Abercrombie announces call-in plan for homeless outreach

HONOLULU — Reiterating his commitment to end homelessness in Hawaii, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and his Coordinator on Homelessness Marc Alexander today announced a new initiative for people who want to offer assistance to individuals who may be without shelter.

The State is partnering with organizations on four islands where concerned citizens can call-in or e-mail to notify a team to help a homeless individual or group.

“In Hawaii, we have a natural inclination to want to help others, but when it comes to homelessness, sometimes people are unsure of how they can contribute,” Abercrombie said. “With the generosity and support of these organizations, we enable people to help those in need.”

Alexander added, “We are grateful to these partners for their continued support and willingness to help in our common mission of ending homelessness. These call-in numbers are just another step to continue fighting homelessness in our state.”

To help a person who is homeless or may need health and safety intervention, the public can call the following centers:

The four centers who are accepting reports from the public are: 

Waikiki Health Center’s Care-A-Van Program on O’ahu: (808) 791-9359; [email protected] (email preferred)

HOPE Services on Hawaii Island:  (808) 935-3050; [email protected] (email preferred) 

Family Life Center on Maui: (808) 877-0880; [email protected] (email preferred)

Kauai Economic Opportunity:  call (808) 245.4077, x228; [email protected] (email preferred)

Persons wishing to help someone who may be suffering from homelessness must provide the following information. 
• The location and time when the homeless individual is known to frequent the area
• A detailed description of the individual or group
• The caller’s contact information

After a report is made, an outreach team will be assigned to visit the person.  Emails and calls can be placed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Emergency situations or illegal activity should be reported to the police.

Abercrombie said, “Addressing homelessness, as with all of Hawaii’s challenges, requires us to work together in new ways.  Our plan is to invest in the interventions, services, housing, and other efforts that will lead to long term solutions where we all take responsibility for our community.”

Alexander noted, “In the near future we will be sharing a 90-day plan to set a path for greater coordinated action to end homelessness.”

For more information on the Waikiki Health Center Care-A-Van Program visit www.waikikihc.org.

For more information on Kauai Economic Opportunity, visit www.keoinc.org.