The Office for Social Ministry’s expanding homeless outreach dedicates five more Big Island facilities

Story and photos by Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald

HILO

It began with a woman, a plan, and then two Volkswagen vans.
The woman was Carol Ignacio, appointed in 1986 by Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario to be a community organizer on the Big Island.

The plan was to find out what the island’s social needs were and figure out what the church could do about them.

No longer a one-woman operation The Office for Social Ministry has come a long way from “me, myself and I,” Carol Ignacio’s description of the office’s start as a one-woman program. Besides Care-A-Van Homeless Programs, OSM includes offices on Oahu and the Big Island, the Parish Social Ministry Program, the local headquarters for the international aid program Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development. On the Big Island, OSM also operates Mobile Care Health Project with St. Francis Healthcare System, offering dental services to the uninsured. The Food Basket (formerly Hawaii Island Food Bank) is an island-wide food collection and distribution system operated in conjunction with OSM.

hat was the origin of the Office for Social Ministry. The vans — donated — came five years later. Two men drove them around the Big Island helping the homeless, marking the start of the Care-A-Van Homeless Programs.

Today Care-A-Van has 13 vans — and much more. In 2006, it helped 1,664 homeless people, receiving $2.3 million in county, state and federal funding for the fiscal year 2006-07. Housing placement, life skills courses, grant assistance, services for the mentally ill and Social Security counseling now come under the Care-A-Van umbrella. (see sidebar)

Brandee Menino, Care-A-Van’s program director, described the office as “the only agency provider out in the bushes and in the streets linking the homeless to community programs, employment and housing.”

Since June of last year, the program has taken over four properties in Hilo and one in Kona that assist the homeless. Bishop Larry Silva blessed the Hilo sites on Aug. 21 and vicar general Father Marc Alexander blessed the Kona location the following day.

It’s the OSM’s successful track record on the Big Island that leads to these new opportunities. Ignacio’s staff credits her as “the keeper of the vision.” She in turn said she recognizes that OSM does good work because “doors keep opening.”

Beyond Shelter

Beyond Shelter, a transitional housing program, was one of those doors. In April 2006, St. Joseph Parish in Hilo went to OSM for help in managing an apartment building it owned on Ululani Street near the church.

In June 2006, renovations and repairs began. The building, renamed Beyond Shelter, welcomed its first family soon after.

Beyond Shelter has one studio, one 1-bedroom, and six 2-bedroom units. It serves families that have done well in Care-A-Van’s emergency shelter (see below) and are ready for more independent living. Families stay up to 24 months while OSM helps them find permanent housing and jobs.

The program’s director Kate Nawahine said, “When families are in need and they want to change and it’s time for them to change, the work that we do can be very productive.”

Ponahawaiola

The next place Care-A-Van opened was Ponahawaiola, a residential program for former inmates, men and women, to help them become well-adjusted members of the community.

In May 2006, through Big Island Mayor Harry Kim’s “Going Home” committee, OSM took over the former Rainbow Apartments in downtown Hilo, renovating them into housing for 28. The previously drug- and crime-ridden building is now clean and bright.

Ponahawaiola, translated “Circle of Life-Giving Water,” received its first resident on Aug. 6, 2006.

Residents stay on average six to seven months. They take classes that help them “de-criminalize” their thinking, find and keep jobs and housing, and develop healthy relationships. They attend regular house meetings, go to drug and alcohol treatment programs if needed, and participate in structured activities such as softball and excursions to Mauna Kea.

More than 50 percent of participants have a mental illness and undergo counseling and medical assistance.

“We want to provide a stable place and structure, especially during those first few months after release,” said director Les Estrella, who is also the coordinator of the diocese’s addiction recovery ministry. Ponahawaiola has a 24-hour-a-day staff.

Participants contribute at least 10 hours of community service a month working in other OSM programs. They are also highly encouraged to participate in a faith of their choice.

“We know that faith is probably the most important part in our program and we’ve seen so many differences in people’s lives because of it,” Estrella said.

