A majority of Hawaii County Council members supported a bill this week that would extend the county’s Homeless and Housing Fund into 2029 during a meeting of the council finance committee. It will move forward to be voted on during a meeting of the full council.

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A majority of Hawaii County Council members supported a bill this week that would extend the county’s Homeless and Housing Fund into 2029 during a meeting of the council finance committee. It will move forward to be voted on during a meeting of the full council.

Established in 2022, the fund allocates a minimum of $9 million from property tax revenue every year to be distributed to non-profits working to address homelessness in the county. It is set to expire in June of 2027, but Bill 192 would extend the program an additional two years.

Dozens of members of the public spoke at the meeting Tuesday in support of the extension including those who work for organizations who have received grants, which includes the Big Island Substance Abuse Council and Going Home Hawaii. Several residents who have benefited from these services also testified in support of Bill 192.

“Today, I am speaking as someone with lived experience. I strongly support Bill 192 and the continuation of the homelessness and housing fund,” said Michelle Manalo, senior finance officer for Going Home Hawaii and co-chair of the Justice Lived Experience Advisory Group. “I understand personally how important it is for someone to have support and stability when they are trying to change their life… For me, this is more than funding. These are real people, real families, and real lives. I know what it means to need an opportunity, and I know what can happen when someone is given one.”

One testifier, Kapono Kekela, spoke in opposition to extending the fund.

“In my life, I’ve had two instances where I could have been homeless, but instead I chose to kind of lift up the bootstraps, get to work, not take no for an answer, and try to better my life that way,” he told council members. “I’m not saying that resources can’t help, but I believe that taking a chance to pause on an extension, re-evaluate the wonderful programs that have been going on, identifying where there is more of a need… I oppose the extension, I’m not saying do away with the program, I’m just saying that it’s time to reevaluate and evolve because the work is great.”

Since its creation, the fund has awarded over $33.5 million in grants. Early this year, the council requested an audit of the program to evaluate the impact of the funding, the results of which have not yet been released. South Hilo Councilman Dennis “Fresh” Onishi said he did not want to approve an extension of the fund before reviewing that data.

“For me, I would really want to see the report, you know, that the auditors did, so that we can make a better decision on if this funding is successful, or it should be, I guess, targeted in certain areas,” he said.

Hamakua Councilwoman Heather Kimball said she would also like to see the audit first, but that she felt it was important to extend the program in the meantime to provide stability for grant recipients.

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“It would have been desirable to have the audit in hand as we were considering this, but timing is of the essence,” she said, “…If the fund is not going to be, or the programs are not going to be renewed, they need to know now so that they can write those grants to sunset those programs.”

She emphasized a suggestion from Hilo Councilwoman Jennifer Kagiwada that the council could re-evaluate the program again next year once the audit is available.

“I think we should be thinking about this and looking at this in about one year to really be thinking about you know what is it going forward after that, if there is something, and you know after we’ve had the audit after the new members get on board and have get gotten up to speed on what’s going on here,” Kagiwada said.

“I think it’s great to have the two years because we need that but I think we really should be thinking about addressing this for the long term in one year.”

She also brought up a desire for the state and federal government to provide more support and resources to address homelessness on the island, which was shared by Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz.

“We should say, hey, we’ve got a few more years that we’re willing to finance this, but there needs to be a coordinated strategy where we’re building that capital stack and that every level of government is making that financial commitment,” she said.

I don’t want this to be seen as, oh, Hawaii County is going to pay for it now, so then the state feels like they don’t have a responsibility to do their part, so I just want to make sure that someone’s convening the conversation and that everybody at every level is paying their fair share.”

The committee voted 7-2, with Onishi and Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder opposed, to send the bill to the full council with a favorable recommendation.

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Email Grace Inez Adams at [email protected].