Are other states sending their homeless people here?

 It’s the most frequent question I’m asked when I say I work at HOPE Services Hawaiʻi, a nonprofit homeless services provider on Hawai’i Island.

 According to Bridging the Gap, the Neighbor Islands continuum of care, on Hawaiʻi Island:

• Only 4% of people receiving homeless services are recent arrivals to Hawaiʻi 

• 1 in 3 are children

• Almost half of those children are 5 or under

• (You can toggle the “Region” menu at that link to see data for any/all Neighbor Islands)

 According to the US Census Bureau, 13% of Hawaiʻi County’s population is Kānaka Maoli. But a 2023 article in the Community Mental Health Journal reports that in a survey of unsheltered people, over 70% were Kānaka Maoli.

 To answer the question at the beginning, I’ve never seen a verified claim of other states sending unhoused residents to Hawaiʻi, except in the rare case that a person from Hawaiʻi becomes homeless in another state, and wants to return home to live with family. 

 Those who overstate that 4% offer politicians the perfect excuse to do nothing to address homelessness. It’s the classic American tactic of blaming systemic failure on individual choice–except it doesn’t even get the data right. The vast majority of those we serve at HOPE Services are locals. The good news is, there are programs operating in Hawaiʻi that work, like Street Outreach, Housing First, Psychiatric Street Medicine, and more. Please help us tell the truth about who suffers when we ignore the causes of homelessness and underfund programs that help people avoid and overcome homelessness. With your support, we can continue to expand compassionate and effective programs to serve more of our neighbors. 

 You can keep up with HOPE Services by subscribing to our newsletter. If you feel moved to bring your skills to the table to help end homelessness, please email me at kalice@hopeserviceshawaii.org.

I also want to uplift the work of another KA alum, Summer Yadao, who is working for housing justice at the nonprofit Kū Pono Ka Leo O Ka ‘Āina. KPKOA started by advocating to stop evictions at the Courtyards at Waipouli on Kauaʻi. You can learn more about Summer’s work at KPKOA.org.