Deaths, drugs, violence reported at Maui homeless shelter

By ‘A’ali’i Dukelow

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    MAUI, Hawai’i (KITV) — Following reports of several deaths and violence at the Pu’uhonua o Nene homeless shelter here in Kahului, state lawmakers say they’re looking into the incidents and considering ways to improve safety at the facility.

“Even though it’s being executed poorly, Project Vision had a vision to start and nobody else stepped up,” said Jason Medina is a former employee of Project Vision Hawai’i, the organization managing the facility.

Medina has been at the Pu’uhonua since the beginning and recalled witnessing some of the deaths at the shelter.

According to the Maui Police Department, it received 174 calls from the site – ranging from assaults, narcotics, to terroristic threats – leading to 59 incident reports.

MPD confirmed there have been four deaths at the facility since it opened weeks after the fires to house the pre-disaster homeless.

Medina claimed one of the deaths was a fentanyl overdose, adding drugs were initially forbidden from the grounds –- but he said that changed to a more open-door policy.

“It’s like well, you can have them in a locker, and then it evolved to well, you can’t keep track of that so people had ’em and then it went to people actually smoking fentanyl in their tents and, just as long as management doesn’t come by, a security guard, we can do this,” Medina said.

Medina mentioned he disagrees with how management handles conflict at the shelter because he believes the approach often led to violence, adding other employees left because they felt unsafe.

“It’s like, hey, let ’em duke it out and I’m very against that,” Medina said.

Area Senator Troy Hashimoto saying he’s been in talks with the Department of Human Services and is confident Project Vision will make adjustments, saying, “we take all of these things seriously, I think we want a safe environment for everyone that is there.”

While Medina questions management, he believes the site is needed and has helped prevent more deaths and curb drug use because about 120 unsheltered people have a place to stay — including Carlotta Welsh.

“It’s been a big blessing for me because I was living in an old abandoned house in Nahiku and it was really hard, it was very hard to live that way but now I’m back on top of things and it feels good,” Walsh said.

Maui County Councilmembers met this week to discuss conditions at the shelter.

Project Vision provided written responses to their questions ahead of time, saying staff complete nationally-recognized homeless and harm reduction training, there’s around the clock security at the site, as well as surveillance cameras.

The correspondence added, “we do not allow violence or substance use on site and we do have a three strike system. We talk through every issue before giving out strikes because what is at stake is being back on the streets and that is not our goal to deprive someone of their basic needs.”

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