"I cannot imagine someone serving our country in combat and coming back and being homeless," Vincent says. "Some of our guys have Purple Hearts and they're out there on the street."

VIP outreach workers estimate that 30 percent of the homeless population on O'ahu are veterans. For some, the transition to civilian life can be perilous. Food, clothing, and housing are all provided when you're in the service. When you're out on your own, especially in Hawai'i where there is such a divide between the haves and have-nots, it's easy to fall under.

This program is run by United States Veterans Initiative Inc., a nonprofit corporation hired by the VA with money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Outreach workers are on call 24 hours a day. They take referrals from homeless shelters, the police, and walk the streets asking, "Have you ever served in the military?"

"I myself am a veteran," Vincent says, "but I didn't realize that I qualified for VA benefits. I thought you had to serve in combat. But if you served at least two years active duty after 1980, (less if you served before then) with an honorable or 'general under honorable' discharge, you qualify."

Vincent takes in people living on the streets who have no income, no property and are still using. Once in the program, there's zero tolerance for drug or alcohol use, weekly drug tests and a strict set of rules. It is, however, a voluntary program.

"They succeed if they want to," Vincent says.

The program has 85 participants. Capacity is 98. The transitional housing program, where participants who have been clean and sober for 90 days pay rent of around $350 a month, has 61 clients with a capacity of 90.

So far, 260 people have gone through the program, which has a sobriety rate of 85 percent and an overall success rate, defined as "transition to positive living situation," of 87 percent.