WAIANAE, Hawaii (KHON2) — She dedicated her life to serving others and was known for lifting up those around her. A memorial service was held on Sunday morning to honor Waianae community leader Twinkle Alohalani Borge.
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They said her spirit was unlike any other.
“She saw a value in people that nobody else saw. She spent her life lifting the people and carrying them and loving them when nobody else would,” stated James Bakele, Pu’uhonua O Wai’anae President.
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If you didn’t know her as ‘Mama,’ then she was Aunty Twinkle Borge.
“She believed in me, I believed in her at a time when maybe we didn’t have a lot of supporters or people who believed in what we were doing. She always got my back,” said Councilmember Andria Tupola. “Heroes will always be remembered, but legends never die.”
Borge led POW, a village of over 200 unhoused community members, with ‘unconditional aloha.’ She was always helping others see worth in themselves even when they could not, according to Bakele.
“Very few people, when they walk in a room, the air shifts a little bit and they just carry this presence like this mana that comes with them. She was one of those,” said Bakele.
Her legacy continues as her first kauhale will soon become 30 across the state by the end of 2025, according to Governor Josh Green. A Certificate in Memoriam from the State of Hawai‘i was presented to Borge’s family, along with a proclamation designating Sept. 15, 2024, as a Day of Aloha in her honor.
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“She showed that you should always use your heart first. She was already an angel but now she’s a Hawaii legend,” stated Governor Green. “Imagine that maybe 1,700 tiny homes everywhere because of Twinkle’s vision.”
POW residents serve Waianae through regular cleanups across the Waianae Coast, feeding and clothing residents of other houseless encampments, and more. Borge who was houseless herself, along with others fought to save the village from eviction in 2018.
Eventually, she was able to raise funds and purchase 20 acres in Waianae Valley for a permanent village near the Waianae boat harbor in 2020. The village continues to build homes.
“Not only just purchasing it, but then continuously building that perception of who they are and what they’re trying to do here that funders would want to come back and actually fund the houses that are built here,” stated Councilmember Tupola.
Her loved ones stated there was still so much left to do but promised to bring honor to her name.
“Make sure that we remember that the value she brought was the relationships between the people and make sure that the relationships, interactions with the people is never lost in the physical structures,” said Bakele.
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