KAUNAKAKAI, Moloka'i — The Hana Ka Lima drop-in center for people with mental illnesses and addiction issues on Moloka'i will get a $150,000 makeover next weekend, courtesy of the Rotary of Metropolitan Honolulu.

Nearly 50 Rotarians will travel to Moloka'i to work with community members in renovating a 720-square-foot building to create a large dining and fellowship room, and a certified kitchen with a pantry. The other 720-square-foot building on the Kaunakakai property will provide space for administrative staff and job skills, education and other programs, as well as a music room.

Other improvements include a landscaped garden with native plants, a ramp for wheelchair use, a lu'au-gathering place, and a community vegetable garden with a tool shed.

"We're so excited to take this project on, as it will truly be an 'extreme makeover' that will benefit so many people in an underserved area," said Kathleen Merriam, Metro Rotary's project leader. "These improvements will make it possible to help more people, and for the state to allocate more resources, most likely doubling the staff to offer more services and longer hours to those who really need it."

The Hana Ka Lima ("Many Hands Working Together") center, operated by the Adult Mental Health Division of the state Department of Health, serves 10 to 12 people a day.

State social worker and Hana Ka Lima director Joe Childs said the improved facilities will boost clients' self-esteem and allow the center to increase the number of referrals it accepts from medical and mental-health professionals on the island.

The improvements also could enable the drop-in center to become a full-fledged clubhouse, a voluntary, member-driven psychosocial rehabilitation program for adults with mental illness. The international clubhouse program was developed as a support system for people living with mental illness, rather than as a service or a treatment program.

There are 10 state-run clubhouses in Hawai'i that help more than 1,000 people annually. Hana Ka Lima would be the first clubhouse on Moloka'i.

"Our hope is that through these improvements, this Hana Ka Lima will be able to eventually serve breakfast, lunch and some dinners to members, and perhaps even prepare bentos for local fundraisers," said Merriam, who also is the psychosocial rehabilitation coordinator for the statewide Clubhouse system.

"With more resources, the center will be able to have more consistent and longer operating hours. There are 88 people registered on Moloka'i as suffering from mental illness and/or drug abuse. This center will go a long way toward helping these people in need."

Others involved in helping the center include Bill Aki and Lani Song, who sold the land to Moloka'i Community Service Council in April at a $230,000 discount. The council, with Hana Ka Lima, also obtained a $19,000 county grant that was used by Metro Rotary to purchase building and garden supplies for the project. The Rotary group also is donating $5,000 in funding and $125,000 in architectural, building and landscaping services.

In-kind sponsors include Architectural Diagnostics Ltd., Bradley Pacific Aviation Inc., Darcey Builders, Native Plant Source, New Hope Church, Trans Air and Young Brothers.

Additional in-kind donations and supplies are needed, including landscaping plants, gardening supplies, a 3-by-6-foot wooden sign, office and outdoor furniture, paver stones, storage shed, laptop computers, whiteboard with dry-erase markers, book shelves, pop-up tents or canopies, motion-activated lights and security lights, curtain rods and window treatments, air-conditioning units, a flat-screen television, and a riding mower.

To donate, call Merriam at 721-0748.