Cleanup making way for Sunrise Farm Community
By MELISSA TANJI, Staff Writer

PAIA – Around 25 people began clearing a Paia property on Sunday to make way for Maui’s first farm community for developmentally disabled adults.

Parents and volunteers cleaned up a portion of the 12-acre lot along Baldwin Avenue to make way for the Sunrise Farm Community of Maui, where adults with developmental disabilities will live, learn and work with others.

“It’s amazing,” said Andrea Hall Rodgers, executive director of the La’a Kea Foundation, which has spent years trying to put together the farm community.

Rodgers took a breather from the cleanup to watch volunteers load a donated Matson container with rubbish and weeds. So far, 3 acres had been cleared.

A Maui Community Correctional Center work crew has also helped prepare the site for the farm community, Rodgers said.

Along with the cleanup on Sunday, officials held a blessing ceremony, and a sign was erected on the site.

Mayor Alan Arakawa, who helped the foundation lease county property above the Doris Todd Memorial Christian School, also was on hand to work with volunteers.

In September, the Maui County Council approved a $1-a-year, renewable 55-year lease on the land for the organization.

Plans for the estimated $12 million project call for building a barn and homes for residents and caregivers, and for programs, including a farmers market and vocational opportunities.

Rodgers said work on the project will be done in phases, with the first phase featuring a six- to 10-bedroom home and a barn.

Organizers hope the community will be self-sustaining, and it will create a “bridge” between the community farm and the extended Maui community. Sunrise Farm activities are expected to include farming, crafts and daily living.

La’a Kea Foundation Board President Donna Ting said the project is especially important as there are an estimated 1,400 adults with special needs in Maui County, and, 25 special needs students graduate from high school every year.

“They need a place to live,” Ting said.

Rodgers said just a small percentage of those with special needs have a chance for residential placement outside their parents’ homes.

The project also fills a vital need for developmentally disabled adults who need housing just like everyone else, said Ting, a Realtor.

“They are people who will never afford it,” Ting said.

She said the foundation is progressing slowly on the project because officials want the project to be debt free.

Rodgers said the foundation is working on an environmental assessment for the project, which also needs a water meter.

She said the foundation’s board expects groundbreaking in spring 2008, and they aim to have the project ready for its first residents by fall 2008.

In the meantime, Rodgers said a temporary fence will be erected to protect the property from people illegally dumping old cars, appliances and other rubbish. So far, 13 derelict cars have been found on the property along with rooster cages, television sets, basketball hoops and other debris.

The cleanup event was also part of the Great American Cleanup with the help of volunteers from Community Work Day.

Nicole Ristigian, 16, and her mother, Nancy, were both helping clean up the property on Sunday.

“This is an awesome program,” Ristigian said, as Nicole, who has disabilities, enjoyed a slice of watermelon.

She said she had thought of moving to the Mainland, but when she learned about the Sunrise Farm community for Nicole to live and thrive at, she decided to stay put in Makawao.

“It’s really important. It’s close to me,” she said of the Paia farm’s location.

Rodgers said participants, such as Nicole, will be able to help create and build the farm community, which will give them a “sense of accomplishment.”

The Sunrise Farm Community is inspired by the Camphill movement, which has established more than 100 Camphill communities in 22 countries. The Camphill model focuses on each person’s abilities, not disabilities, and Camphill community members teach and learn from one another.

To help with future cleanups, make a donation, or for more information, call 281-3463 or visit the foundation’s Web site at www.laakea.org.

Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.