(BIVN) – The County of Hawaiʻi is seeking an experienced organization to operate the future Kukuiola Emergency Shelter and Assessment Center in Kona.
The County’s Office of Housing and Community Development has issued a Request for Proposals, or RFP, as it searches for an entity with at least five years of relevant experience to manage the emergency homeless shelter, overnight safe parking, supportive services and one-stop resource and assessment center in Kealakehe.
The County says the operator “will manage day-to-day operations and create a safe, welcoming environment where people experiencing or at risk of homelessness can meet immediate needs and connect with community resources as they work toward permanent housing.”
Proposals are due by 4 p.m. on October 20.
Construction of the Kukuiola Emergency Shelter and Assessment Center is anticipated to be completed in early 2027.
“Addressing homelessness requires a strong, coordinated response from our entire community, and Kukuiola represents an important investment in that work,” said Mayor Kimo Alameda. “This facility will bring together shelter, services and support in West Hawaiʻi while creating new opportunities to help people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness move toward greater stability and permanent housing. Finding the right partner to operate Kukuiola is an important step toward making this vision a reality.”
From the County of Hawaiʻi:
The Kukuiola Emergency Shelter and Assessment Center will include 16 emergency shelter units, overnight safe parking, the one-stop resource and assessment center, community restroom and shower facilities, a shared kitchen, case management space, and areas for community activities and connection. The emergency shelter will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The one-stop resource and assessment center will provide a daytime place for people to take care of basic needs and connect with services.
“Kukuiola is about more than providing a place to stay,” County Housing Administrator Kehaulani Costa said. “The one-stop resource and assessment center will give the members of our community a place to take care of basic needs and connect with services and housing resources. We want people to feel welcome and supported as they work toward finding a place to call home.”
Kukuiola, which means “light of life,” is the first phase of a larger planned housing and service campus designed to bring shelter, services and permanent housing together in one place. Phase 2 will add 50 permanent housing units with support services, while Phase 3, currently in the master planning stage, is envisioned as multifamily housing.
Located off Kealakehe Parkway south of the West Hawaiʻi Civic Center, the first phase that is currently under construction is supported by a $10 million federal grant secured by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono. Heartwood Pacific LLC is constructing the facility.
Funding for the operation, programs and services of the Kukuiola Emergency Shelter and Assessment Center comes from the County’s Homelessness and Housing Fund (HHF).
