In many ways, young people living on the streets look like any other teen or young adult. They strive to fit in and want to be “normal.” There is a community movement to help make this a reality for them and requires our entire society to acknowledge the trauma they’ve experienced and the need for their lives to be better.

Hawaii has the largest per capita percentage of homelessness in the United States. More than 1 in 5 homeless people in Hawaii are youth or young adults. Eighteen- to 24-year-olds are among the nation’s fastest-growing subpop- ulation. The housing and social service support they need is unique and hard to provide. Also, they face some specifically dangerous lifestyle risks unique to island living where the cost of living is high, we deal with geographic isolation, and there is a significant metropolitan area and a thriving visitor industry.

The challenges and dangers of living on the street are grave and particularly complicated by economic pressures for survival, struggles with addiction, and falling prey to sexual predators and traffickers. The scenes of their lives, especially at night, are heart-breaking and shocking. Our leadership and volunteers simply can’t ignore these graphic problems and are working to raise awareness as well as money to improve the living conditions of these adolescents and young adults.

Our young people are still developing and require age-specific counseling and educational services. Residential Youth Services and Empowerment (RYSE) is specifically designed for these vulnerable young adults. RYSE is not just a homeless shelter providing a bed and a meal or two. We provide a safe haven and empower young people to make positive change in their lives. RYSE provides education, employment assistance, job training, counseling, medical attention and mental health services in a nurturing, nonjudgmental environment. The lengths RYSE’s team goes to, to get word to these hard-to-reach folks and bring them in for support, are extensive and exhausting.

RYSE offers onsite education and vocational programs to prepare our residents for a brighter future with skills they will need for higher per-hour wages than the general minimum-wage labor force.

Since our opening in June, we have provided respite from the streets to more than 50 young people. RYSE is saving lives and raising up our society. The goal is to have our youth transition from us to become independently housed. RYSE will continue to support them as they move into self-sufficiency through housing support, health and well-being programs, training in personal finance and community integration. The shelter provides support 24 hours, seven days a week with a capacity for 10 young men and 10 young women.

Funding for RYSE comes from grants, fundraising events and individual donors. This coming Saturday, at our fundraising event, RYSE Celebration 2018, we will share the story of empowering young people living on the street and showcase housing solutions, opportunities, hope and promise.

RYSE is grateful to Hawaii’s Office of Youth Services and Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center for leasing us a building we could renovate. We are also grateful for the legislative support we received to make this dream a reality.

Dana Anderson, a RYSE board member, is an English instructor in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, University of Hawaii-Manoa.