LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Community Alliance is a good starting point for getting Your Path Home or a roof to sleep under, officials said.
“We are a community group of organizations that get together to figure out ways to get people off the street and under roofs,” said Billie-Kay Yokoyama of the YWCA of Kaua‘i on Thursday during Project Connect at The Salvation Army Lihu‘e Corps.
“If there are people out there interested in getting people into housing, please feel free to join us.”
Currently, Kaua‘i Community Alliance includes groups like the YWCA of Kaua‘i, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, Family Life Center, Hale Opi‘o Kaua‘i, Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity, U.S. Vets, Veterans Affairs and Women In Need.
These organizations and others joined together to host the Third annual Kaua‘i Housing Connect homeless outreach event at The Salvation Army Lihu‘e Corps on Hardy Street in observance of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week that runs through Sunday.
“The Kaua‘i County Housing Agency, along with various agencies within the Kaua‘i Community Alliance, continue to perform outreach across the island, connecting people with various programs and services,” said CHA Director Adam Roversi during a special ceremony that launched the week’s observance on Monday at the Lihu‘e Civic Center Mo‘ikeha Building.
“This week is not just a reminder of the many issues surrounding hunger and homelessness, but it is an opportunity for us all to get involved and be a part of the solution. Alone, we can’t solve the vast problems of homelessness, but together we can make a difference, one step at a time,” he said.
Yokoyama combined with the resources of Makana Kamibayashi of the Family Life Center and Melody Lopez of Catholic Charities to say this year’s event featured 18 different agencies offering a wide range of services and resources, including flu and pneumonia shots, hot showers, hygiene products, vision screening, resource cards, food, and registration for housing vouchers and bus passes.
“We have come a ways from the first time we met three years ago,” Lopez said. “We have a common Kaua‘i Community Alliance shirt and a logo. We moved from the lawn of the Historic County Building to The Salvation Army Lihu‘e Corps because this is a familiar gathering area for houseless people. And of course, with Capt. Shawn Keoho’s help, hot lunch.”
Roland Scott and Stephanie Fernandes of Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity said that with the help of partners like Women In Need and the county, KEO has been successful in finding more-secure housing for some of the people displaced by the closure of the county parks’ Shelter In Place sites and, more recently, a sweep of the Mahelona Point in Kealia.
“We also get a lot of phone calls inquiring about the low-income housing that recently opened across the Women In Need project,” Fernandes said. “There is still a great need for affordable housing.”
Darnell Sugioka Costales and Allen Huber of Project Vision Hawai‘i Hi‘ehi‘e mobile shower are familiar faces at events where housing security is at the forefront. Thursday’s event was no exception, as families could be seen exiting the shower units.
“We have another event Saturday,” Sugioka Costales said. “The ‘Ohana Christian Fellowship is hosting a community event at the Waipouli Town Center parking lot. The Hi‘ehi‘e mobile shower will be there, but we could only get a permit to park in the Kapa‘a fire station parking in the back of the fire station.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
