Page 33 of Big Island Horizons
“Murals are hardly maintenance.”
‘Olena took a deep breath and reigned in her temper. “What do I need to do to keep the doors open?”
“Well, apparently the Council was under the impression that a nonprofit organization would be taking over the responsibility of running the center. When they got word that there was no such organization, they revoked their permission for use of county property.”
“So we need to partner with a nonprofit?” The wheels in her mind began to turn as she brought to mind all of the local nonprofits she could think of. Was the soup line a nonprofit, she wondered. No, just a community organization. Why did there have to be so much red tape?
“An accredited nonprofit, yes. It would have to assume responsibility for the building. Of course, the building and land would still be county property.”
‘Olena ground her teeth together, wishing that she had never started this project in the first place, wishing that she had found a different space to use for her co-op.
But this building was right in the center of Pualena, a two-minute walk from her new home.
And more importantly, it was a true community center. Elders depended on it. With no library in Pualena, the community center acted as a place of refuge for kids after school and for people without internet access who needed to search for jobs or find housing.
It mattered. And she wasn’t going to let it sit empty.
“So I’ll start a nonprofit,” she said.
“What was that?” Hana asked. “I can hardly hear you.”
“Tell the council that I’m in the process of creating my own nonprofit.”
“Are you really?”
“Yes. I’ll check back in once I have a solid timeline.”
“It can’t be just you, you know. You’ll need a board of directors.”
“Of course,” ‘Olena said. “I’m just finalizing that now.”
“Oh. Well, that is good news. I’ll let the council know.”
“Thank you.”
She disconnected the call and stood looking out at the pouring rain.
So. A nonprofit. She could do that.
What was one more thing on her to-do list?
“Mom!” Kiki shrieked. “Derek stuck his tongue out at me!”
‘Olena sighed and went to diffuse the situation. Compared to managing this lot, running a nonprofit would be a walk in the park.
12
Tara
The rain was coming down in sheets, which meant that Tara was wearing a raincoat and boots to do her usual evening chores. Not her usual waterproof muck boots, but actual rain boots that came most of the way up to her knee. If she had tried to wear her usual shoes, she would have lost them in the mud.
It had taken years to build this soil up on top of the lava rock, and she was grateful for the fertile ground… usually.
Until a particularly heavy rainstorm hit and her land turned into one enormous, treacherous mud pit.
Once the animals were finally squared away, she tromped back towards the house. She paused at the aviary on her way back, but she couldn’t see the macaws through the heavy rain. The sun hadn’t set yet, but with the heavy layer of storm clouds above it was nearly dark as night.
She was tempted to bring Lucy and Ricky inside, but they had weathered plenty of storms before this one. They were rainforest birds, after all.
