Special Projects - Re-Hab Housing

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4/15/06

Volunteers repair low-income units
By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer

WAILUKU – Local Rotarians and the Maui chapter of Habitat for Humanity have partnered to change dilapidated state housing into livable shelters for the homeless and the island’s low-income families.

On Saturday, the six-week effort picked up steam with volunteers working side by side with state workers to renovate vacant units at the Hale Piihana complex in Happy Valley.

At least one homeless family displaced by the county’s Kahului breakwater cleanup last month has found shelter in a state apartment renovated by the Rotarians and Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat’s Maui Executive Director Sherri Dodson said she and Rotary International Assistant District Governor George Fontaine coordinated the partnership that has involved the volunteer efforts of at least 50 Maui Rotarians so far.

More volunteers are needed.

“We appreciate anyone’s help,” said Richard A. Speer, project engineer for the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii. The agency operates six separate apartment complexes on Maui with just four maintenance workers charged with landscaping and overall care of the units.

Despite a desperate shortage of low-cost rental housing around the state, the housing agency has several hundred units that are empty because they have been damaged or vandalized and require major renovations to be habitable.

At Hale Piihana, nine of the 31 units were vacant on Saturday but could not be occupied because of their dilapidated conditions.

Speer said a Work Line crew from the Maui Community Correctional Center works on the state rental apartments once a week, but it isn’t enough to help turn around the vacant units that are often left in shambles.

Fontaine and Dodson saw firsthand the severity of the damage some six weeks ago when the Rotary volunteers first started to clean up the empty apartments. Aside from filth and pungent smells in the units, volunteers found graffiti on the walls, live and dead rats infesting the floors and broken tiles and toilets.

Habitat vowed to contribute by sharing its technical expertise in building and renovating houses while Rotarians promised the volunteer manpower. Habitat also arranged for lunches, loaned its tools and provided supplies such as paint brushes, paint, mops and brooms.

Fontaine said it was easy to say yes to the project, especially with news that the county’s Kahului breakwater cleanup had left as many as 140 homeless scrambling for places to live.

“This is a great step toward helping people get housing,” Fontaine said.

Fontaine’s wife, Paige, who happens to be the incoming president for the Rotary Club of Kihei-Wailea, said her group viewed the project as a way of carrying out the 2005-06 Rotarian theme: “Service above self.”

“It’s a good feeling for all the volunteers to help out,” Paige Fontaine said. On Saturday, Fontaine did something she’s never done at her own home – she installed bathroom floor tiles in one of nine units being renovated at Hale Piihana.

The Rotary Club of Kihei-Wailea took the lead in this project, but Rotarians from other clubs are also helping out.  [Including members from the Maui Rotary Club.]

Speer said volunteers have not only eased the work load for the four maintenance workers assigned to the dozens of state housing units, but also saved taxpayers money in the process.

Unit turnarounds cost between $3,000 and $25,000, depending on the condition in which the former occupants leave an apartment. Speer couldn’t provide dollar figures on savings from volunteer labor, but he said it was definitely significant.

“This is huge,” said Speer, who also contributed to Hale Piihana’s cleanup on Saturday. A day’s work by the 30 or so volunteers on Saturday shaved off about three weeks of work for the state maintenance crew, according to Speer.

What’s even better is that Habitat is ensuring that the paint jobs and overall cleanup of the abandoned units are being done properly.

“We’re getting quality work, not just the labor,” Speer said.

While Habitat for Humanity might be more recognized for building homes, its mission includes eliminating substandard housing.

“Everyone is entitled to a clean and decent home,” Dodson said after walking through a vandalized unit in need of a paint job and new glass in the windows.

Cynthia Clark, a Rotarian from the Kihei-Wailea club, was happy to help Saturday.

“I know this is a direct link to providing someone a home. Somebody is going to be living here and it feels good to have helped made that possible,” Clark said.

Fellow Rotarian Lois Prey agreed, and in fact, brought her husband, only an honorary member of the Rotary, Dick Prey, to also help.

“We think it’s all for a worthy cause. . . . It’s giving back to the community so that these children, the whole family can get off the beach and live in a home.”

George Fontaine said the Rotarians are going to continue the renovation work as long as they can, and they’re hoping others will follow.

To volunteer, call Dodson at Habitat for Humanity at 893-0334. To join a Rotary Club, call George Fontaine at 269-2698.   [Or let Mickey know that you can help on the next service date!]