Homeless

Hawaiʻi Island Community Health Center's street medicine program is growing to address the need for health care services for people experiencing homelessness.

Maui community members are calling for changes to homeless encampment sweeps. Maui County lawmakers this week shelved Bill 111, which proposed a more "empathetic" approach to relocating homeless individuals in encampments on county land.

The Houseless Outreach and Medical Education project, also known as the Hawaiʻi H.O.M.E project, hit 20 years of providing free health care for unhoused people across Oʻahu.

The Conversation's Catherine Cruz observed a count of individuals experiencing homelessness throughout Waikīkī.

Gov. Josh Green spoke to The Conversation on Thursday morning about this emergency situation, vaccine exemptions in schools, and the resignation of John Mizuno, who led the state's homelessness initiatives.

With funding set to run out at the end of 2026, Hawaiʻi lawmakers are considering a bill that would make the project permanent. To learn more, The Conversation sat down with representatives from The Institute for Human Services.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi feels a sense of urgency in his second term and this new year to tackle the state's homeless and housing crisis. The Conversation spoke with Blangiardi on Wednesday morning about the new addition to his cabinet, plus efforts to finalize the Oʻahu landfill site.

House Bill 1486 states that loitering within 20 feet of a bus stop will be considered a disorderly conduct offense. The bill allows law enforcement officers to immediately remove anyone who violates this order.

Recent headlines saying outreach workers would not be out on the streets counting homeless people this month raised some eyebrows. The Conversation talked to Partners In Care Director Laura Thielen to learn more.

This week, following a big news conference Monday about fireworks enforcement, we learned that Jordan Lowe, the director of the Department of Law Enforcement, stepped down. HPR talked with Gov. Josh Green on Thursday morning.