After the July 21 blessing, Ponahawaiola resident Peggy Obadencio talked about how the program helped her become drug-free. “It’s the only program that’s worked for me,” she said.

After five months at Ponahawaiola, Obadencio is now employed.

Estrella said former program participants have found permanent employment and housing, gone to college, and started their own businesses.

The Friendly Place

The Big Island has the highest rate per capita of homeless in the islands. In recent years, the Office for Social Ministry has seen that rate rise on the west side of the island, in Kailua-Kona.

But because of what OSM staff call a “not in my backyard” mentality, a number of proposed Kona-side homeless shelters never went beyond the planning stages.

In October 2006, after years of setbacks, Hawaii County opened The Friendly Place, a homeless drop-in center in Kona’s old industrial area. Care-A-Van’s outreach office operates that too.

Led by Josephine Ibarra, the staff operates out of a donated three-bedroom model home. There the homeless can come, Monday through Friday, to get breakfast, take a shower, store belongings in lockers, check e-mail, use the telephone, pick up mail and do laundry.

The staff takes people to appointments and nearby clinics, regularly holds mental health workshops and connects the homeless to community resources.

“This is a place where one can come and feel safe,” Ibarra said. “They can get clean. It’s welcoming.”

“When they walk through the gates we accept them for who they are.”

Care-A-Van carries a lot Here are the other programs that Care-A-Van operates on the Big Island: SOAR (SSI/SSDI, Outreach, Access and Recovery Assistance): Benefits specialists help the homeless who qualify for Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance apply for benefits and understand the Social Security system. Representative Payee Services: Contracted through Adult Mental Health Services since 1998, this program helps more than 150 people with severe mental illnesses manage their Social Security benefits and make payments for rent, food, clothing and medical services. TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) Housing Placement Services: Through this program, homeless families with at least one child apply for permanent housing, receive rental, utility and deposit assistance, and take renter’s classes. Grant Assistance: Grants are given to homeless individuals and families or those at risk of being homeless to help with housing, food, medical, transportation, childcare and other emergency needs. Kukui Program: Part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, this program helps provide permanent housing aid for the developmentally and severely mentally disabled, and those with HIV/AIDS.

At the Friendly Place’s blessing and reception on Aug. 22, Timothy Lamb told an emotional story of how Ibarra, whom he called his “fairy godmother,” and OSM helped him go from being homeless, into an alcoholic treatment program, to being employed and owning his own home today.

“I have my dignity and most of all I have hope,” he said. “If the staff ever has to ask themselves if it’s worth it, I say you bet my life it’s worth it.”

Carol Ignacio was brought to tears by Lamb’s remarks. “If in some small way, we had a part of that, what a privilege,” she said several days later. “It’s what keeps me going, frankly.”

Jeremy McComber, a housing specialist with Hawaii County’s Office of Housing and Community Development, said The Friendly Place has succeeded by working closely with neighboring businesses, listening to and addressing their concerns.

“They’ve been really supportive,” he said.

McComber said that the county will need that community support to take the next step — building an overnight shelter next to The Friendly Place. The only other such shelter in west Hawaii is many miles away near Waimea.

Hawaii County deputy managing director Barbara Kossow said the need is great. “No one wants it in their backyard but they do know that we need it,” she said. “It’s my hope to get the folks off the street so that they have a safe place to come in the evening.”

St. Michael, Kailua, parishioner Tom Hering volunteers every Tuesday with his wife and other church members, preparing and serving lunch to Friendly Place clients. He said he hopes the new shelter can happen quickly. There are “an awful lot of homeless wandering around hungry” without a roof over their heads, he said.

Kihei Pua

Back in 1987, the Office for Social Ministry opened a homeless shelter in Hilo, later turning it over to a nonprofit organization. Last December, Mayor Harry Kim asked Care-A-Van if they could take it over again … in a week.

Surprised, Care-A-Van’s Menino consulted with OSM and the diocese and agreed to do it. She hired director Nawahine and a staff. Dexter Coloma, OSM’s facility management head, refurbished the rundown facility with the help of several prison work release programs. In less than a month the place was ready to go.

