Waimanalo village for unsheltered homeless expands with kauhale

WAIMANALO (HawaiiNewsNow) – A new tiny home village has just opened in Waimanalo.

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Ke Kauhale ‘o Luhia is the 26th site under the state’s kauhale initiative. It adds 20 new homes to an existing 31-unit village on Saddle City Road.

At a blessing ceremony, state and community leaders touted the kauhale program’s impact so far, giving shelter, support and community to about 2,000 residents across the state, without the red tape and high costs of traditional construction.

“You have to just chip away at the problem, but this is the first time in a generation we’ve seen a steep decrease in homelessness, and that’s because of really because of the kauhale initiative and because people didn’t give up on it,” said Gov. Josh Green.

Organizers say the site took three-and-a-half months to build and cost about $1.6 million, under budget with donations from construction partners.

Rent per unit ranges from $150 to about $400 a month.

“When you bring down the cost of construction, you can pass on those savings to the end user who really needs deeply affordable rents,” said HomeAid Hawaii CEO Kimo Carvalho.

But the process is raising some red flags from the state auditor, which is currently reviewing the program. A letter sent last month listed concerns over oversight, contract costs and accountability of taxpayer money. The final audit is expected to be completed within a few months.

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Organizers say they are complying, but are unfazed because the process is new.

“I appreciate the fact that we always have to assess new ideas, but this is not like doing shelters,” Green said. “When the auditor gives us recommendations, we’ll look at them objectively and do our best to incorporate them.”

“The truth is bureaucracy has actually costed taxpayers more money to actually develop affordable housing,” Carvalho said. “If we get in the way and we make it more costly, we can’t do villages like this.

“We’re gonna keep innovating, we’re gonna keep educating people on how we’re doing this and hopefully everyone pauses and listens,” he added.

Leaders say the results speak for themselves, with a 13% drop in unsheltered homeless this year, 20% down on Oahu and a 91% plunge in Waikiki.

“Sometimes people take a couple of years before they move on. Sometimes it’s faster, but you do get people that get off the street, get stable,” said state rep. Lisa Marten, who represents windward Oahu. “Having these places is what we need to lift people up, get them on their way.”

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The state aims to build four more kauhale by the end of the year.