Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Friday, November 22, 2024 74° Today's Paper


Off the news: Reuniting homeless with mainland kin

State lawmakers are poised Thursday to pass House Bill 1366, $100,000 in a pilot program to give homeless people airfare to live with mainland family and relatives.

Some have argued that mainlanders fly to Hawaii for better homeless services, even though experts say most of Hawaii’s unsheltered are from here.

But even local folks could qualify for the airfare, if they have mainland kin to pick them up. The cost of living — one cause of homelessness — has driven many of those families to leave Hawaii.

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