HELP NEEDED Hawaii declares emergency for homelessness crisis

State funds of more than $1.3 million were identified this month, paving the way for the emergency proclamation.

The statistics made by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness reveal that Hawaii has approximately 7,620 homeless people; California has 114,000; New York, 80,000; Texas, 28,500.

Gov. David Ige has issued an emergency proclamation to extend and expand the efforts of Hawaii social service agencies to reduce homelessness, which Ige said continues to represent a “crisis” across the islands.

The recent clearing of the Kakaako homeless encampment could be used as a model in other parts of the state, Ige said.

When a governor declares a state of emergency, it’s typically in response to, or in preparation for, a natural disaster.

The decision to issue an emergency proclamation came out of a meeting with the governor’s leadership team on homelessness, which works in collaboration with federal and county partners to establish “best practices” for assisting the variety of needs and the complexity of housing the state’s homeless population. Hawaii’s population is about 1.36 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The new transitional shelter the state is envisioning would house about 15 families at a time, Morishige said.

Authorities found that the number of homeless people increased with 12% in the last 2 years in the Southern California.

The proclamation comes on the heels of the city’s efforts to clear a large homeless encampment in Kakaako. By coordinating with service providers, more than half of the estimated 300 residents of the encampment, including 25 families, were moved into shelters and permanent housing, the governor said.

“The alarming increase in unsheltered individuals and families over the past two years is particularly significant on Oahu”, Morishige said of the state’s most populous island.

Ige declared that the biggest problem is the lack of shelter spaces for homeless.

Ige also announced a new partnership with the Hawaii Association of Realtors that he hopes will encourage more private landlords to rent apartments and homes to homeless tenants in a program known as “Housing First”. Each unit has a window, screen door, and a reflective roof.

“The move will help the state speed up the process of building a homeless shelter for families”, the Associated Press reports. The coating and insulation keep the units about 30 degrees cooler than they would otherwise be, Wozniak said.