Diocese of Honolulu Big Island social ministry affiliate, HOPE Services Hawaii, on July 1 welcomed 15 residents who have become homeless during the coronavirus epidemic into a new village of micro-shelters at the Old Kona Airport Park.
The village, called Ka Lamaku, is a joint project of the County of Hawaii and HOPE Services, which will manage the units and help guests find permanent housing. Also helping construct the units were the County Fire Department, County Department of Parks and Recreation, State Department of Transportation, Tinguely Development, HPM Building Supply, and the West Hawaii Rotary Clubs.
Volunteers from Kiwanis Club were also on site July 1 with hygiene kits and household supplies for the new guests. Also present were Youth With a Mission volunteers who donated shoes for the residents.
HOPE Services deputy director of operations, Ipo Morgan, who oversees day-to-day operations at The Friendly Place, another HOPE Services housing project, will remain onsite at Ka Lamaku for at least the next month to ensure the new program’s success.
Morgan said the village provides relief for people forced from their homes by rising rents or loss of income.
“People have been coming to us, because they have nowhere to go,” she said in a news release. “It was heartbreaking to see more and more of our neighbors living in tents, unable to social distance or practice hygiene. This village restores their dignity.”
Ka Lamaku, however, isn’t a permanent solution. “We need to address the lack of affordable housing, or the cycle of evictions and homelessness will continue,” Morgan said.
HOPE Services this year has received requests for assistance at more than double last year’s rate.
Rent, mortgage assistance
HOPE Services Hawaii, in partnership with the County of Hawaii’s Office of Housing and Community Development, launched on July 1 an Emergency Rent and Mortgage Assistance Program for eligible households whose income has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The assistance is made possible by a $300,000 block grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The program provides a one-time rent or mortgage payment not to exceed $2,000 for households at or below 80% of the area median income who were affected by the coronavirus.
Information on the requirements of the program is available online at hopeserviceshawaii.org/RMAP or by calling 935-3050. Applications are accepted online or by phone.
