$4 million in grants to aid homeless
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Eight O'ahu programs that serve the homeless have been awarded more than $4 million through a federal program designed to bring together public and private agencies to move clients from emergency shelters to transitional and eventually permanent housing.
The programs that received Continuum of Care money on O'ahu are: • Mental Health Kokua i Safe Haven, $870,274 • Ho'omau Ke Ola, $860,142 • Institute for Human Services, Homes program, $790,680 • Salvation Army Adult Treatment Services, $575,812 • Kalihi-Palama Health Clinic, New Beginnings, $454,260 • Catholic Charities, $267,217 • Steadfast Housing i Komo Mai Group Home, $110,880 • Steadfast Housing i Kaukama Group Home, $88,962
The Continuum of Care program, administrated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and coordinated on O'ahu by the city Department of Community Services, has been paying for such efforts for about six years.
Helping the homeless
"These programs will enable us to improve our impact in addressing the homeless problem in an effective and compassionate way," said Mayor Jeremy Harris. "The funds help to provide transitional housing to homeless families with children and those with chronic substance abuse, severe mental illness and disabilities."
Mental Health Kokua — Safe Haven, a program for mentally ill homeless people, received the largest single grant of $870,274 this year. Safe Haven, on Fort Street Mall, has a 25-bed clinic and includes an activities center, a health clinic, case management and residential placement. Safe Haven subcontracts outreach services to send workers into the streets to engage mentally ill homeless people to get them help.
The Institute for Human Services' Homes program applied for the money for the first time this year and garnered a $790,680 grant.
Lynn Maunakea, executive director of the Institute for Human Services, said the money will be used to expand IHS' case management team to monitor and watch over homeless people and provide vouchers to pay their rent.
Maunakea said the money is specifically to provide permanent housing for people with a disability, either mental or physical.
In return for the grants, "we have to guarantee the other part of the equation, which is the support," Maunakea said. "You need people to follow the individual in the community to make sure they are still OK. To make sure they are still in treatment, they are still taking their meds and are OK in their homes. By having this support on a fairly regular basis, they are able to maintain their housing."
On any given night, IHS has so many people seeking shelter that its facilities are overflowing and they don't have enough staff to point everyone to the help they need to get off the streets for good. Little by little, the number of homeless will be reduced with this grant, she said.
"This has breathed a new life into our case management team," she said. "They can see how it is going to work. This isn't just dealing with crises. That is all we had the capability to do before — to keep people safe, sheltered and fed. This is a real strategy to get them into housing in the community."
The city's Continuum of Care grants for this year are $700,000 less than last year because the overall money for the program was reduced. Neighbor Island grants are administered by the state.
