Community center an oasis in dense Waikiki
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Today the Waikiki Community Center will mark 25 years of service to the people who live in the heart of Hawai'i's top tourist destination.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
From its simple beginnings in a tiny cottage in the 1970s, the center today provides a full range of programs, classes and services to thousands of people, anyone from 6 weeks to 90 years old.
Winfred and Ki Yo Lum of Kaimuki dance the tango in a ballroom class at the Waikiki Community Center. The center, which celebrates it's 25th anniversary today, serves a number of useful functions within the community.
"They all find a place here," said executive director Joan Naguwa. "Our mission is to provide for the various needs of the people who live and work in Waikiki."
In recognition of its quarter-century of service, a puakenikeni tree will be planted and preschool children will sing for invited guests in festivities beginning at 9 a.m. today. Guests are expected to include Gov. Linda Lingle and Mayor Jeremy Harris.
On Paoakalani Avenue in an area once nicknamed "the jungle" for its drug use and rowdy atmosphere, the center was built as a private Catholic school that closed more than 30 years ago. The three, two-story beige buildings are nondescript, but lovingly cared for with plants and garden areas and accents of color and art.
The one-acre center provides childcare and senior programs, classes ranging from dance to Scrabble and language to kickboxing, and serves as a home for several nonprofit and self-help groups, a thrift store, an emergency food pantry and a farmer's market twice a week.
"This is a wonderful place," said Dianne Ako, 60, who takes a ballroom dancing course at the center with her husband Howard, 66. "The classes are affordable, so there is no reason for a senior on a fixed income to become a couch potato. You feel good, and it gives you a reason to get out of bed in the morning."
Naguwa said the center is not supported by government money but by membership and class fees.
"Our senior programs strive to maintain the health and well-being of our senior residents so they can remain independent," she said. "If you are socially connected, physically active and continuing to learn, you are more likely to remain independent in the community."
In 1972, the Honolulu Council of Churches operated the Waikiki Jungle Community Center out of a tiny cottage in the area. The center was placed under the administration of the Mo'ili'ili Community Center in 1974 and became an independent nonprofit corporation in 1978.
Four years later the center moved into the school grounds and began to expand its programs.
"There are 21,000 people who live in Waikiki," Naguwa said. "It is very dense, very vertical and it's a mix of urban and resort."
Naguwa, who has been with the center for three years, is proud that the center has been able to evolve to fill the area's needs. Years ago the center offered one of the first domestic violence programs in the state, she said.
"We continually try to go in ways that are relevant to the community," she said. "Child care will always be needed and as long as seniors are here we will still have that. One of our dreams is to become more of a one-stop center where a variety of services could be found, like employment counseling.
"But who knows what will happen in the next 25 years."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
