Catholic Charities staff gathers for blessing of future home in Makiki
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
One hundred and forty Catholic Charities Hawaii employees gathered Sept. 22 on the grounds of the former First Presbyterian Church in Makiki to receive a blessing from Bishop Larry Silva, enjoy lunch and explore the site of their future headquarters.
On this sunny Friday afternoon, the combination of good company, chicken and beef bentos and particularly the realization of gaining a large and permanent new home made for a cheerful group.
“Blessed are you, Lord, God of mercy, who through your Son gave us a marvelous example of charity and the great commandment of love for one another,” prayed Bishop Silva before sprinkling with holy water the employees gathered outside.
“Send down your blessings on these your servants, who so generously devote themselves to helping others,” the bishop said. “When they are called on in times of need, let them faithfully serve you in their neighbor.”
According to Eddie Ontai, vice president of Catholic Charities Support Services, the blessing signaled a milestone in the agency’s history.
“This is the first time in 60 years since our inception that we’ll have a place to call our own,” he said.
The Makiki campus, as the site is being called, is a two-acre parcel on the corner of Keeaumoku and Nehoa Streets in a residential neighborhood 10 minutes from downtown Honolulu. Besides the church building, the property holds six other structures containing offices, meeting rooms, a professional kitchen and auditorium and other facilities.
“I just think it’ll be nice to have all of us working together,” said Tina Andrade, Catholic Charities’ director of Catholic Identity and Mission. “I think it will help innovate our different programs.”
Danny Morishige, the director of the Mary Jane Program agreed. “There’s a lot more opportunity to share information and coordinate activities, to collaborate,” he said.
The CEO of Catholic Charities Hawaii, Jerry Rauckhorst, opened the event with a short speech.
“How fitting that the first time we gather at our new facility, we gather for a blessing,” he said. “To see a dream begin to come true is really an exciting moment.”
“I thought [the event] was awesome,” he commented after the blessing. “One of the reasons for that is that we have never been able to get our whole board, let alone our staff, into one room before.”
The board currently meets at the YMCA because Catholic Charities office space is so limited. The new hall can hold up to 465 people.
“To be able to look out like that and see our staff and everyone sitting comfortably was awesome,” Rauckhorst said.
Catholic Charities offices now are spread among four buildings in Honolulu and various program facilities and homes on Oahu and the neighbor islands.
The Makiki site will replace the two-story Catholic Charities building at 250 Vineyard Street, the offices rented in the Aloha United Way building at 200 North Vineyard Boulevard, and the structure housing immigration programs on the grounds of the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.
According to Ontai, the first Catholic Charities employees will move in to existing office space at the Makiki property in November. Others will gradually be shifted over until the move is completed in the first quarter of 2008.
Eighty-five percent of program services will eventually be housed at the new site. Schematic designs for renovations of the property are being drafted and will take several months to complete.
Perhaps the most dramatic structural change will be installing a second floor in the present church structure.
Ontai called the Makiki campus a “best fit” for the agency’s work “in terms of the amount of space, the location, the feel of the campus.”
“From a viability standpoint,” he said, “it’s providing for the future of Catholic Charities.”
Catholic Charities Hawaii began its search for a permanent home in 2003. The search committee looked at around a dozen different sites ranging from church properties to commercial lease space. It became aware of the First Presbyterian Church campus in 2005 and the purchase went through on Aug. 7.
First Presbyterian moved its operations this year to the Koolau Golf Course in Kaneohe.