The first partial sweep of the Kaka‘ako homeless encampment will take place the day after Labor Day. Mayor Kirk Caldwell says notices will be given to people living there next Monday—telling them to leave. The area is a small portion of the Kaka‘ako Waterfront where about 20 to 25 people are living. Earlier this week, city officials announced 28 people had been moved from the Kaka‘ako homeless encampment into shelters.
Scott Morishige has been on the job for less than a week heading the Hawai‘i Interagency Council on Homelessness. On Thursday, he described the approach used to get those homeless off the street.
“Working with outreach providers contracted by the state to go into Kaka‘ako, look at the data, get a better understanding of the population there. And with that increased knowledge, we were able to work with priorities, move families off the streets, and at the same time create some movement in our shelter system as well. So we were able to also move a similar amount of people pit of shelters and into permanent housing.”
Morishige says that step by step approach being used in Kaka‘ako is a model that can be applied to other homeless encampments on O‘ahu and elsewhere around the state.
