Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 4, 1 April 1992 — OHA grants Lunalilo $202,000 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA grants Lunalilo $202,000

by Christina Zarobe The only residential home in Hawai'i designated to care exclusively for elderly Hawaiians — Lunalilo Home — has received a grant of over $200,000 from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The funds, approved by the OHA Board of Trustees at the February business meeting, will assist the Hawai'i Kai facility with operating expenses through July 31, the end of its fiscal year. "Above all, the trustees (at Lunalilo), the kupuna, the staff, we are all extremely grateful to OHA," said Jimmy Ahloy, chairman of the board of trustees at Lunalilo Home. Soft-spoken and earnest about the home where he has served as trustee for the past four

years, Ahloy said the vote by OHA trustees left him tearful. Running the home has been financially difficult, according to Ahloy. As a way of countering any future shortfalls, $35,000 of the $202,000 from OHA has been earmarked for hiring a development offi-

cer at Lunalilo to find new revenue sources. The home currently operates with funds from three sources: donations, resident fees, and ineome from its investment portfolio, said Ahloy. "I'm very happy the board agreed to help Lunalilo Home and we're hoping that with the addition of this development officer they will be able to find other funding in order to help our elders and not continue to dip into their investment corpus," said OHA Trustee Moanikeale

Akaka, who represents the island of Hawai'i . Akaka, who also serves as chairperson of OHA's Health and Human * Services Committee, emphasized the "importance" of caring for elderly Hawaiians and noted that OHA also has purchased a van for Lunalilo Home. The history of the home dates to June 7, 1871 when William Charles Lunalilo signed his will bequeathing a life interest in all of his real and personal property first to his father, Charles Kanaina, and

then to his cousin, Kamehameha V. Following the deaths of Lunalilo's father and cousin, an estate was to be established to eonstruct buildings for Hawaiians who are "poor, destitute and infirm," particularly the elderly. An addition, however, was made to the will before Lunalilo's death in 1874. In its interpretation of the mandate of the will, the courts at the time approved the sale of all real estate. An investment portfolio was started with the proceeds from the land sales.

The land base of the William Charles Lunalilo Trust Estate was onee made up of 33 ahupua'a, 9 ili and over 12 house lots on five Hawaiian Islands. Today, it consists of five acres where the home is located, one residential lot in the Lunalilo residential tract and a unimproved 12,500 square foot lot in Holualoa, Kona. The investment portfolio has a book value of approximately $4 million and a market value of about $6 million.

One of the most urgent problems facing officials at the home is how to pay for mueh needed maintenance repairs. The Lunalilo Home is in a over 70-year-old, two-story structure originally built by the RCA Corp. and used as a wireless station, according to Ahloy. Among the repairs needed to upgrade the facility are wallpapering, electrical work, flooring and improvements to the plumbing. On the supply side, new beds and bedding are needed. "We have a whole wish list of things," Ahloy said. continued on page 6

UH Press marketing manager Katherine Davls and promotions manager Steve Hirashlma. See story page 3. Photo byAnn l. Moore

Directory /rom page 1

oversaw the project.

"The directory will help raise the awareness of the broader eommunity that the Hawaiian business community is growing and actively participating in business." The directory, whieh OHA plans to update periodically, is indexed by the type of business and also alphabetically by both the name of the business and by island.

The businesses range from accountants, computer services, and locksmiths to picture framing, towing services, and shoe repair. Other areas include hula instruction, cabinet makers, publications, travel agencies, real estate, and attorneys. "1 think it's valuable because it helps Hawaiians better appreciate their collective achievement as a group," said Colburn. "This has

really deepened my own appreciation for the extensive capabilities, talents, and creative skills of the Hawaiian people." Copies of the publication will also be distributed to loeal and federal government agencies. With a

directory readily available, Colburn believes procurement and purchasing personnel who are mandated to work with minority businesses will be able to more easily identify Native Hawaiian companies.

"It's also a very practical tool for trying to locate goods and services that may not be unique to Hawaiian interests," she noted. "The directory has universal benefit and value to residents of the state because it helps customers quickly locate goods and services." Cataloguing businesses into one publication also strengthens the point that Native Hawaiians have made substantial inroads in the business community, Colburn said.

"I think it helps validate the fact that Hawaiians have been successful in establishing and maintaining a toehold in the loeal economy," she said. "Hawaiians have always been engaged in formal as well as informal business activities. Seeing all of these listings in a single publication is certainly persuasive and powerful evidence of that."