About 20 homeless people from five families will take up residence today at the Civic Center emergency homeless shelter in Wai'anae — marking the beginning of a new chapter in the Wai'anae Coast's homeless saga.

The opening of the $6.5 million, 300-bed facility signals the launch of the state's most ambitious effort to stem the tide of homelessness that has swelled along 16 miles of western O'ahu coastline.

Several homeless individuals who were given a tour of the facility Tuesday came away impressed.

Stan Maka, 55, who has lived on the beach for two years, had been skeptical about leaving to enter a shelter. Although he won't be among the first group scheduled to become shelter residents today, he was ecstatic after completing the walk-through.

"I wasn't sure at first, but after taking the tour I was really surprised," he said. "It was good. I thought it was going to be small rooms. But they're not small.

"I'll have my own room, and I'll have my own key to the room. I'll be able to take a hot shower."

The round-the-clock emergency shelter will be operated by U.S. Vets Hawai'i in partnership with five area homeless service providers.

Darryl Vincent, site director for the lead agency, described what's happening at the shelter today as a "soft opening." He said there would be an official opening in a couple of weeks when the facility is fully operational. Meanwhile, work crews will be putting final touches on the shelter.

"This is just to get things rolling," said Vincent. "We're not completely staffed up yet. We're just taking a few folks in to test out the process, basically. We're going to have our grand opening in mid-March when we're completely up and running."

Vincent said the first priority will be getting families into the shelter, although the facility will house couples and singles as well.

Since U.S. Vets has thus far provided services exclusively to O'ahu's homeless veterans, Vincent said the initial Civic Center selection process would depend on the recommendations of the partnering service providers that already know and work with the area's homeless families.

"They're the gatekeepers," he said. "So anyone who wants to come into the program would go to them and the agency would do a referral process — screen the families, keep basic demographic information and so forth.

"We want to make sure that we're working with families that are really on the beach and from the community."

Kaulana Park, the governor's point man for solving the coast's homeless crisis, said the shelter will go a long way in giving those who have been living in beach tents a chance at a better life.

"For everybody involved, this has been about giving them (the beach inhabitants) a sense of place — a place that they can call home, a place where they can get into programs and services, not only for themselves but for their children.

"There will be a number of organizations coming in to help them on the path to self-sufficiency."

Shelter personnel will evaluate the financial, substance abuse or mental problems facing residents and assign them to programs and experts who can assist in moving back into the social mainstream and finding jobs.

It will not be a free ride. Residents will be expected to pay program fees ranging from $120 a month for singles, to $180 for families of two or three, to $216 a month for larger families.

The fees will be discounted during the residents' first three months — $80, $120 and $144, respectively — and those with no means to pay will be offered assistance through loans, special funds or waivers. Or they might be required to perform community service work.

Spartan cubicle room sizes range from 8 feet by 10 feet, to 12 by 12. Weekday breakfasts and dinners will be provided, with late breakfast/early lunch bags available on weekends. Outdoor barbecue areas will allow residents to prepare meals on site.

Venise Lewis, who also toured the shelter this week, was impressed, too.

"The rooms are bigger than our tent," she said. "I like the setup."

"It beats the beach, that's one thing for sure," added Alice Greenwood, a pure Hawaiian woman who became homeless on July 15 after her landlord sold the home she had rented for three decades.

"They have a facility where we can gather and where our children can do homework. And they also have computers so that we can go online.

"I think this is terrific."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.