‘Extreme Makeover’ spotlights Kalihi Valley nonprofit

As Theresa “Momi” Akana and her family watched from the Hibiscus Room of the Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu on Sunday, Sept. 30, a television audience estimated at 17 million also witnessed the premiere of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” a television production that has changed her life forever.

The two-hour kick-off of the new season of the show, which sends needy families off on vacation for seven days while community volunteers and contractors build them a brand new home, documented how the Kalihi Valley nonprofit executive director’s existing home was crumbling into a backyard creek after floodwaters weakened the foundation. After determining that a new home couldn’t be built on the same site, the show decided to build the Akana’s new home on the three-acre property owned by Keiki O Ka 'Aina Preschool, the nonprofit Akana founded in 1996.

Viewers learned that Akana was a single parent on welfare when she began serving others in the community and that her organization has helped some 9,000 families and children since she founded it.

In addition, the show built a new 4,500 square-foot learning center and offices on the same property. Brookfield Homes Hawai'i, partnered with 300 other companies and 3,000 volunteers to design and build the new 3,500 square-foot residence and preschool.

Akana and Jeffrey Prostor, president of Brookfield Homes, revealed on the day of the broadcast that  "When they went in and tore down all the buildings, they uncovered this freshwater spring," Akana said. "It was underneath all the buildings, and that's why we had a problem with dampness and mold." The spring was turned into a new loi to grow taro.

The Honolulu Advertiser reported that national exposure on "Extreme Makeover" experience has already led to potential donations and Keiki O Ka 'Aina, which serves educational needs of the Native Hawaiian community, will now be included as a regular stop by a local tour company. "For us, it means an opportunity to sell leis and fruits," Akana said.

Not that the dream hasn’t had some nightmarish aspects. Both the new house and the learning center are on land owned by the nonprofit and a lease arrangement is being worked out between Akana and Keiki O Ka 'Aina. Those arrangements are being closely watched by the Attorney General’s office and rents will be set at market rates to avoid being considered a “private benefit.”

The market-rate lease arrangements for the five-bedroom plantation-style house should also overcome criticism that arose when news stories disclosed that Akana earns more than $100,000 in a year, which is comparable to other chief executives of similar organizations, and her husband, who is an officer at a local bank, earns an estimated $125,000 a year.