Gov. Josh Green is choosing to lead by example in siting the state’s first urban kauhale, or sheltered community, on state land adjacent to the governor’s residence, Washington Place.

It’s the right thing to do, and a proper first step in planning for, and living with, additional kauhale to shelter Hawaii’s homeless. Whether it can be done in the monthlong timeframe envisioned is another matter — but residents should be rooting for its success.

The special-purpose kauhale in Honolulu’s Capitol District would shelter up to 10 people in need of “medical respite,” typically because they have been recently hospitalized and are need of such services as wound care. Its location, on state land between the Hawaii Department of Health and the governor’s residence, is intentionally very close to the Queen’s Medical Center, just across Punchbowl Street.

Eight to 10 people in need could be provided medical respite shelter at a time. They would be drawn from a group of homeless people, many with chronic conditions, who use emergency rooms at a greatly disproportionately rate, only to end up back on the street, Green said.

This is a worthwhile use of public resources. Homeless people comprise 30% of all emergency room visits, Queen’s reports. After discharge, they may have nowhere to go. Day and night, recently discharged people without means can be seen sitting or sleeping along Punchbowl Street, sometimes still wearing medical bracelets and even hospital gowns.

Providing access to hygiene and treatment after discharge can help prevent multiple return visits, which divert hospital resources and come at a high cost — to hospitals and to government programs such as Medicaid.

On the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” webcast Monday, Green accurately said homelessness in Hawaii is a public emergency. Oahu’s March 2022 Point In Time Count for “unsheltered” people, “on the streets or other places not meant for human habitation,” was 2,355.

Island residents must understand that homeless people are already in their own communities, as Green stated. Given this reality, kauhale are a practical, safer and healthier solution.

This first urban kauhale, in the governor’s “backyard,” is a bold step. It signals, encouragingly, that Green accepts accountability for kauhales’ effectiveness.

The medical respite kauhale is expected to open by the end of May — a blink of an eye, by the state’s usual timeline. It will be made up of prefabricated tiny home units, and will include a hygiene station: a mobile trailer with showers and bathrooms.

Hawaii’s kauhale concept includes secure, private shelter and access to a central kitchen or dining area, showers, security and social services, to offer a pathway out of homelessness. It has rightly earned support from the state Legislature, which just included $50 million in 2024 and $33 million in 2025 to fund kauhale in the biennium budget.

The Middle Street area of Kalihi is being eyed for a second Honolulu kauhale. “There’s got to be a lot of them in the urban region so that … it doesn’t overwhelm any one street or block or community,” the governor said.

It’s now of the utmost importance that the state manage its kauhale carefully, ensuring the safety and well-being of all those living nearby as well as the kauhale’s own residents. This includes listening carefully to communities at promised town hall meetings scheduled before future kauhale are placed, and ensuring that staffing is adequate to deliver promised services.

Green has pledged “zero tolerance” — arrest and prosecution — for people who are violent or commit other crimes, such as dealing drugs, within a kauhale. The vision for the communities is not of living under guard, however, but of healing and receiving help.

“I want people across the country to know we are the most kind and most civilized state that exists,” Green said. That can only come to light if Hawaii indeed manages kauhale in a civilized way, with commitment to providing not only shelter, but humane support for Hawaii’s people in need.