The Kona Community Policing Section will be holding its annual HONOUR (Homeless Outreach Nurturing Our Community) project on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 8 a.m. The HONOUR project was created to provide the Kona homeless population with the opportunity to serve the community through community service-based projects while working together with other community volunteers and leaders. The goal is to provide each individual the opportunity to feel empowered and rehabilitated through teamwork and accomplishment.
Thursday’s project includes painting and restoration of the main entrance gates to the old Kona Airport’s facilities and complex area. Participants will re-paint the current gates to their usual “safety yellow” color to restore years of fade and corrosion. All materials for this project will be provided by the county.
Community volunteers are welcome to join from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at the main entrance gates to the Kailua-Kona Gymnasium.
The basis of HONOUR, the brainchild of Hawaii Police Department Kona Community Policing Officer Wyatt Nahale, is to integrate the homeless back into the community by having them work on projects under positive guidance. Nahale indicated between 10 to 15 homeless individuals have expressed interest in the upcoming event.
Their inaugural event in November 2019 drew eight homeless individuals to help to clean up the beach. As word got around, what started as distrust has grown into mutual understanding between the police and homeless. In December of that year, the HONOUR group set up and afterward cleaned Makaeo Events Pavilion for a homeless Christmas party.
At an event held in February 2020, 17 homeless individuals worked side-by-side with community volunteers painting nearly three dozen 55-gallon drums used as trash receptacles at Old Kona Airport Park. The program went on hiatus through the pandemic and Thursday’s event will be the first one since then.
At the program’s inception, Nahale said a lot of homeless individuals needed a sense of humanity, so why not have it come from a police officer taking the humanitarian role beside the enforcement role.
He said the program he helped create is based upon the police department and homeless community coming together to restore faith back into the homeless population again. He’s heard from individuals who’ve told him that they are tired of being labeled because of the troublemakers and want to do something good for the community.
To date, the program has assisted in excess of 200 homeless individuals/volunteers with various services. Working with local service providers, the program has provided airfare for reunification with family members in their hometowns, purchased and provided vehicles, and providing employment opportunities and interim/permanent housing.
The program has also provided other related services including medical treatment, food, gift cards, clothing, home furniture, construction tools and more.
For his work with the homeless, Nahale received the Hawaii State Law Enforcement Association 2023 Officer of the Year award.
For more information, contact Nahale at (808) 326-4646, Ext. 259.