Hundreds of advocates, concerned residents and homeless people will gather tomorrow morning to kick off a 10-day charity walk around the island to raise awareness about homelessness.

The fourth annual "Walk the Talk-Shelter the People," part of Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week, will start at 8 a.m. at the state Capitol. The first leg of the walk is about 13 miles long and will take participants to Hawai'i Kai.

The event comes as nonprofits statewide are seeing more need from low-income families in the downturned economy.

"The need is more now then when we first started our walk," said walk founder Utu Langi, a longtime homeless advocate. "We have to continue to bring awareness to this issue."

The walk has been gaining in popularity since it debuted in 2005 as an innovative way to bring attention to a persistent — and worsening — problem.

Participants can walk a portion of the route or all 130 miles of it.

Curtis Kropar, executive director of Hawaiian Hope, which provides technology services to nonprofit organizations, said the purpose of the walk is to remind people that homelessness is still an issue that needs to be addressed.

As the financial markets continue to sink, he added, that message is even more important.

"A lot of people when they talk about the homeless, they talk about 'those people,' " Kropar said. "It's incredible how fast 'those people' can become 'us.' Some percentage of these people are going to slip through the cracks."

For more on this story, see tomorrow's Honolulu Advertiser.