Rose Pu‘u sobbed as she thought about all of the bad choices she made that left her and her four boys on the streets of Kakaako for nearly seven years.

Then, in the next moment, Pu‘u smiled broadly as she considered a new future that begins the week of June 20 when she and her sons — ages 10 to 17 — are scheduled to move into a two-bedroom, two-bathroom “Housing First” apartment in Aiea that represents a fresh start.

Even though they’re getting financial help from the state through Aloha United Way and case management assistance from a squad of social service workers, their experience also shows that leaving a life of homelessness comes down to one person who has to be willing to change.

A year ago, Pu‘u’s then-14-year-old son was arrested for allegedly attacking state Rep. Tom Brower as Brower photographed the sprawling homeless encampment around the University of Hawaii medical school and Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center in Kakaako, where the family was living.

As the anniversary of the June 29 attack approaches, Pu‘u and her family represent one small sign of hope that Honolulu can make a dent in the highest per capita rate of homelessness in the nation.

Pu‘u said the assault case against her son is still working its way through Family Court, where proceedings are confidential.

Her son, Pu‘u said, “don’t understand what he’s looking at,” adding, “I jus’ no like see my son go prison.”

Through tears, Pu‘u considered the directions his life can take next: a guilty verdict and possible jail time, or a chance to live with his mother and brothers in Aiea, where he would attend Aiea High School as a senior in the fall.

“The mistake I made was bringing my kids to the street,” Pu‘u, 47, said. “I don’t like go back to that life.”

Pu‘u, a Farrington High School graduate, had been on her own since age 15 and went through a series of bad relationships that included 16 years of domestic abuse and time spent in a domestic violence shelter with her boys, whose father recently was released from Halawa prison.

Six and a half years ago, she was living with an abuser on the streets of Waikiki when a social service outreach worker led Pu‘u and her boys to the Next Step shelter in Kakaako.

But Pu‘u said she and her family constantly lost their possessions in the shelter, including the boys’ birth certificates, and they had to find someplace else to go during the day.

So, like hundreds of others, they set up camp along the Kakaako shoreline as the city began ramping up efforts to keep the homeless out of financial centers such as Waikiki, Chinatown and downtown. The efforts, starting in 2014, ended up funneling more homeless people into Kakaako.

Rebooting life

The beginning of Pu‘u’s journey out of Kakaako began in March when she made the agonizing decision to move off the streets and into the city’s Hale Mauliola transitional housing complex on Sand Island.

Hale Mauliola doesn’t allow children.

So Pu‘u had to temporarily give up the thing she cherishes the most, her children, in order to reboot her life.

Like many of the turning points in her life, Pu‘u’s decision was triggered by violence.

The son accused of attacking Brower had just graduated from a Kakaako program for at-risk youth and the family was preparing a graduation barbecue in his honor in Kakaako. But suddenly a fight broke out and Pu‘u’s son was in the middle of another brawl.

Pu‘u said it was up to her to make a change, because “I don’t want my kids going back down there.”

She has seven children, including three older daughters. The youngest daughter and oldest boy are separated by a gap of 10 years.

The oldest child, a 31-year-old daughter, still lives in the Kakaako encampment with her boyfriend. The four boys are living with their paternal grandmother in the Mayor Wright public housing project until they can be reunited with Pu‘u in Aiea.

Since it opened in November, Hale Mauliola has taken in 150 homeless people. Sixty have since moved into long-term housing, according to Faitolo Ueligitone, Hale Mauliola’s resident assistant with the Institute of Human Services, which runs the transitional housing complex for the city.

Pu‘u’s boys can’t wait until their mother also moves out of Hale Mauliola and into their new apartment.

“They’re constantly asking me, ‘Mom did you get it, did you get it?’” Pu‘u said.

Optimistic of success

There’s no reason Pu‘u and her sons shouldn’t succeed, said Gracie Suaglar, an IHS housing specialist who is helping the family along with their IHS caseworker, Antovise Connor. Catholic Charities Hawaii also is lining up Pu‘u’s apartment.

Through IHS’ Hele-to-Work program, Pu‘u is getting a part-time job with a security company, Suaglar said. As she settles in, eventually Pu‘u will move up to full-time work, she added.

Helping Hands Hawaii will furnish her new apartment, Suaglar said, and IHS will cover Pu‘u’s 30 percent share of $1,450 monthly rent for four months.

Pu‘u also will get financial help from the $4.7 million that the state is funding through Aloha United Way to directly help homeless families get into long-term housing.

“We are covering security deposits, first month’s rent and/or security deposits for utilities or another month’s rent — up to three total payments,” said Jay King, program manager, housing community impact for AUW. “That’s when IHS’ program kicks in. This is how we fit together so well. We’re trying to break the silos that we have worked in and this is the coordinated part.”

After her initial financial assistance, Pu‘u will be required to pay 30 percent of her income to her landlord under her Housing First agreement. The balance of her rent will be covered by government vouchers.

AUW officials have said that all clients who receive state money through AUW must have a financially sustainable plan to stay in their housing once the financial assistance runs out.

IHS is also working with the Department of Education to enroll Pu‘u’s boys in middle and high school in Aiea.

“We want to help her with all of her basic needs,” Suaglar said.

IHS will work with Pu‘u and the boys for up to a year, but that’s flexible.

“We want to make sure the family’s doing OK, that there are no concerns or issues, that she is following her plan to get employment and getting the children registered for the school district and the kids are healthy,” Suaglar said. “If she needs more resources, we’re here for her.”

But the decision to change her life rests solely with Pu‘u, Suaglar said.

“It wasn’t complicated because she came to me knowing what her mistakes were,” she said. “She was ready to receive services and that’s the key. We can offer as many services as there are out there, but the individual or family has to be ready. I believe she’s committed 110 percent.”

Brower (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana-Kakaako) has not been involved in the criminal assault case against Pu‘u’s son. And he has not had contact with the family since Pu‘u confronted Brower last July in Kakaako as the legislator held a press conference to tell reporters he was pressing charges.

When told last week about the changes in Pu‘u’s life, Brower expressed optimism.

“I’m very happy for everyone,” he said. “This seems like a very positive beginning for the whole family and we’re looking forward to exciting things in the future.”

Honolulu’s homeless situation “seems to be getting worse now,” Brower said. “But people can really get out of it if they make that first step through the shelter system.”

In the Kakaako encampment, Pu‘u would tell her sons: “Look up and down the street and what do you see? Nothing but tents. That street life ain’t no life.”

Now Pu‘u is looking ahead.

And she sees a new job, a new apartment and a new beginning.