KALAELOA — What was once a military office building at the old Barbers Point Naval Air Station is now home to some 30 families who had been living on Leeward beaches.

State homeless solutions team coordinator Kaulana Park said about 150 people began moving into the three-story transitional shelter on Oct. 19, and another 50 to 70 are expected to move there in November when the first-floor renovations are complete. Yesterday, the families and the community got together to dedicate the new facility.

Roxanne Bustamante said the shelter means she can concentrate better at work, knowing her big family is home safe. All together, she and her husband, Bert, have 15 children ranging in age from 6 to 28. He had four when they met, she had three and together they had eight more, he said.

Bert credits hard-working Roxanne for keeping the family going during these hard times. "She was my backbone." The Bustamantes lived at Nanakuli Beach Park for more than nine months.

He sees the shelter as a new beginning that he wasn't counting on. "I was raised up to trust nobody," he said. "I got a chance to start my life over."

For their 13-year-old daughter, Petriana Bustamante, the new place already has been a big change for the better. The family has a bathroom to shower in, and, "we don't have to sleep on sand, " she said. Petriana and her brothers and sisters start classes at a new school nearby this week.

The tile-floored units are small — ranging from 190 to 230 square feet — and plain: furnished with beds, a refrigerator, microwave oven and dressers with drawers. But they're air-conditioned and families also have access to common kitchens, mens' and women's restrooms and showers and laundry rooms.

Bert Bustamante throws his arms wide and proud when giving a mini-tour of the three rooms shared by his family: "This is real life," he said.

Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday dedicated the shelter at Kalaeloa, which is designed to take in those who have been living on the beaches and in the parks of O'ahu's Leeward Coast. She said the state began moving people in this month even though the renovations for the rest of the building aren't done yet.

She said the state moved ahead with the dedication — complete with food cooked by residents, entertainment, prayer and a lot of smiles — because it was a step forward, not to schedule the event before Election Day.

"Every day we could take them off the beach was a blessing to them," Lingle said. "We didn't want to wait."

The new shelter is called Onelau'ena, which means a place where all necessities of life can be found.

Together, the celebrants wove long strands of lei together and sang:

Weave one heart from the many strands, E haku I ka pu'u wai, God we praise through our working hands, O kahaku o ka pu'u wai. Weave us as 'ohana . . . weave us as one family . . . weave our gifts and talents . . . weave our dreams and vision.

(The song is "Weave One Heart - E Haku I Ka Pu'u Wai," by Marty Haugen and Joe Camacho.)

Wai'anae Community Outreach executive director Kanani Bulawan said the organization is running the shelter with the idea of offering "a hand up and not a handout."

And Bulawan said residents appreciate what that means. "Nothing is free, there is a cost for everything."

The shelter offers classes, skills development, job placement, education and other services and the organization works to help residents get out on their own. As the residents participate, they earn "village bucks" to redeem for rental fees that they would normally pay. Eventually, Bulawan said, they will pay to stay based on their income.

Caroline Soaladaob and Jeremiah Lopez, who have nine children, said that spirit makes all the difference. They count themselves lucky that they spent only about eight weeks on the beach. But Soaladaob said they spent the previous 18 months as part of the "hidden homeless" moving from family to family. Rent for a four-bedroom house would have taken nearly all of their $1,700-a-month income, she said.

Lopez said it makes a big difference to feel they are working with people who want to guide them to success not tell them how to live. "The staff shows you the way and then lets us do it," he said.

He said he was skeptical when he first heard talk of this shelter. But now he's hopeful: "They can only open the door. We've got to decide to walk in."

Bustamante said he feels fortunate to be among the first in the shelter, and he wants to succeed and come back and help others.

And when the governor rides by Bustamante, she rolls down her window to call out: "Bye, Bert." He said that's one more sign he's headed in the right direction.

"My goal is to be in our own home by February and I can do it," he said.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.