Hawaii’s latest tiny home “kauhale” community will house 50 homeless people on Middle Street.

Ho‘okahi Leo — or “a community with one voice” — was built using units relocated from Hawaii’s first “medical respite kauhale,” which went up temporarily in 2023 near the governor’s mansion and across from The Queen’s Medical Center as a pilot project for discharged homeless patients too frail to heal properly on the street.

A blessing ceremony held Thursday for the Middle Street kauhale was attended by Gov. Josh Green, kauhale developer HomeAid Hawai‘i and the Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, which will operate it.

The new kauhale “will provide housing for people in the community who are houseless and would benefit from community building, cultural, and clinical support,” Green’s office said in a news release.

As lieutenant governor, Green shepherded the creation of Hawaii’s first homeless kauhale in Kalaeloa. He oversaw the first kauhale of his administration off of Punchbowl, followed by a second one that opened Friday in Kaneohe near Windward Community College called Ka Malu Koolau designed to help homeless people with mental health needs.

Green has pledged to reduce Hawaii’s homeless population by half during his term, and has just entered his second year in office.

“When our unhoused neighbors have a roof over their heads, without time limits or other conditions that force them back to the streets, they are healthier, and so are our communities. Like the other two kauhale we have established in our term, this kauhale is an intentional community. It will serve as a healing home for many people, creating a village for people to support one another and make them feel like they are home,” Green said.

Hawaii’s homeless coordinator, John Mizuno, said in a statement that “Ho‘okahi Leo will address the significant lack of deeply affordable community spaces, that until now has meant that homeless people were often cycled in and out of temporary shelters, waiting for housing they can afford. This project and the Governor’s broader Kauhale Initiative will fill this gap, providing both deep affordability and a sense of community.”

Ho‘okahi Leo will include clinical, cultural and social service support, hygiene trailers, a laundry facility and around-the-clock security.

HomeAid Hawai‘i has built all of Hawaii’s kauhale.

Executive Director Kimo Carvalho said in a statement that the Middle Street kauhale would have cost $1.7 million, but donated materials and labor from HomeAid Hawai‘i reduced the price tag by $500,000.