On the morning of Saturday, Jan. 13, as a false alert warning of an incoming ballistic missile unleashed panic and confusion across the state, Monique Yamashita began filling water jugs at her Wailuku home — while calmly giving instructions over the phone to the on-duty operations director at Ka Hale A Ke Ola (KHAKO) Homeless Resource Centers. “I called to ask if everyone was OK and told him to get all of the residents indoors,” she said. “I wanted to get to the shelter and help, but it was an internal struggle to stay with my family or help the shelter residents.”

Yamashita is the executive director of KHAKO, and the nearly 1,200 men, women and children who stay in the nonprofit organization’s two shelters are always at the forefront of her mind. “Even when I’m not there, I’m thinking about them,” she said.

Thirty-two years ago, KHAKO opened the doors to its first facility… (to read more, please click on the link below)

http://www.mauinews.com/opinion/columns/2018/05/where-her-heart-is/