HOPE Services Hawaii has established a new campus in Puna to help individuals experiencing housing instability and health problems avoid returning to the hospital or the street.
Two airy, spacious houses in Ainaloa that together make up the Kahua Kahe Malie Medical Respite and Integrated Care Hub were blessed by a vicar Friday morning in the presence of about 40 people.
The partnership between HOPE Services Hawaii, Hilo Benioff Medical Center and others that led to the new campus began with a 2023 pilot program. During that program, beds in the Hale Maluhia women’s shelter were opened up to individuals who were too healthy to be in the hospital, yet too sick to survive on the street.
“It’s very traumatic just being ill, just to have an injury. On top of that, to not have a safe place to stay — a place for your food, your medications, to rest your head at night — it’s really difficult to recover and maintain good health,” said HOPE Services Hawaii’s Director of Health Services Michi Fried, who added the medical respite site also will help patients with their transportation needs.
The two new five-bedroom, four-bathroom houses offer a combined total of 18 beds for patients, with one house focusing on behavioral health treatment while the other centers on basic medical treatment like wound care.
Residents will receive three meals per day along with prescriptions, medical care from on-site professionals, and other services, said HOPE Services Hawaii Chief Operating Officer Kali French.
“This is a higher level of care than a regular emergency shelter, so we wanted to give that home-like feel,” French said. “It’s a very safe, clean space for them to relax, and our treatment team is able to provide wound care, and we also provide behavioral health services like individual counseling.”
HOPE Services Hawaii received state funding through the Office of Housing and Homelessness Solutions to lease the two homes with the first right of purchase and make improvements to advance accessibility, said HOPE Services Hawaii Director of Community Relations Kristen Alice.
Alice said Medicaid funding pays for 14 of the beds reserved for patients of partners like HMSA, Aloha Care, Ohana Health Plan, and United Healthcare. The remaining four beds received funding from and are designated for referrals from HBMC.
The blessing’s audience was filled by representatives from hospitals, philanthropies, homelessness assistance nonprofits, health insurance providers, and members of both the state and county government, including speakers Mayor Kimo Alameda and Puna Sen. Joy San Buenaventura.
The proclaimed guest of honor was Daniel Kealoha, a Puna native who was able to access the medical care he needed and also secure housing with the help of HOPE Service in Hilo. Kealoha received support through the Hale Maluhia medical respite shelter and Hale Kulike, another location where HOPE Services provides supportive housing to help individuals with unstable housing find the right solutions for their specific cases.
“It’s not just about the house. It’s about the people living inside the house,” Fried said. “If those buildings don’t have services that people need, and we don’t get to know the people to be able to individualize care, we’re not actually going to progress.”
Kealoha was in Hale Kulike in Hilo for three years. Working with HOPE Services he was able to find a one-bedroom apartment of his own in Keaau, where he just moved in a week before the blessing. The new apartment is Kealoha’s first stable housing after over five years of staying with relatives.
He has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which landed him in the hospital for four months before HOPE Services was able to help him acquire a CPAP machine and begin the road to his own home.
“It feels so good,” Kealoha said of his personal space in Keaau within walking distance to a grocery store and clinic. The location of the new HOPE Services site also makes him swell with pride.
“I’m a Puna boy, so to have it in Puna makes me really happy. We need more.”
Learn more about how to support these services through volunteering and donations by visiting www.hopeserviceshawaii.org.
Email Kyveli Diener at kdiener@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
