Homelessness increased again on Oahu, according to the latest federally required annual survey, but only slightly and in fewer numbers than many metro areas on the mainland.
The results of the Oahu Point in Time count, taken in January, tallied 4,028 homeless people, of whom 59% were unsheltered and 41% were sheltered.
The overall count was up 2% from 2022’s total of 3,951 but down significantly from a high of nearly 5,000 in 2017.
The results of the survey were released Thursday in a presentation by Partners in Care, a planning, coordinating and advocacy alliance that develops recommendations for programs and services for the island’s homeless.
This year’s count was taken by hundreds of volunteers who fanned out across the island Jan. 23 and asked homeless folks about where they were the night before.
The biggest population of homeless people by area — 630 — was found on the Waianae Coast, representing more than a quarter of those counted on the island.
Heather Lusk, board chair for Partners in Care, said that while Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander residents represent only 10%
of Oahu’s population, they made up 35% of those who answered the survey.
“This really shows us that we have to continue to partner and provide culturally appropriate housing services and to really ground our efforts to help the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities,” said Lusk,
executive director of the
Hawai‘i Health and Harm
Reduction Center.
The top three reasons given for homelessness were job loss, inability to pay rent and COVID-19-
related issues.
The percentage of older folks rose substantially from 2022’s count — from 276, or 8% of the total, to 516, or 22% of the total.
“I think this is an area we’re going to want to focus on in the future, particularly given that Hawaii has a pretty large aging population,” said Anna Pruitt, a
faculty affiliate with the community and cultural psychology program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “By 2030 the projection is that over a quarter of our population is going to be
60 years or older.”
State Sen. Sharon Moriwaki (D, Kakaako-McCully-
Waikiki) urged Partners in Care to dig into the data
to take a closer look at the needs of older homeless folks so that lawmakers can further address the growing problem.
Among the unsheltered homeless, 73% indicated they were homeless for one year or more, 61% reported one or more had disabling conditions, 36% reported a mental illness, 25% were survivors of domestic violence and 44% were children or seniors (21% and 23%, respectively).
Lusk said there are subpopulations that have
experienced significant improvements in homelessness over the last decade. Veterans, she said, have seen a significant decline — 52% since 2015 — as have children (58%) and households with adults and
children (60%).
Started in 2005, the Point in Time survey is a national initiative by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that tries to understand the scope of homelessness in the U.S.
This year’s count has
recorded surges in homelessness in cities across America, including Phoenix; Tulsa, Okla.; Louisville, Ky.; Spokane, Wash.; and Santa Monica, Calif.
In Hawaii the results of this year’s count will be used to examine homeless subpopulations and related issues, officials said, adding that there are plans for subreports that will focus on
issues tied to Native Hawaiians, sexual and gender minorities, veterans, youth and those affected by domestic violence.
