HONOLULU -- Concerned Chinatown residents and community leaders toured the location of the city’s proposed Housing First project on River Street, Sunday. Many residents are immigrants who don’t speak English. They weren’t aware of the proposed facility for the homeless and mentally ill.

“The concept is good. However, it’s the wrong location,” said Roland Louie, Director of Mun Lun School.

The city wants to build the 10-story facility on a lot next to Tin Hau Temple on River St., complete with 100 long-term rental units. About 60 units would go to the homeless and 40 to the mentally ill.

“Within a one-block radius of that location, we have three schools, three temples, we have three housing complexes and 70 businesses,” said Wesley Fong, President of Concerned Citizens on River Street Housing.

Residents are especially concerned about the children who would have to walk past the facility on their way to school.

The city has said the project would bring the area back to life and give the homeless and mentally ill a place to go.

“They’re not thinking of putting Housing First in our backyard. They’re putting it into our livingroom where our residents live, they work, they shop, they worship and they go to school,” said Fong.

“There’s no end to it. It’s time to move on to someplace else,” added Louie.

The non-profit group Concerned Citizens on River Street Housing unveiled its plan before a packed house at the Sun Yat Sen Cultural Center in Chinatown. The group would like to see an affordable senior citizen housing complex in the area. “Give them a multi-purpose center where they can exercise. They can learn new skills and also to socialize,” said Fong.

The community’s plan is merely a vision right now. Chinatown residents and community leaders are urging the city and state to listen to them and work with them to come with a solution that is right for everyone.