North Shore NewsHaleiwa, HI- Bettina Mehnert, President & Chief Executive Officer, AHL (formerly Architects Hawaii, Ltd), Elected Officials, Distinguished Guests, the Board of Directors of Ho‘ola Na Pua and its staff and volunteers celebrated with a traditional Hawaiian blessing and hula lead by Kimo and Leilani Kahoano to bless the new site of the Pearl Haven Campus.
Ho‘ola Na Pua (HNP) is developing Hawaii’s first licensed residential special treatment campus for underage females who have been sexually exploited. It’s a sanctuary of healing. We call it Pearl Haven.
The Pearl Haven Campus is situated on 12 acres of pristine rural community on the Island of Oahu. The grounds will have brand new gardens and greenhouses. In the center of these grounds will stand the newly renovated 20,000 square foot, sustainable Pearl Haven therapeutic facility. The existing structure needs near total renovation. Some of the existing structure will remain but more than 90% of the campus will undergo renovation.
“Pearl Haven will be a sanctuary for our most vulnerable in our community: our children,” Munoz (President/Co-Founder HNP) said. “We are thankful for the community coming together to create the safety net and response services needed for exploited girls. This is about hope, healing and renewal for children and their families.”
There are many stakeholders invested in this firstof-its-kind project – from the State of Hawaii to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to elected officials. The renovation project is part of AHL’s 1% Pro Bono Program, an annual program that provides pro bono architectural services to nonprofits. As part of the program, AHL brings together a team of partners who are also giving pro bono services. The project, co-led by Design Partners Incorporated, includes: KAI Hawaii, Inc., InSynergy Engineering, Inc. and Minatoishi Architects.
“I cannot say enough about the team of Ho‘ola Na Pua for taking on such a big venture at Pearl Haven. I thank them for bringing the sex traffic trade out in the open for our girls that deserve so much more,” remarked Sarah Cadiz, First Hawaiian Bank branch manager, Haleiwa.
The celebration was marked with many of the community’s business leaders and elected officials. Both offices of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and the Lt. Governor Doug Chin offered congratulatory remarks as did Council Member Kymberly Marcos Pine in person. Harry Saunders, Chairman of HomeAid Hawaii, one of the many supporting organizations, challenged the guests to support HNP with their time, talent and resources.