Originally published at The Crux
Read more...
An emergency shelter for women in Hilo with funding from the state and county hasn’t been inspected by county fire inspectors since it opened five years ago, and the bedrooms lack the required emergency exits.
Hope Services Hawaiʻi received $575,000 from Hawaiʻi County’s Housing and Homelessness Fund in 2025 to operate the Hale Maluhia shelter, and was awarded another $1.5 million in the most recent allocations from the fund. It also received $362,000 from the state Office of Housing and Homelessness last year.
As a nonprofit arm of the Hawaiʻi Catholic diocese, Hope Services operates seven housing shelters on the Big Island together offering 168 beds. Since April 2020,Hale Maluhia on Ululani Street has provided short-term crisis accommodation for single women and allows service animals. Residents pay a maximum of $150 per month to stay there.
But there is no record of the building being inspected by the county’s fire prevention bureau, spokesperson Tom Callis confirmed Thursday. Inspections on the Big Island are triggered by direct complaints, and Callis said the county hasn’t received any for Hale Maluhia.
Kiona Boyd, a current Hale Maluhia resident, is concerned that the lack of accessible emergency exits poses a risk to residents, many of whom
