A united effort to provide a home

It only makes sense that a potluck approach to helping the homeless might work well in Hawaii, which is known far and wide for its bring-something-to-share invites for just about any occasion.

A mix of state and city agencies and social service-focused nonprofits is working together to place 30 chronically homeless people into Chinatown apartments. Five clients, including one who had been homeless for three decades, moved in last week.

The city is providing so-called Housing First units that require occupants to pay 30 percent of the rent, which usually comes through government assistance, while surrounded by social service workers tasked with helping clients deal with problems such as mental illness and substance abuse. Said one state official: “This is a really good example of how different entities can … work together. … It’s that potluck mentality where the meal becomes better exponentially.”

Farming that goes up, not out

The notion of “vertical farming” is an interesting one that deserves some study — even if there’s a lot of regular horizontal farming that could be happening on the flatlands.

The idea is that, just as vertical living spaces allow for more density, more crop production could fit within Hawaii’s limited ground area if one stacks things up. State Sen. Brickwood Galuteria is pressing for Senate Concurrent Resolution 151, to promote study of the idea. Who knows: Maybe vertical farming could sprout into the modern equivalent of community gardens.