becoming homeless, West Hawaii is far from golden.

Catholic Charities Hawaii’s Big Island community director, Julie Nagasako, puts it this way: “We have the largest homeless population outside of Oahu and we have the lowest ratio of services to support that population,” she said.

“In Kona, the cost of housing is so high that working families can’t live in the community where the jobs are,” she said.

To make matters worse, the only West Hawaii shelter, Kawaihae Transitional Housing Program operated by Catholic Charities, will close next June. The Kawaihae shelter opened in 1992 as a “temporary” solution to the lack of homeless facilities in the area, but it is in a remote location near Waimea and in deteriorating condition.

Because of the shelter’s closing, a bill before the Hawaii State House of Representatives this legislative session and parallel Senate bills are seen as especially urgent this year

HB 2797 would put $12 million toward the Kaloko Housing Program, including a 24-unit transitional shelter for families in central Kona to replace the Kawaihae shelter and 30 affordable housing rental units for lower income families. The County of Hawaii has already designated an eight-acre site in Kona for the shelter and Catholic Charities would operate the program.

Nagasako said that community support behind the bill this year has been amazing with “the Catholic community leading the charge.” The community backing, she says, has built more momentum behind the proposal than in past years.

The social ministry program at St. Michael Parish in Kailua-Kona and its community organizing leader, Sonia Scadden, have been lobbying to make sure the Kaloko Housing Program becomes a reality.

Seeking a continuum of services

Scadden said the hope is eventually for “a whole continuum for the homeless” in Kona. That would encompass The Friendly Place, a homeless drop-in center in Kona’s old industrial area now being operated by the Diocese of Honolulu’s Office for Social Ministry, the Kaloko transitional shelter, affordable housing rentals, and a long sought after nighttime shelter.

“People won’t be on the street just because they lose a job and can’t make the rent,” she said.

Scadden is a legislative advocate for Community Alliance Partners (CAP), a group that works to address homeless issues in the islands. CAP has received the support of 12 faith-based groups, including five Big Island Catholic Churches, and the backing of 18 other business and organizations.

She has flown to Oahu five times since November to lobby politicians. Right before this legislative session started in January, reminder e-mails were sent out to all legislators. Meetings were scheduled with local Kona businesses to explain why the Kaloko shelter was needed and to nip in the bud the “not in our backyard” attitude which has prevented past efforts to build a shelter in Kona.

Fourteen hundred signed petitions — 995 of which were from Catholic parishioners — along with written testimony from various organizations were submitted at the legislature in February.

Big Island State Rep. Josh Green told Scadden that the number of petitions was on the same level as the negative and positive petitions received around the time of the Superferry controversy. But in this case all the petitions supported the Kaloko Housing Program.

“At this point I can’t think of anything else we could have done that would have been more effective,” Scadden said.

Supporters will have to wait until April to find out if the Kaloko Housing Program gets its funding. Nagasako said that the most urgent need is for construction funds for the transitional shelter, adding, “It’s between now and [April] that we’re trying to continue voicing the need and continue the education process so people understand why it’s so critical.”

“[Every legislator] we’ve spoken to definitely recognizes the need,” she said. “There’s been some enthusiasm to see the commitment of the broader community as a part of the project.”

Nagasako believes that this particular issue shows what potential parishes have for supporting future matters important to the Catholic community.

Bishop Larry Silva, in a Feb. 19 letter to St. Michael’s pastor, Father Konelio Faletoi, expressed a similar sentiment. He commended the parish’s efforts, saying, “I was particularly pleased to know that you are working with other Catholic parishes and faith communities in your efforts to care for our brothers and sisters in a very concrete way.”

For Scadden, the Kaloko Housing Program lobbying has proven what thorough planning and community backing can do. “We have a very active social ministry at St. Michael’s,” she said. “We’re very proud of what we do and we’re just getting started.”

For more information on how to support the Kaloko Housing Program contact Community Alliance Partners at hawaiicap@gmail.com. Visit www,hawaiifamilyforum.org for information on all legislative efforts this year being supported by the Catholic Church in Hawaii.