Hale Kalele: New 20-Story is a Step in the Right Direction for Juvenile Justice
Hale Kalele is a 20-story new build in Honolulu that will feature a Juvenile Services Center & Shelter, as well as provide affordable housing rentals.
I was just driving up Piikoi after a meeting at Ward when I saw something going on outside of this building! Being slightly niele I decided to park and walk over to check it out. It was the Hale Kalele blessing ceremony. I love seeing where God leads me, and I really enjoyed the blessing ceremony of this new building in urban Honolulu.
Talking to some of the passerby pedestrians, they mentioned that there used to be a prison standing on this land for decades, with barbed wire on the edges of this property. It is so wonderful to see Honolulu being beautified AS our spirits are beautified… we should all care about ending mass incarceration.
The King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?”
And the King will reply, “Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.”
Matthew 25:34-40
Hale Kalele
Hale Kalele is a mixed-use development on Crown lands (currently under control of the State). The new building will provide 200 affordable rental units as well a Juvenile Services Center on the first and part of the second floor.
Hale Kalele, developed by Kobayashi Group and MacNaughton Holdings is their first affordable development and the State’s first inter-agency partnership between the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC) and the Judiciary. The project is a 200-unit rental, for tenants earning 30 to 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). A Juvenile Services Center and Shelter will be located on the first and part of the second floor of the 20-story structure.
The kahu’s message was inspirational and focused on how it is possible to take a new step. Although we have done things that were not so admirable before, we are able to start anew and try again. I look forward to seeing how the new Juvenile Services Center and Shelter will serve this community! This is a step forward and will serve to change the tone of the juvenile justice system here in Hawaii.
