Transitional-housing plan on hold -Honolulu Star-Bulletin

By Leila Fujimori - Oct 03, 2008

The city has put on hold a downtown Honolulu homeless transitional housing project, with some units for the severely mentally ill, opposed by community members who say it is not what the city originally proposed.

"Having the seriously mentally ill adjacent to temples and schools is not the correct mix," said Victor Lim, who represents the Lum Society, which owns the building at River and Kukui streets, and the Tin Hau Temple, a Taoist temple.

Lim said he found out about it a month ago, and many in the Chinese community are opposed to it.

The River Street Residences proposed for 1311 River St., a city-owned property, would provide 100 studio and one-bedroom rental units for single adults, couples and small families, including 40 percent for the seriously mentally ill. The other 60 percent would be for people transitioning from homelessness.

The project came up at the Downtown Neighborhood Board meeting last night at the Pauahi Community Center.

"We are not violent people," said John Scherer, who suffers from mental disabilities and sleeps on the steps of the county morgue. He said the project would benefit him and others like him who have been refused housing and suffer discrimination.

"We can be thrown out of housing like a piece of trash," he said.

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