Great Love

Our self-help housing project in Wai‘anae, Hawai‘i is aimed at more than just building structures – it’s a creative approach to building communities and the positive values they represent.

The physical signs of progress are obvious as roofs and walls are now being completed. Just as visible is the commitment, cooperation and deep sense of caring that has been nourished both on and off the job site.
As they work together in the construction of homes, our first eight families are firmly establishing important community values for all the families that will follow. Successful participation in the self-help aspects of this program is a major step in the total development of human beings through the reinforcement and restatement of community values.

Jeffrey N. Watanabe, Consuelo Foundation Board Chairman, 1994 Annual Report

Named Ke Aka Ho‘ona (meaning the Spirit of Consuelo), this project offered 75 qualified, low-income families the opportunity to build and own their own home in a neighborhood that values community participation. This building of the homes was completed in 2001. Community building and self-management leadership also began and continues today.

The 75 families in the eight increments that were built worked 20-hour weekends for nine months to complete their homes.

Each family’s sweat equity amounted to 35 weeks x 40 hours per weekend for a total of 1,400 hours.

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