The Kihei Pua emergency shelter opened on Jan. 3, 2007. Its name means “cloak of flowers” and symbolizes, Ignacio said at the shelter’s blessing, “a cloak of shelter for those on the road of life.”

The facility at 115 Kapiolani Street can house up to 72 people. They stay for about three months taking job and life skills classes and getting help in finding permanent housing. Kihei Pua pays membership fees for their children to join the Boys and Girls Club and YWCA, and gives onsite tutoring, game and movie nights, and connections to the University of Hawaii-Hilo.

When Charmaine Kalanui was dropped off at Kihei Pua three months ago, she didn’t know what to expect. Before OSM stepped in, the place had a reputation for fighting, drinking and drugs. She remembers crying to her aunt about having to move there with her three children.

Today she thanks God she has “a roof over my head” and “a whole lot besides.”

Over the summer her son received math and reading tutoring and joined the Boys and Girls Club. When he went back to school, Kihei Pua got him supplies and a backpack. Kalanui said she liked the game nights and barbecues, the toiletries, and the diapers for her two younger kids that the shelter provided.

The staff checks regularly to see that she is taking steps to find permanent housing. When Kalanui does find a place, she’s eligible for a grant covering her first month’s rent and deposit.

Wilder House

Nawahine is excited to get the latest Care-A-Van program rolling. Tentatively called “Wilder House” because of its location on Wilder Street in the Kaumana neighborhood just outside Hilo, OSM took it over in July.

The four-bedroom residence, now under renovation, is set to open this month as a transitional housing for homeless pregnant women and their children.

McComber and the Office of Housing and Community Development are also working to acquire a property called Kuleana.

With new Care-A-Van locations opening one after another, it’s easy to forget exactly where Care-A-Van started — as homeless outreach.

The Hilo outreach team leader Lisa Simmons calls it “the backbone” of Care-A-Van.

On July 23, the outreach office, located next to Ponahawaiola, was empty except for Simmons, who was about to head out to Care-A-Van’s drop-in office at the nearby New Hope’s Under His Wings center. Where was everyone? Out in the community working, just the way it should be, Simmons said.

The drop-in center, a partitioned corner of the Under His Wings location, is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

That Thursday, as homeless clients sat and ate, talked, and watched TV in the common space, Care-A-Van mental health worker Lori Murray spoke on the phone with a homeless elderly woman seeking help. Later she would take a client to a doctor’s appointment.

At the drop-in center, the homeless pick up mail and participate in regular “talk story” times with staff who help them navigate through Social Security and procure mental health counseling, among other things. Murray and Simmons are also trained domestic violence counselors.

“We’re [the homeless’] voice, Simmons said. “We’ll slowly work with them to alleviate their situation.”

Outreach has another drop-in center at Hale O Pua and would like to open a few more. Hilo outreach workers go out into the community over an area stretching from Waipio to South Point. Their ultimate goal is to help the homeless find stable housing and support.

True parterships

Any of the OSM staff will tell you that the key to Care-A-Van’s success is treating clients with dignity and respect, and knowing that OSM can’t do it alone.

Ignacio said the Big Island programs have worked well because of the “rural, small town kind of partnerships” OSM has forged with dozens of organizations.

Billy Kenoi, executive assistant to Mayor Harry Kim, said July 21 that the county enjoys a true partnership with the Office for Social Ministry.

“It wasn’t a question of how much money do you have or how much support are we going to get,” he said of OSM at the Kihei Pua blessing reception. “It was always a question of who needs help? How can we help? And when can we get started?”

“We’ll do anything we can [for OSM] because we know that the request is being made on behalf of those most in need of services in our community,” Kenoi added.

As Ignacio said, “When you work with the homeless, the way we do, it’s the closest that I personally come to Jesus.

“It’s a job, but to me, it’s like the staff just happens to get paid for what they would do otherwise.”