By Jeremy Lee | July 23, 2024
HILO, Hawaii (Island News) — Hope Services Hawaii has a number of new projects underway on the Big Island, addressing the needs of the unhoused.
The Wilder House opened July 1st. For Hope Services, it is the second such integrated care hub facility on island. The medical respite home is equipped with a nurses’ station and located in a serene neighborhood off of Saddle Road, from which residents come and go.
“The two common areas, the kitchen and the living room space. Also, we do have some backyard space for folks and they’re also welcome to utilize the front of the house. So folks are allowed to actually leave- so they do go on like shopping trips,” Carlos Chavez Bugarin, Hope Services Hawaii’s Integrated Care Hub Team Leader, explained.
24-7 on-site nursing assistance is available to those living at the home, as is on-call medical attention.
“It’s intended to be a home-like setting. We have staff here because we understand that people coming out from a hospital admission might need a little bit of extra care so that they can increase their ability for self-management. It all works towards independence,” Director of Health Services D. Michiko Fried explained.
As eight residents acclimate to a new environment, they may encounter Koa.
“So he’s very calm and he is patient. We meet with him sometimes when someone is in need of calming,” Fried said of the therapy dog, at times in residence.
Those living in the home are referred by Hilo Benioff Medical Center.
“They’re individuals that are going in and out of hospitals that are not really qualifying for admission and so they can come to our specialty shelter at the medical respite where they have a safe place to heal in which we provide those services which would allow HMC to have capacity for other individuals that are needing that kind of care,” Chief Operating Officer Kali French told Island News.
Those at the coed sober living house have been without permanent residence, but at the Wilder House find assistance with case management, from obtaining vital documents- to all other activities of daily life. Hope Services applauds the innovative funding for the project.
“Half of the program is funded by Hilo Benioff Medical Center and the other half is funded by Ohana Zone’s funding which is passed through our county and we’re so grateful for this flexible funding that allows us to get programs like this off the ground,” Kristen Alice of Hope Services said.
The state and county boost Hope Services’ effort to spur residents towards an ultimate goal:
“We’re setting people up for independence. Then they will go to their forever home. But they will have wraparound services– so we are working to coordinate that,” Fried told Island News.