Special-ed center opens | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Special-ed center opens | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Monday, October 15, 2001

Special-ed center opens

By James Gonser
Advertiser Central Bureau

WAIPAHU — The nonprofit Special Education Center of Hawai'i has opened a new facility in Waipahu to provide day services for 30 adults with development disabilities. The center is the first in a planned expansion to bring services closer to the people who need them, said Mary Jossem, executive director of SECOH.

Father Rene Bisaillon from St. Joseph Church in Waipahu blesses the community center at Waipahu Shopping Center.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We are trying to decentralize our day services," said Jossem. "We have a large center in Pearl City and in the Diamond Head area, and we are in the process of trying to open these small community centers so people that travel on Handi-Vans for hours can get services in their own community close to home."

Starting with $29,000 in grants from the Atherton Family Foundation, the Pilot Club of Downtown Honolulu, the Friends of Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation and the Cooke Foundation, SECOH spent $100,000 to remodel and furnish two units formerly used as a laundromat and a pool hall in the Waipahu Shopping Village on Leoku Street for their new facility.

The Waipahu Community Center has a staff of 10 and is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. It is designed to be a warm, inviting space for recreation, social and service activities. A blessing for the center was held yesterday.

	At a glance
•	What: Waipahu Community Center
•	Where: Leoku Street in Waipahu
•	More information: 734-0233

"Our customers will now have a real opportunity to become participating members of their community as well as to establish community relationships and personal support networks," Jossem said. "In addition, we hope our presence will have a positive economic impact on the Waipahu community as we patronize the local vendors and provide employment opportunities."

SECOH was founded in 1965 and has evolved from a school for mentally retarded children to a multi-service agency for adults with developmental disabilities including those due to head injury or aging.

In 1998, the board of directors developed its strategic plan to decentralize and diversify services. Since then, SECOH has opened a model senior center specializing in Alzheimer's and dementia in Kaimuki, which also provides day services for more than 100 adults with developmental disabilities.

SECOH is looking to develop smaller community centers in 'Ewa Beach and Pearl City and then expand to other O'ahu communities. "One by one we will open these small centers and ultimately we will close the larger Pearl City site," Jossem said.

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