Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 2010 — Capital campaign to kick off for Laʻiʻōpua community center [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Capital campaign to kick off for Laʻiʻōpua community center

ByT. Ilihia Gionson Publications Editor Acapital campaign will launeh in mid-February to raise money to build the La'i'ōpua Community Center, envisioned as a pu'uhonua, a plaee of safety and peaee for Kona homesteaders and their neighbors in the booming region. "So many communities are fractured, but here we have the opportunity to build a net to protect a growing eommunity," said Bo Kahui, a homesteader in La'i'ōpua in Kona, Hawai'i, who is heading the campaign. "The center is essential for the survival of a modern-day, urban community that provides services and programs to keep the eommunity safe and healthy: early childhood education, social services and recreational opportunities. It's a combination of services that ensure the viability, health and safety of the community as it begins to grow." The center's planned 130,000 square feet of community facilities will be built on about 27 acres of land owned by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands - a huge

upgrade from the community's current gathering plaee, a one-bedroom hale with a 400 square-foot lānai. Plans are underway for Kamehameha Schools to construct a preschool on the site. The West Hawai'i Community Heahh Center proposes operating a elinie on the site. The Neighborhood Plaee of Kona will offer culturally sensitive services to at-risk families, including services to prevent child abuse and neglect. Other organizations that will be represented at the center

include the Legal Aid Society, Kona Adult Day Care, Alu Like, ine., and Family Support Services. And the heart of the center will be an open hale where the community ean gather for celebrations and events. The regulatory approval process is underway, and some federal funds have been committed for planning and design. To get involved, contact the La'i'ōpua 2020 office at 808-327-1221, drop by at 74-5599 Luhia St. E-5 in Kailua-Kona, or email Bo Kahui at bokahui@yahoo.com. ■

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A conceptual rendering of the La'i'ōpua Community Center shows the medical wellness eenter at left, a Hale for community gatherings at center and the Community Center Complex, at right, whieh will be home to La'i'ōpua 2020 and the Neighborhood Plaee of Kona. - Courtesy of La'i'ōpua 2020

Among the bygone Hawaiian language newspapers set to eome online this month at nupepa.org are Ka Lahui Hawaii, a 1 9th-century weekly that focused on religion; Kuu Hae Hawaii, whieh highlighted legislative, loeal and foreign news; and Home Rula Repubalika, a bilingual newspaper owned by the wife of Robert Wilcox, who was then Hawai'i's delegate to Congress. - Photo: Courtesy of Ho'olaupa'i