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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, May 16, 2007

MY COMMUNITIES
Red Cross weathers dislocation, barely

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Red Cross-Hawai'i CEO Coralie Matayoshi needs $500,000 more to finish the makeover on Diamond Head.

Photos by BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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AT A GLANCE

  • Issue: The headquarters of the American Red Cross, Hawai'i State Chapter is undergoing renovations, but the organization needs about $500,000 to complete the project.

  • Cost of the project: $4.6 million

  • Funding sources: The state released about $2 million as a one-time contribution to aid in the renovations. The organization raised more than $1.2 million on its own. The city contributed about $500,000 for ADA compliance. Other funding came from private donors and grants.

  • Renovation schedule: Work started in November 2005. The project should be completed by September.

  • Purpose of renovations: The building needed to be upgraded to meet current ADA requirements, and its exterior walls needed to be reinforced to withstand hurricanes. The courtyard also is being enclosed to provide additional classroom and office space. The plumbing, electrical and air-conditioning systems are being upgraded.

  • Other needs: The organization would like to raise additional money to build a disaster storage room in the basement, a lanai for volunteers and to purchase new office furniture.

  • To help: Call 739-8108 or visit www.hawaiiredcross.org. All donations are tax deductible.

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    The American Red Cross-Hawai'i Chapter building on Diamond Head Road should be ready for its staff to move back in this fall.

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    DIAMOND HEAD — For the first time in 33 years, the building that houses the state chapter of the American Red Cross is getting some much-needed renovations.

    But the nonprofit organization dedicated to helping others needs a little help itself.

    The project to renovate the two-story building at the base of Diamond Head crater will cost $4.6 million. But the organization needs about $500,000 more to complete the work, which is expected to wrap up in September.

    And the renovations are badly needed. The plumbing, electrical and air-conditioning systems need to be upgraded. The carpet and furniture need to be replaced. The building itself isn't up to current ADA standards or built to withstand a hurricane.

    In fact, it doesn't even have a generator to power its operations in the event of a natural disaster.

    "We run everything out of this building," said Coralie Matayoshi, chief executive officer. "It would help the whole state if we could operate during a hurricane."

    Renovations began in late 2005.

    Since then, dozens of staffers and volunteers have been relocated to office space Downtown and in portable classrooms on the campus of Kalani High School.

    But as the project progressed, the cost rose and the organization found itself about $500,000 short of completing it.

    "It's been such a moving target," Matayoshi said.

    The total cost of the project doesn't include some wish-list renovations the organization had to put on hold such as constructing a safe room in the building or obtaining new office furniture.

    Matayoshi said the chapter really needs a disaster storage room in the building's basement.

    Right now, it stores its cots, blankets and water in a tunnel in Diamond Head Crater.

    But to build the additional storage space would cost another $158,000.

    "We just don't have the money," Matayoshi said, adding that every dollar the organization receives goes toward operations, leaving hardly any to spare for such building projects.

    More than 36,000 people take classes at the Diamond Head site every year.

    The Hawai'i Red Cross responds to an average of 108 disasters, such as house and brush fires, each year.

    And since 1917, it has provided food, shelter, clothing and crisis counseling to victims of everything from hurricanes to floods to acts of violence.

    "Now that we've got the majority of the money, we're going for it, it's going to be finished," Matayoshi said. "But it would be awfully helpful to get more donations."

    Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.