Hawaiian neighborhood opposes group home for people with mental illness

From KHON-TV in Honolulu.

A home that will house a total of six people who suffer from various forms of serious mental illness is being opposed by residents of Ewa Gentry in Leeward Oahu. Residents fear the home will make their community less safe and lower property values.

"Whether it was Burger King, whether it was Home Depot I still would object to having a business in a residential community like this," said Skip Duplechain, a homeowner who lives next door to the property in question.

The home located at 91-1001 Niolo Street is being run by Mental Health Kokua and was paid for through funds by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The home was sold to the non-profit group in March of this year for $672,120.

Under HUD's Section 811 Program, which supports housing for persons with disabilities, there's nothing state or county lawmakers can do to prevent the group home from being located in a residential neighborhood. Home owner association rules can also be bypassed under the federal program due to anti-discrimination laws.

"Then what good are the rules," asked Ewa Gentry resident Michael McMann. "You know the home owners association rules are either good for everybody or they're good for nobody."

McMann is among a group of concerned residents who set up a website called www.protectewagentry.org to protest the group home's location. The website features an online petition, which as of Tuesday evening had been signed by 255 people.

"It's gonna be a business basically located within our community," said McMann. "The individuals who are going to stay here are not going to be home owners."

Sept. 7 an informational briefing (pictured) about the group home was held at Holomua Elementary School. The meeting was attended by lawmakers, HUD officials and executives of Mental Health Kokua. It attracted about 250 people, most of them residents of Ewa Gentry.

The executive director and CEO of Mental Health Kokua, was one of the featured speakers. Greg Payton told the crowd patients who move into the group home later this month will be supervised eight to sixteen hours per day, seven days a week. Someone from the non-profit would also be on-call 24 hours a day.

"The idea that somehow the people we are serving are dangerous or commit crimes those are not the people that we are serving at all," he said.

Payton acknowledged patients living in the home would likely suffer from a variety of mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, depression and bi-polar disorder but that didn't mean the community would be less safe. He said violent offenders are never allowed in homes run by his organization.

"We in fact have a screening process that none of those folks would be allowed in our home. Those folks with those kinds of issues would be in other kinds of places but not in our housing projects."

Mental Health Kokua operates a total of 26 group homes across Hawaii, on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. Twenty-two of the homes fall under the organization's supportive group housing program. The home at Ewa Gentry will be the twenty-third such home and the twelfth on Oahu.

U.S. Rep. Charles Djou attended Tuesday's meeting and said he would consider federal legislation to ensure residents are informed ahead of time before a group home that treats patients with mental illness could operate in a residential neighborhood.

"I'm not saying we should ban facilities like this because I do think there are legitimate mental health issues that should be addressed," said the republican, who represents Hawaii's 1st Congressional District. "But that doesn't excuse not notifying the community and answering questions ahead of time and I think maybe we should be looking at legislation to do just that."

Duplechain meanwhile is resigned to the fact that the Mental Health Kokua facility will soon open its doors right next door his home.

"I think the point now is to kind of raise awareness about these types of facilities," he said.

"Maybe it will give other businesses a chance to rethink the idea of moving into a residential area, whether that's a good idea or not."