What Is Kolapa?
Kolapa is a Hawaiian word that has more then one meaning. Some say it's the name of a cross-bow, others have told us that it's perhaps a crossing in the trail, perhaps the trail of life. Some have even told me that it's Jesus cross, but for us, it's simply the name of the street where we bought the first 'Sober Living House' in Molokai, Hawaii. This is where the dream began...
A little seven bedroom house on Kolapa Street or "Kolapa Place" that was build for the immigrant workers in the pineapple fields (more than sixty years ago).
The 'Kolapa House of Charity', as people called it, was named by the hundreds of homeless and needy transients who found shelter through it's doors.
The home, and it's founder Steven Jenkins, offered health classes to the homeless, and addicts, lifestyle workshops to the upper class focusing on preventative diseases like: Heart disease, cancer, and others.
The home because known for it's vegan meals served to anyone who needed food, (at any time) at a little deli with no fees charged.
The project started as a social experiment to see what would happen if someone were to assist anyone in need of housing, food, and clothes. Those who started this project did not have money, only a dream of love, compassion, and random acts of kindness for a small special island.
The market crash of 2008, brought the dream to a unexpected halt, but the dream didn't die, it continues and now people all over the world are using the name 'Kolapa', as a part of a global effort to assist the poor by teaching them basic principles the bring about a better life, not just to survive, but the thrive.
Kolapa is still in the developing stages and it's visionaries are eager to have your ideas implanted into this growing concept of people working together to bring hope to the sad, the lonely, and to those who feel lost, and without hope. If you have ideas please send them to us at: kolapathinktank@gmail.com
