Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said his administration has found funding to revive a planned Housing First initiative to give some homeless shelter.
Details are expected to be announced at his second State of the City address at 8 a.m. Wednesday at Ala Moana Beach Park’s McCoy Pavilion.
Originally, at least part of the funding for Housing First was expected to come from the sale of 12 of the city’s rental housing projects to private interests via the Honolulu Affordable Housing Preservation Initiative. City officials in May said they expected to spend $3 million to $5 million over two years to house up to 100 homeless people by the end of 2015.
The HAHPI sale, however, collapsed last month after the proposed purchaser announced it would not able to meet the city’s financing requirements.
Managing Director Ember Shinn said shortly afterward that among the consequences of the deal’s cancellation was that there would be no money in the current year for the proposal.
But Caldwell told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday that he expects to use funds from a City Charter-mandated affordable-housing fund that has been accumulating money in recent years, and suggested that the actual amount of money devoted to the project could even be more than the original plan envisioned.
"It’s a significant amount of funds," Caldwell said. "It will be enough to make a dramatic difference with the most chronic homeless. I do believe it will be game-changing."
The Housing First philosophy is based on the principle that putting a roof over a person’s head should take precedence over the "treatment first philosophy" that attempts to fix the ills that often lead a person to homelessness, such as drug or alcohol addiction, mental illness and joblessness.
Advocates for the homeless have long argued that housing offered to those most in need should not be dependent on participation in programs that deal with addictions or mental illness since many homeless are reluctant to participate.
Caldwell is giving the speech at recently renovated McCoy Pavilion to highlight one of his major priorities: improving city parks and public spaces.
The address will be broadcast live on several television stations and live-streamed by several online sources. Check for links to a recording and transcript of the speech at staradvertiser.com when the speech is done.
