YWCA of Hawai‘i Island Aims to Transform Its Historic Hilo Campus

The nonprofit has so far received $2.8 million of its $6 million Phase 1 goal.

The YWCA of Hawai‘i Island has been serving the community with valuable programs from its downtown Hilo location for 105 years. It’s now launched an ambitious campaign to raise $21 million to transform that historic campus.

The nonprofit says it serves about 3,000 individuals and families each year through a preschool, a Healthy Families program that serves expectant parents and caregivers of newborns, and support services for sexual assault survivors.

Most preschool classes are in a 2,500-square-foot wooden cottage built in 1926 as a private home. The YWCA’s campus also includes a community pool that closed in 2013.

The preschool cottage “has been very well utilized for almost 100 years, and the buildings that we will be renovating are for the most part completely unusable,” says CEO Kathleen McGilvray.

The site’s last major renovation was in the 1980s when the community helped rebuild the YWCA’s program center after arson destroyed the original building.

The goal of the $21 million campaign – called Building a Bright Future for Our Keiki, Families & Community – is to transform the YWCA’s historic campus in three phases. So far, almost half of the $6 million Phase 1 budget has been raised.

When the Hawai‘i Island branch of the YWCA launched in 1919, the county had less than one-third of today’s population, says state Sen. Herbert M. “Tim” Richards III, chair of the leadership committee for the YWCA’s fundraising campaign. “We need to build for a brighter future, which means taking care of our next generation, the keiki.”

The YWCA says its plans call for a new preschool, a multipurpose building and a small housing complex with 10 units for the community’s most vulnerable women and families.

The preschool will feature four dedicated classrooms for children ages 2 to 5, shaded outdoor play areas, covered walkways and a commercial kitchen to support expanded meal service and nutritional education.

“There’s a huge need for child care, especially quality child care and the kind of transformative work our teachers do. And now they will have a beautiful new facility that they deserve, a preschool that’s worthy of our children,” says McGilvray.

In Phase 1, underway now, the pool is being demolished and the preschool expanded. Architect Fleming & Associates expects the first phase to be completed by summer 2026. The preschool is currently at capacity with 90 students and a full waitlist. The new campus will accommodate 130 children.

“Preschool is critical for children’s development, socialization and serves a critical workforce need. Moms and dads can’t work if they don’t have a safe and accredited place to take their children,” McGilvray says. “We are setting children up for success. They are ready to learn. We hear that all the time from kindergarten teachers.”

The Healthy Families staff works with parents on individual and family needs, as well as their babies’ developmental stages and screenings, and connects them with information and support resources. The services are free and confidential.

Since the 1970s, the YWCA has also supported victims of sexual assault. The YWCA says its program is open 24/7 and is the only rape crisis center on the island with short-term crisis intervention and long-term confidential counseling. It also helps with forensic exams and decisions on whether to file police reports.

The fundraising campaign seeks support from government grants, foundations, businesses and individuals.

The YWCA is located just down the road from the Palace Theater, at a historic crossroads. “From a development standpoint, this is a really exciting project in the downtown area. With its high visibility, I think this is going to be a really pivotal project for the revitalization of downtown Hilo,” McGilvray says.