Dynamic Community Solutions

FROM TENTS TO HOMES

Some said it was a pipe dream, but 200 residents of the largest and oldest houseless community on Oʻahu bought 20 acres of private land in Waiʻanae. Mahalo nui loa for the hundreds of people around the world who made our first fundraising campaign a success!

Once Phase I is complete, and infrastructure is in place, we need to raise additional funds to build homes (Hale) and shared bathroom/kitchen facilities (Hale ʻAina). Our grassroots fundraising goal of $1.3 million will pay for 16 Hale and 1 Hale ʻAina.

We are asking for community support to move construction forward. Our grassroots fundraising goal of $1.3 million will build a "cluster" of homes for 25 residents along with a shared bathroom, kitchen, and dining hall to service the cluster. We will build one group at a time until we can bring our entire village home. Any amount helps, and all donated funds will cover the cost of materials and contractors needed above and beyond the "sweat equity" that village residents are contributing.

MORE THAN A "HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT"

For more than a decade, Puʻuhonua O Waiʻanae (POW) has provided a caring community for people who have fallen through the cracks of the social services system. POW is a self-organized village of 200 people currently living houseless (aka homeless) at the Waiʻanae Boat Harbor. It is home to working families, kupuna, and people with disabilities. Two-thirds of its residents are Native Hawaiian. POW is built on an ethic of aloha and kuleana. Service is a part of daily life. Residents look after each others’ children, cook and eat together, and care for neighbors who are sick or disabled. They also serve the broader community with a food pantry that is free and open to the public, regular beach and park cleanups, and weekly outreach to share food and supplies with other houseless encampments across Oʻahu. The village is a model community in many ways, despite their lack of houses.

A REPLICABLE MODEL WITH LESSONS TO SHARE

The immediate and visual impact of POW Farm Village will be to establish a permanent home for the residents of POW. However, there is another demonstrable benefit for all of us. When complete, the farm village can be a replicable model to deploy in our larger community’s fight against the dire challenge of houselessness throughout the state. Current POW villagers themselves are already advising other houseless communities elsewhere on Oʻahu today as they attempt to assemble and organize into their own self-help communities with a long-term eye toward residential security. Consider the communal design and self-help approach to building homes dramatically reduces development costs because bathrooms, kitchens, and related infrastructure are shared. It also reduces operating costs because POW will perform its own security, grounds keeping and light maintenance, as they already do today. These savings translate into truly affordable rents that houseless people can afford without first having to obtain scarce vouchers or other subsidies.

JOIN US

Join us and help demonstrate the power of a new model of affordable living, built on a strong sense of community, and rooted in aloha. Help us bring the people of Puʻuhonua O Waiʻanae home.