Charities' vans vandalized
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
Nearly half the fleet of Elderly Services vans belonging to Catholic Charities Hawai'i is out of commission after vandals broke windows, discharged fire extinguishers inside and out and ransacked the vehicles sometime yesterday morning or late Friday night.
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Honolulu police are investigating the vandalism, which left the service agency with only one of five wheelchair-accessible vans in service. Eight of the 19 vans were damaged, seven of which cannot be repaired for at least several days.
Peter Reyes of Catholic Charities Elderly Services assesses the damage to a van vandalized over the weekend.
According to Charities Development Director Victoria Suyat, more than 2,500 seniors ride the vans every month. She said for 30 years the agency has been providing elderly people with transportation to medical appointments, meal sites, shopping canters and recreational programs.
"This cuts the legs out from under the program," Suyat said. "The whole mission of the Elderly Services is to keep seniors independent as long as possible and not institutionalized."
The agency provides no transportation services on Sundays, and officials said they are looking at rerouting the vans still in service to accommodate as many clients as possible.
Still, they said they expect to phone clients tomorrow to inform them of the limited service until the vans with broken plate glass windows can be repaired.
The agency had no idea how long that could take.
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"If clients have medical appointments, they are going to have to find alternate means to get there," Suyat said. "This is a critical service we provide, and to have this happen is just a horrible blow."
Catholic Charities stores its vans, which were vandalized over the weekend, under the Ke'eaumoku Bridge in Makiki. The area is dim.
For a decade the vans have been parked under the Ke'eaumoku Bridge near where a skate park was built in 2000. The area beneath the bridge is enclosed, poorly lit and obscure. The vans have been vandalized 10 times since 1996, said Elderly Services Executive Director Stella Wong.
"Every time there's a three-day weekend something like this happens it seems," Wong said. "Usually it's just graffiti. But we've never had this much damage to our van fleet before. We don't have a contingency plan."
Wong said she has considered installing motion detectors beneath the bridge, but there is no electricity. She said she's hoping the city can be persuaded to install a higher fence around the area.
Jerry Rauckhorst, Charities director, said police suspect the vandalism was caused by young people. He estimated the damage at around $5,000. He said the vehicles are insured, but he wasn't certain if the $500 deductible covers the fleet or each individual van.
Rauckhorst said Charities has no land beneath the bridge, which is owned by the state, but is renting the land.
"Right now we just don't have anyplace else to put the vans," he said.
Agency officials say they are hoping someone can offer Charities a safer location to store the vans.
People wanting information about Elderly Services are asked to call 595-0077.
