Our History

The Legacy of the “Peanut Butter Ministry”

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing in 1978? George Ariyoshi was Governor and Frank Fasi was the Mayor of Honolulu. On a hot summer day that year, one man was so moved by the need of his fellow citizens that sat in a storefront in Chinatown, and invited those passing by in for a hot cup of coffee and a peanut butter sandwich. It was the Reverend Claude Du Teil’s 58th birthday, and he was sowing the seeds of compassion that eventually grew to become IHS.

Fr. Du Teil, the charismatic pastor of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Kailua, recognized a need in the community and stepped forward to offer what he had: time, compassion, a will to help others, and, on most days, peanut butter sandwiches. Dubbed the “Peanut Butter Ministry,” the project was an outgrowth of Episcopal Bishop Browning’s Commission on Alcoholism, which was convened to find humane solutions for the problem of alcoholism.

With the help of Peter Giberson and Rick Loyd, two volunteer counselors who had gained their counseling skills by having successfully completed the Salvation Army’s Addiction Treatment Facility’s rehabilitation program themselves, Du Teil opened a drop-in center on Smith Street.

The center was open seven days-a-week and saw an average of 60 people each day. They offered peanut butter sandwiches three times a day, and on Friday and Saturday at 6pm, Fr. Richard Rubie organized a hot meal. The Hawaii Council of Churches funded the meals. In 1982, IHS “incorporated” as a private, non-profit agency, and continued to succeed with the ongoing help of donations and volunteers from the faith-based community.

Locations Changes

Locations changed fairly frequently back then. IHS even spent a few months operating out of St. Andrew’s Cathedral Tenney Theater stage area, before relocating “to the intense annoyance of the businesses downtown” at 49 S. Beretania St on Fort Street Mall. When a fire burned IHS out of that location in 1983, Mayor Fasi made the 127 N. Beretania St. (an abandoned bathhouse) available for three years until it was torn down. In April 1986, IHS moved to the present location of the Iwilei Men’s Shelter at 350 Sumner St., which was built expressly for IHS with the help of city and federal funding.

Back in 1987 at the Iwilei location, IHS slept 250 – 300 people per night; men on the first floor and women and children upstairs. In addition, 3600 to 4800 meals were served each week with all food donated by businesses, restaurants, and churches. Forty churches generously took turns cooking meals. In July 1, 1988, the Dr. Joseph Lucas Medical Clinic at IHS was dedicated in honor of the first doctor that regularly visited IHS until he retired.

Leadership Changes

Leadership changed over the years. On July 1, 1990, on his 69th birthday and the agency’s 11th anniversary, Fr. Du Teil named the Rev. Richard Rowe, an Episcopal priest from Wahiawa and IHS Managing Director, as his successor. Rowe became Interim Director when Du Teil became ill with Parkinson’s and was hospitalized with the shingles virus.

Rowe resigned his position as Interim Executive Director on April 30, 1991. The Rev. Lee Kiefer, formerly the agency’s Executive Assistant, was then appointed as Acting Director replacing Rowe. Kiefer served until 1992 when the Board hired Deborah Morikawa as Executive Director. Lynn Maunakea succeeded her on January 1, 1997 and resigned in December of 2005. Sherry Chong served as Interim Executive Director until June of 2006 when the board hired current Executive Director Connie Mitchell.

Second Shelter

In 1997, with the help of an operating grant from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, IHS opened a second shelter at 546 Ka‘aahi St.   This fulfilled a vision that Fr. Claude had for a separate shelter that solely served women, and families with children.

IHS Today

Today, IHS continues to operate two shelters. We sleep up to 200 individuals at the Iwilei Men’s Shelter, up to 100 single women and as many as 26-30 families (including up to 60 children) at the Ka‘aahi St. Shelter. Today, 600-700 meals are served daily between breakfast, lunch and dinner. Many of the original churches continue to serve meals at IHS.

Service Collaborations

In recent years, collaborations with agencies providing their services at the IHS locations have grown. Kalihi-Palama Health Center operates a medical clinic through the Health Care for the Homeless Program at the Ka’aahi shelter, providing both medical and mental health care for guests.

Students from the University of Hawaii Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and Hawaii Pacific University nursing students also provide outreach, education, and follow up care to guests and homeless persons in nearby parks.

The Veteran’s Administration is on-site regularly to outreach and serve veterans. Hina Mauka offers outreach, treatment, and substance abuse education.  Honolulu Community Action program (HCAP) provides Headstart activities for toddlers. Both Legal Aid and the Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii provide free legal assistance. In addition, IHS also hosts regular 12-Step Program meetings on-site.

Towards the Solution: Supportive Housing

Another major change within the last few years was the movement to expand and develop specialized case management teams, who work with partnering agencies, to provide integrated services to address the special needs of our guests. Today, IHS has grown to increasingly understand what will work better to help the various segments of the homeless population, and whenever possible it implements evidence-based practices (EBP), and what are known as “best practices”. Currently, a more strategic effort is underway using data that we collect and analyze to triage and place our guests. We now know that permanent housing that is enhanced with services is the goal for many of our guests, including the ones who have been homeless for many years.

All this is done with the same love and compassion that Du Teil had for the homeless when he founded IHS. This is both his legacy, and our future.

On July 1st, 2011, The Rev. Du Teil would have been 91 years old. Thank you, Fr. Du Teil — and Happy Birthday, IHS!