First conceived in 1955 to help recovering tuberculosis patients – individuals who were physically weakened as a result of the damage to their lungs from the disease and who were stigmatized by their illness.

New medications ended the long-term hospitalization required for TB patients, but even as they were discharged, they needed to learn new skills to be able to support themselves. Plantation workers stricken with the debilitating disease were not able to return to the strenuous fieldwork.

The sheltered workshop programs allowed the clients to work at their own pace as they recovered their strength while involved in craft work making lauhala products, flower and pheasant-feather lei, fishnets and coconut shell souvenirs.

The original Ka Lima O Maui facility was a converted two-story house in a coconut grove on the shoreline at Kahului Harbor, where Hoaloha Park and the Hawaiian Canoe Club hale are now located. Its first director was Katherine Feddes.

Over time, the agency expanded its services to provide for other disabled individuals in the community in need of work skills, training and support in a “sheltered workshop” setting.

At Ka Lima, clients are no longer limited to making crafts, refurbishing furniture or assembling products in a Ka Lima workshop. Training programs are now concentrated on job placement with agencies and businesses in the community.

Ka Lima has several crews of clients who perform landscaping, groundskeeping and maintenance services under contracts with businesses and governmental agencies, supervised by Ka Lima staff.

Currently Ka Lima employs close to 50 adults with disabilities, making them the largest employer of adults with disabilities on Maui. With a staff of about 30, they are geared to provide assistance to more than 200 clients per year. They are placing over 60 clients into employment positions each year.