County awards $9.7 million for 22 homelessness projects on Hawaii Island

The County of Hawaii has selected 22 projects for more than $9.7 million in homelessness-related grants through the Office of Housing and Community Development, widening a local funding stream that began with 13 nonprofits in spring 2023. The awards are aimed at Hawaii Island residents facing housing instability, with money spread across a mix of permanent supportive housing, substance-abuse treatment, mental-health services, housing navigation, hygiene outreach and street-medicine work.

That mix shows how county housing policy now reaches beyond shelter beds. Permanent supportive housing is intended for people who need ongoing help to stay housed, while street medicine and hygiene outreach address immediate health and sanitation needs on the ground. Mental-health and substance-use services are meant to reduce the churn that can send people back and forth between emergency rooms, encampments and the justice system. Housing navigation services are part of the same network, helping connect people to stable housing options on Hawaii Island.

The county’s Homelessness and Housing Fund, or HHF, was established in 2022 through Ordinance 22-2. County records say the first round of HHF grants was awarded in spring 2023, when more than $7.5 million went to 13 nonprofits for 16 projects. In that first round, the Office of Housing and Community Development received 31 applications from 21 different nonprofit organizations, signaling strong demand for county housing dollars across the island.

County officials have tied the fund to broader results. One county news item says Hawaii County saw a 28 percent decrease in homelessness between 2023 and 2024 and credits the HHF appropriation and related initiatives as part of that decline. The county has also kept the grant pipeline open, with Hawaii Public Radio reporting in August 2024 that Hawaii County was seeking to support homelessness and housing projects with a $10.5 million grant opportunity.

Even with the new awards, the key accountability question remains how far the dollars reach in places such as Hilo, Kona, Puna and other communities where unsheltered homelessness and service gaps are most visible. The county’s latest round keeps the money moving through nonprofit providers, but the measurable test will be whether the projects help more people into stable housing and keep them there.