By Staff Reports
(HONOLULU) – Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Governor Josh Green, M.D., on Thursday jointly unveiled an innovative new transitional shelter to address homelessness on Oʻahu. The facility, called Kumu Ola Hou (Source of New Life), prioritizes brain and behavioral health through healing-centered architecture and a trauma-sensitive environment that fosters recovery — especially for homeless individuals with a history of mental health, memory or brain injury challenges.
The Kumu Ola Hou Iwilei Transitional Shelter consists of 13 housing units with a capacity of 24 residents. The facility features a common room, multiple bathrooms and a laundry room, along with lanais and shared communal spaces between each housing unit, which helps create a connection between individuals being treated at the facility. The housing units serve as the centerpiece for rebuilding lives by supporting brain function, independence and well-being, and there are four core components to Kumu Ola Hou:
- Behavioral Health: The facility uses therapeutic activities for residents that are designed to address trauma, especially traumatic episodes that may be impacting the ability of those individuals to thrive in supportive housing environments.
- Neuroscience: Kumu Ola Hou, in partnership with the Brain Health Applied Research Institute (B+HARI), focuses on restoring brain function and helping residents improve their cognitive abilities through new experiences and new environments.
- Healing-Centered Architecture: Science-backed design that creates a safe and stable environment that is steeped in Native Hawaiian principles.
- Community Framework: Providing residents with long-term community and governmental support and funding, with a clear pathway to permanent housing for long-term stability.
“Homelessness is a complex crisis that requires an innovative and cutting-edge approach to finding solutions,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “This visionary new model will provide immediate and long-term benefits for the residents of Kumu Ola Hou and for communities across the island as we continue to tackle homelessness with the urgency it demands.”
“Housing is healthcare, and Kumu Ola Hou is proof of that. This isn’t just shelter — it’s a place where healing begins, where brain health is prioritized alongside stability, and where people can move from survival to recovery,” said Gov. Josh Green, M.D. “By integrating neuroscience, behavioral health and trauma-informed care, we are addressing the root causes of chronic homelessness, not just its symptoms. This is what happens when we treat housing as healthcare — real transformation, real hope and real change for our community.”
Kumu Ola Hou is the latest example of strong collaboration between the City and County of Honolulu and the State of Hawaiʻi on homelessness-related issues: Iwilei Center, which the City purchased in 2024 for affordable housing, is being used as a transitional shelter pre-development, with the State of Hawaiʻi providing the funding for The Institute for Human Services (IHS) to manage the facility. IHS will begin accepting individuals into Kumu Ola Hou on March 1, 2025.
By summer 2025, the City plans to have opened three additional shelter units within the Iwilei Center complex, increasing the total number of beds available to service homeless individuals — including at Kumu Ola Hou — to approximately 100. Two of the additional shelter units will be managed by Mental Health Kōkua, while the third will be managed by IHS, in addition to the Kumu Ola Hou facility.
The City’s purchase of Iwilei Center is part of a large-scale transit-oriented community plan that will include approximately 2,000 new housing units around the Iwilei-Kūwili Skyline station. While the transit oriented community is in planning and design, with ground-breaking projected for 2028, Iwilei Center will be used for transitional housing and treatment for homeless individuals. This solution provides near-, mid- and long-term solutions for O’ahu taxpayers.
