By Barry Villamil, President, Rotary Club of Pearlridge
The Rotary Club of Pearlridge (RCOP) had the honor of welcoming Duane Kurisu as a very special guest speaker on Friday, August 30 at the club’s lunch meeting held at the Pearl City Shopping Center conference room. Mr. Kurisu is the owner of the Pearl City Shopping Center and has made available the shopping center’s conference room for the RCOP to hold their Friday lunch meetings. Mr. Kurisu is also the Chairman and CEO of aio and is the visionary and developer of Kahauiki Village in Honolulu that has found homes for over half of homeless families on Oahu since 2017. The “Rediscovering Hawaii’s Soul” is his passion that has brought a sense of community to over seven hundred Kahauiki Village kids and adults.
Mr. Kurisu opened his talk on Friday by sharing a very important piece of history related to the Pearl City Shopping Center conference room table and chairs that date back to the late 1800’s. When he bought the C. Brewer building in downtown Honolulu around twenty years ago, the table and chairs were a part of the C. Brewer buildings conference room and holds a significate part of Hawaii’ history. Mr. Kurisu eventually brought the table and chairs to the Pearl City Shopping Center. There has always been a special feeling and bond for me while sitting around the conference room table. It was inspiring to learn the history of the table and chairs from Mr. Kurisu as its mana ran through his heart and soul as he touched the table.
KURISU
“This table and these chairs are where all the leaders of the Big 5 used to sit once upon a time. For me, personally it was really important that everybody get to use the same chairs. The mana is in here, and the mana is in this table.”
Humble plantation roots growing up taught Mr. Kurisu the importance of watching out and caring for one another through a united plantation bond of generosity, friendships, and trustworthiness as a community. Mr. Kurisu has taken those plantations based traits as a highly respected businessman and community leader into the making decisions that has led to his success and have truly benefitted Hawaii residents and their families.
KURISU
“We’re all shaped by the way we grew up. I grew up in a sugar plantation town. Growing up in these sugar plantation towns, it wasn’t about how much money you made, how much power you had. I remember we aspired to character traits like generosity, friendship, trustworthiness, and this deep sense of community. And so, for me along my life in coming up with solutions for different things in business and in my work in the community, those things are what shaped the decisions that I make.”
“Rediscovering Hawaii’s Soul” is Mr. Kurisu’s answer and commitment to bettering the lives of our children and grandchildren while securing a future that perpetuates its success upon generations to come.
KURISU
“It’s been said, and still being said, that our children and grandchildren are going to get less than we have today. You know today, I say bull, that’s bull, because we cannot accept that as a reality. Instead, we have to take the stand that our children and grandchildren are going to get more than we have. I stand by that. So, what is it going to take? It’s going to take a doubling of commitment, a redoubling of commitment to what I call Rediscovering Hawaii’s Soul.”
Mr. Kurisu shared his passion for helping others and love for Hawaii and its people with Rotarians who attended the lunch meeting that included Hawaii Rotary District 5000 Oahu Central Assistant Governor Paul Nakachi. Mr. Kurisu is committed to his mission and vision of “Rediscovering Hawaii’s Soul” through projects like Kahauiki Village that has helped half of Oahu’s homeless families find a home and a safe and nurturing environment for them to thrive for years to come. Most importantly Mr. Kurisu believes building community first is the solution to homelessness.”
KURISU
“I don’t like to be somebody that watches the world go by, I want to march with everybody else. I believe that the solution for homelessness is not shelter, it’s about building community. So back in 2016 when we were conceiving this project, that’s what I had people standing behind me, we will build a community for homelessness.”
Residents of Kahauiki Village do pay rent. Its not a free ride, but the benefits and available services and recreational opportunities assist Kahauiki Village residents with the opportunity for a safe, stable life with the light of promise for a brighter future as a part of a thriving and healthy community.
KURISU
“The rent included electricity, water, high speed internet, and cable TV and most of the cost of pre-school and childcare. So, when you look at it, they were there for almost nothing. By the way, for the childcare center and preschool, there were federal government subsidies for it. I told everybody that I want the families to feel like they have skin in the game, so I think they pay like a hundred bucks so they had skin in the game. The magnitude of this is today there is seven-hundred adults and kids that live there. Back then, it would have taken care of half of the homeless families on this island.”
Kahauiki Village is energy efficient and totally “Off the Grid.” The only community in the world that is completely off the grid.
KURISU
“One of the engineers said, since we’re paying for the cost of power, why don’t we think about putting everything off the grid? So, I said go and figure it out. Today, Kahauiki Village is off the grid. It took cooperation by Hawaiian Electric. Not only did they agree to it, but they put in a significate amount of money to make this work. Today, Kahauiki Village is totally off the grid. Telsa provided the batteries. They didn’t give it, but it’s part of the system. Even today, Tesla said that Kahauiki Village is the only community in the world that is completely off the grid.”
I would like to invite you to click on the video links below. Mr. Kurisu goes deeper into his commitment and compassion to serve the people of Hawaii through humanitarian projects like Kahauiki Village. He extends his heart and soul through his community work and credits success to his partners who are just as committed to serving the people so that those in need can build upon a positive foundation for their children and future generations to come.
Mary Villamil and I volunteered on weekends for a few months as Kahauiki Village was getting closer to opening its doors and homes to the first group of families. We both were there on opening day along with volunteers from District 5000 clubs who donated household goods and helped the new residents move in. It was a humbling and very emotional experience as residents found their homes that had their family members names posted on each front door. Some of them just stood there overjoyed by seeing their names at their front doors. Others cried happy tears.
One young mother of two told me that tonight will be the first time that her children will be sleeping in their very own beds and that they were a couple weeks away from being back on the street when the call came that they were chosen for a home at Kahauiki Village. Every time I pass Kahauiki Village on Nimitz Highway I think about that moment and say a prayer that they are okay.
Thank you, Mr. Kurisu and your team of Kahauiki partners for answering the prayers of hundreds of former homeless kids and adults who are safe and secure in their own homes today. Hawaii Soul will forever live in their hearts.
The Rotary International theme for 2024-2025 is the “Magic of Rotary” and so far, since the year began on July 1, 2024, that’s exactly what the Rotary Club of Pearlridge has experienced and grown upon each month that has passed since. In 2023-2024, Rotarians served worldwide via a united theme of HOPE. The RCOP has not left HOPE behind as the need to find and share HOPE in the world is greater today than ever. As the 2024-2025 RCOP President, I will continue to lead an incredible and dedicated group of RCOP community leaders towards a vision of “Magic of Rotary” with HOPE.
SERVICE ABOVE SELF
Videos and Photos by Barry Villamil
HAWAII ROTARY DISTRICT 5000 UNITES IN SUPPORT OF KAHAUIKI VILLAGE
A GIFT FROM HAWAII’S PAST, SHARING HAWAII’S SOUL AT KAHAUIKI VILLAGE
“OFF THE GRID”