Grants for Kauaʻi County houseless programs would have received $500,000 under the original proposed budget, but will now receive $1.5 million.
At a budget meeting last month, more than a dozen residents urged council members to reorganize the budget to give more support to the homeless population, questioning other items that were set to receive substantially larger sums.
“I’m kind of in complete shock that we have $9.2 million going toward buildings rather than humans that are without a home,” said resident Leslie Mellin. “It seems like mental health should be a focus, as well as housing, and medical help. The homeless people have to come first. It’s really sad and I’m really disappointed.”
Kauaʻi County’s homeless count showed a slight decrease from 2024 — from 523 to 516 people, according to this year’s Point in Time count. But the need persists, as over 300 individuals remain unsheltered across the Garden Isle.
During last month’s meeting, the council acknowledged the disproportionate budget, leading council members KipuKai Kualiʻi and Fern Holland to propose the new budget that tripled the funding. Council Chair Mel Rapozo stated this was “not a money issue, but a priority issue” after hearing the community’s testimony.
Of the $1.5 million, at least $500,000 will be allocated to safe zones, which are areas that unhoused people can stay for long periods of time without worrying about being swept or cited.
Kualiʻi, who has been a part of the council for 12 years, said that making changes to the budget this late in the decision making process is rare, adding that tripling a line item’s budget was the biggest change he’s seen in his career.
“This is my last budget and I feel like it’s my best budget because we accomplished some big things, and I think we were able to do it because the community came out in force and made their wishes known,” he said. “I think that gave us the courage to make this change.”
The full council approved the budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year and is awaiting approval from Mayor Derek Kawakami.
