A new partnership between the Hawaii Association of Realtors and Gov. David Ige’s office will result in a first-of-its kind summit next month to ask landlords to do their part to ease island homelessness by renting to people currently living on the street.

The half-day summit is tentatively scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to noon Nov. 17 at the Dole Cannery Pomaikai Ballrooms. Invitations have been extended to Ige, Mayor Kirk Caldwell and social service providers who will try to help landlords overcome their fears and concerns about renting to homeless people — including some who might be dealing with alcohol, drug and mental health problems.

“This is an opportunity to alleviate some of the misinformation that’s out there,” said Myoung Oh, director of government affairs for the Hawaii Association of Realtors. “For some people it’s a little hard for them to open their doors. A lot of it is education — for me, too.”

The Dole Cannery venue can accommodate up to 400 landlords and Realtors, and 100 have already committed to attend, Oh said.

Oh’s setting a low bar to measure the summit’s success, which he says will happen “if even a few landlords say, ‘Sign me up, but I still need to think about it.’”

“There’s no silver bullet for this,” Oh said. “Everyone should be doing their part to end homelessness because we’re a small community. We as an organization are trying to do our part, and everyone should, as well, because we’re a small-knit family, one big ohana.”

Caldwell hopes that the landlord summit results in the same kind of success that came from a July 9 event called “Heroes Housing Heroes” which encouraged landlords to rent to homeless veterans.

“As a result of that event, a number of landlords prioritized units, and at least 25 vets have moved into those units as of Sept. 29,” Caldwell said. “We’re hoping to have similar success on Nov. 17.”

“We know that in the past some landlords have been hesitant to rent to people experiencing homelessness, but now the city is offering to provide services and help in the event there are any issues,” Caldwell said. “Housing our homeless families and individuals is the right thing to do, and it can be profitable.”

Landlords likely will be asked to start small, with just one homeless adult or perhaps a working family that just became homeless and needs help.

That’s how Shirley Cambe, managing agent of Waikiki’s 90-unit Hawaiian Colony apartment building, started renting to homeless people back in 1996.

Cambe’s brother was homeless and staying at the Institute for Human Services, Hawaii’s largest emergency shelter, when a landlord offered to take him in.

“My brother was in the shelter, and someone gave him a chance,” Cambe said. “That was the start for him. He’s since moved far beyond that situation, and he’s moved on to his own place. It was my brother and that convinced me. I thought, ‘Maybe I should try this.’”

Cambe initially took in three IHS clients.

Today the 90-unit Hawaiian Colony is home to 60 formerly homeless tenants, some of whom have been living for 15 years at Hawaiian Colony, where a studio apartment rents for $1,100 per month.

From a business perspective, Cambe gets guaranteed rental payment and can always call IHS social service case workers for any problems.

The money comes from a variety of sources, with the tenant kicking in 30 percent of the rent.

IHS has several different programs that assist households by providing housing subsidies, security and utility deposits, and first month’s rent. Each program has different criteria, and applicants must provide documentation to be eligible.

The Housing Program also can assist with obtaining suitable rental housing and provide case management services, landlord support and mediation of landlord/tenant disputes.

Four formerly homeless tenants were asked to leave over the last year. But Cambe said “the overwhelming majority” use the opportunity of a stable home to clean themselves up and begin to turn their lives around.

Cambe especially likes being able to help people just like her brother.

“There are families out there living on the street,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking. All of us can do our part, even if it’s just one or two units. If we all did that, we wouldn’t have that many homeless people.”

Kim Bohol, 45, took over as Hawaiian Colony’s resident manager 18 months ago after drug abuse brought her close to becoming homeless on the Big Island two or three times.

Hawaiian Colony used to be known for drug dealing and prostitution, Bohol said, but the new tenants are helping to change its reputation, even though “most of them” have histories with drug, alcohol and mental health problems.

“It has mellowed out a lot because we can enforce so many house rules,” Bohol said. “There’s no drinking or drugging allowed, no overnight guests. We can control who comes in off of the street. We can conduct drug tests. We actually have a lot more control than you would have over a regular tenant because other landlords can’t say, ‘You can’t have visitors’ or ‘I have to drug-test you.’ You don’t work alone because you have case managers who support you. If they (tenants) damage your unit, IHS covers it. If there’s an emergency, I always have someone to call. When you’re a regular landlord, you don’t know what’s going on inside your own unit. For us, we’re allowed to go in and find out what’s going on. There’s a lot of benefit.”

After 19 years renting to homeless clients, Cambe now calls IHS first whenever she has a vacancy.

Despite Honolulu’s tight, red-hot housing market, Cambe said it makes sense from both a business and human perspective to help get homeless people back on their feet.

“Whenever I have a unit available,” she said, “in all honesty my first call is to IHS because it’s a great working relationship.”