Harry S. Kawabe, successful entrepreneur and community leader, saw a need for affordable housing for seniors. Kawabe is the realization of this dream. It was built in 1972 as a HUD Senior Housing complex and was designed for independent senior adults who want to enjoy a lifestyle filled with recreational, educational and social activities with the convenience and security of community living.

Kawabe is a private non-profit organization governed by a corporate Board of Directors consisting of nine individuals.  Kawabe Memorial House provides quality, secure affordable housing and culturally sensitive programs and services to fulfill the vision, legacy, and philosophy of Mr. & Mrs. Harry Kawabe.  Although it is independent living, there are a variety of supportive services including: arranging transportation to doctors, grocery shopping, housekeeping and group recreational outings; full Korean and Japanese translating services; one daily meal; monthly visits by a nurse for complete health screening; Tai chi; a full schedule of activities such as calligraphy, flower arranging, bingo, birthday parties, shigin (Japanese singing), etc. They also have a computer center for the tenants’ use that has both Korean and Japanese language capabilities. There is an in-house social worker.

Partnering with many groups in the community, Kawabe has opened their facility to as many as 28 community groups for classes and activities. The residents can take free classes, and those in the community can participate in low cost classes and activities. Kawabe is an International Nutrition Site, offering a lunch program, Monday-Friday, for those community members 60 years and older, serving on average 35 people a day. Menus are translated into English, Japanese and Korean. This year Kawabe was chosen to be one of eleven sites for the Central Area Garden tour, for their beautifully renovated garden area. The residents maintain the flowers, as they have a strong sense of community and see Kawabe as their home.

There is an incredible sense of community among the residents, which is evident in the support they give for the special projects at Kawabe. They helped raise $10,000 for the garden restoration project by holding bake sales and rummage sales.  With the help of an Arts grant, the residents assembled a panel to choose an artist who designed sixteen postcards that tell life pieces of some of the residents. The postcard captions are printed in two languages. With the aid of another grant, the residents are recording their life stories in mixed languages to be shared at listening stations installed at Kawabe.

Kawabe is a low-income housing facility that has developed a variety of funding alternatives. They have established a foundation to accept donations, money from fundraisers and grants to help with renovation projects. Kawabe sells granites and benches in their garden as memorials as well as opening their facility for memorial services. In the future, Kawabe Memorial House would like to be able to assist with resident rent from funds collected through their foundation.

Residents have a strong sense of community and there are frequent parties to celebrate their fundraising milestones, birthdays and other special occasions. In October 2003, they will have a party honoring forty residents that have lived fifteen years or more at Kawabe. All meetings are translated into English, Japanese and Korean as many residents do not speak English, so the pace is slower and more relaxed.

As a nonprofit organization, Kawabe is first and foremost mission driven. They are always providing comfort and support to the residents. They include the residents in the decision-making processes of the many projects and have a twelve member Residents’ Council.