Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 11, 1 November 1998 — Lunalilo's Landmark [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Lunalilo's Landmark

by Paula Durbin Energetic, imaginative management is preparing the Lunalilo Home to serve kūpuna in the 21st century.

The Lunalilo Home is housed on five acres of ehoiee Hawai'i Kai land in an 84-year oid building that originally functioned as a dormitory for the Marconi Wireless Corporation, now known as RCA. The renovations currently underway are the first since 1927. And with the structure just a shell now,

it's hard to imagine the Home with its full complement of 50 kūpuna. Residents have ranged from 52 to 102, with 80 the average age. The Home's license allows it to serve those determined to be "ambulatory and continent" when admitted. While there is no blood quantum requirement, applicants to the Home must prove Hawaiian ancestry with a birth certificate. They are finally recommended for admission on the basis of a physical examination and interview. The entire application and evaluation process usually takes a month. The Home's live-in services and accommodations offer residents separate bedrooms; private, semi-private and mini-wards; beautiful grounds; " a nutritious local-type menu" as Administrator Greg Meyer calls the three homecooked, daily meals and three snacks; and a whirl of entertainment and activities for those interested. "These kūpuna can't live alone, but they need social interaction," said Lunalilo Trustee Keahi Allen. "They have a role in the community. One thing I don't like to see is warehousing people, just stacking them and abandoning them. Here we try to stimulate them as mueh as possible. Most participate in the scheduled activities; some like to read; some like to garden. But we don't want to regiment them. They are free to do what they like" So many community organizations want to help out that the events have to

be worked into the kūpuna's agenda. School children develop surrogate mo'opuna relationships; the Lions' Ciub holds an annual Christmas lū'au and city lights visit; the Hawaiian Civic Clubs perform; the Humane Society provides soothing contact with pets. Whenever there is an opportunity, kūpuna go off campus - to song contests, concerts, Hana'uma Bay or the loeal McDonald's. Church services are held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and, said Allen, "Some kūpuna go to all of them." During the renovations, residents are either back with their families or in other care facilities. Meyer and the trustees are fully focused on the construction. Right now their biggest headache is the time it is takingand the consequent cost over-runs that have to eome out of the trust. "I hope the public knows the Lunalilo Home is making every effort to reopen, but eon struction has been delayed because ol structural surprises," said Meyer "When

we are done we will have a first-class facility that the entire community ean be proud of. And when they see it I am sure many people will want to eome here. From Mililani to Mauna Kea, they are weleome." While completion is not expected before 1999, everyone is already thinking beyond it. The Home is currently limited to 50 kūpuna by both its license and its pocketbook. But Allen's wish list would extend its reach through an elder day care center that could provide services to the entire Hawai'i Kai eommunity and support the trust as an additional source of ineome. "It's an exciting plan that we are investigating," she said of the idea that also pleased her mother, former Lunalilo Trustee Nāpua Stevens. "I want to nurture the Home and see it grow," Meyer commented. "The most wonderful thing about Lunalilo's legacy that the Home has survived and I look forward to a golden age for it." ■ f

(Editor's Note: This article is continuedfrom the September Ka Wai Ola whieh gave some ofthe history of Hawaii's oldest ali'i trust.)

Structurai surprises in the 84-year-oici building now under renovation have delayed the reopening of the Lunaiilo Home untii Januarv 1997 — at the earliest.