$600,000 Earmarked for Cameron Center Renovation

The J. Walter Cameron Center. Courtesy file photo.

J. Cameron Center Executive Director Cesar Gaxiola announced that the facility will receive $600,000 from the state budget recently passed by the legislature pending the signature of Gov. David Ige.

Gaxiola expressed praise and appreciation for the unified efforts of Maui’s state legislative House and Senate delegations for their support of the Cameron Center’s 2016 Grant-in-Aid Capitol Improvement Project funding request.

“We are grateful for the continued support of our legislators and Gov. Ige,” said Gaxiola. “In 2014, then Sen. Ige was chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, and he supported our GIA/CIP request and responded positively to the advocacy of our Maui elected representatives.

“We look forward to the governor’s release of the current $600,000 in order to complete the repair and renovation project without any undue and costly construction delays,” said Gaxiola.

“We want to acknowledge the leadership role played by Rep. Joe Souki, Rep. Justin Woodson and Sen. Gil Keith-Agaran,” Gaxiola continued. “They were strongly supported by Sen. Roz Baker, Sen. J. Kalani English, Rep. Lynn DeCoite, Rep. Angus McKelvey, Rep. Kyle Yamashita and Rep. Kaniela Ing. Without the support of the Maui team, we would never have been funded.”

According to Gaxiola, the 2016 GIA/CIP project is the final phase of a five-year program to address serious health and safety issues due to the age (40-year old) of the Cameron Center’s buildings and the critical need to incorporate technological improvements in energy efficiency and building cooling and ventilation.

The 2016 GIA-CIP funding will nearly reach the final amount needed to complete the overall five-year $7.3 million repair and renovation project on the Cameron Center.

In 2014 the legislature budgeted $2.225 million toward the project.

Cameron Center serves very low-, low- and moderate-income individuals and families.

Of the estimated 30,000 residents served annually by programs operated by the center’s resident social and human services agencies, including homeless prevention and mitigation programs, 33% earn equal to or below 30% of Maui’s median household income, 25% earn below 50% of the median household income and 25% earn at or below 80% of the median household income.

This means 83% of persons with access to the center’s resident agencies are considered very low-, low- and/or moderate-income persons.