| Hawaii: Japanese billionaire lending mansions to homeless |
BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhuanet) -- One of Japan's richest men is handing over the keys to eight of his 22 multi-million dollar mansions in Hawaii to eight low-income or homeless Native Hawaiian families. And billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto says they can live there -- rent free - for up to 10 years.
Tears spilled down Dorie-Ann Kahale's cheeks Thursday as she accepted the key to a white, columned house with a circular driveway, a stone staircase and a deep porcelain bathtub. Her family, which was living in a homeless shelter, will live there rent-free, but must pay utility bills.
"I'm shocked. I'm overwhelmed," Kahale said. "From the little box we had to what we have today."
Kahale became homeless two years ago when her landlord raised her rent from 800 dollars to 1,200 dollars, putting the apartment beyond reach of her salary as customer service representative for Pacific LightNet, a telecommunications company. She first stayed with relatives, then moved to a shelter in September.
"What we need to do is appreciate," Kahale said after getting the keys to her new house. "As fast as we got it, it could disappear."
Kawamoto, whose own eyes started welling up as Kahale cried, handed over two other homes Thursday to homeless or low-income families.
Native Hawaiians are disproportionately represented among the state's homeless and working poor.
Kawamoto owns dozens of office buildings in Tokyo under the name Marugen and his been buying and selling real estate in Hawaii and California since the 1980s.
He has been criticized for kicking tenants out of his rental homes on short notice so he could sell the properties, as in 2002 when he gave hundreds of California tenants 30 days to leave.
Two years later, he served eviction notices to tenants in 27 Oahu rental homes, mostly in pricey Hawaii Kai, saying they had to leave within a month. He said he wanted to sell the houses to take advantage of rising prices.
Kawamoto selected the eight low-income families from 3,000 people who wrote him letters last fall after he announced his plan. He has said he tried to pick working, single mothers.
Giving away mansions shows more dedication to helping Hawaii's homeless than just handing out wads of cash, he said. Asked whether he was concerned about losing money on the effort, he laughed and said: "This is pocket money for me."
Some neighbors are unhappy with Kawamoto's plan, speculating he wants to drive down real estate values so he can buy more homes.
"Everyone's paying homage to him, but in reality, he's the problem," said Mark Blackburn, who lives down the street from Kahale's new home. "Houses are homes. They're made to live in; they aren't investment vehicles."
He suggested the Waianae Coast, a heavily Hawaiian community on the other side of Oahu that has been hit hard by homelessness, would have been a better place for Kawamoto to carry out his charity work.
Kawamoto countered that those in the Kahala neighborhood who don't want Hawaiians next door might want to leave the islands altogether.
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