Hawaii Island homelessness drops 3% as county expands housing efforts

A slight dip in the official count did little to change what many Hawaii Island residents see every day: people sleeping in cars, parks, beaches, sidewalks and remote areas, even as the island logged 696 people experiencing homelessness. The one-night count taken Jan. 25, 2026, fell 3% from 718 in 2024, but 467 people were still counted without shelter.

The shift was more pronounced inside the total. Unsheltered homelessness dropped 11%, from 527 in 2024 to 467 in 2026, while sheltered homelessness rose 20%, from 191 to 229. Family homelessness fell from 41 families to 33, but the number of homeless veterans increased from 38 to 44. Because the 2025 unsheltered Point in Time Count was not conducted due to resource constraints, the new figures are the first unsheltered update Hawaii Island has had since 2024.

Bridging the Gap Hawaii released the 2026 count at a press conference in Kailua-Kona, framing the numbers as a measure of where county efforts are and where they still fall short. Brandee Menino, who chairs Bridging the Gap and leads HOPE Services Hawaii, said the decline reflected county investment over the last three years, pointing to coordinated outreach, street medicine, emergency shelter and housing opportunities. Billy-Jo Pike, a community advocate on Hawaii Island, said years of coordinated outreach, shelter access prevention, healthcare partnerships and housing navigation helped drive progress, while also cautioning that the Point in Time Count is still only a one-night snapshot.

County leaders now point to a set of concrete projects rather than just the data itself. Since 2022, the Hawaii County Council has earmarked more than $33 million in Homelessness and Housing Fund grants through the Office of Housing and Community Development. That money has supported purchases such as Hilo’s Dolphin Bay Hotel for long-term housing and single-family homes for placements, along with the Kukuiola Emergency Shelter and Assessment Center in Kailua-Kona.

Kukuiola is being built off Kealakehe Parkway, south of the West Hawaii Civic Center, and is designed as a multi-organization, multi-agency site for homeless individuals and couples without children in North Kona and nearby areas. County plans call for 16 emergency shelter units, a roughly 2,000-square-foot assessment center, showers and restrooms, a 1,400-square-foot community center, shared kitchen space, case-management offices, a manager’s unit, open space and safe overnight parking. Construction began after a September 2025 blessing and groundbreaking, and opening is anticipated in 2027. The project is backed in part by a $10 million federal grant secured by U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, giving county officials a next step that is tangible, but still months away from changing conditions on the ground.