Neighbor island count finds slightly more homeless

Homelessness has grown slightly on Hawaii’s neighbor islands, according to the most recent Point-in-Time Count.

The 2022 Point-in-Time Count, led by Bridging the Gap Continuum of Care, identified a total of 2,022 homeless people in Kauai, Hawaii and Maui counties this year, a slight increase over the 2,010 reported in 2020 and the 1,995 in 2019.

The numbers for 2021 are incomplete and include only sheltered people because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the 2022 report, Kauai and Hawaii island saw 5% increases in homelessness since 2020 and Maui a 6% decrease.

The Point-in-Time Count provides a snapshot of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in communities by estimating a single-day count of the homeless population. The neighbor island count was conducted Jan. 24-28 and reported where people slept on the night of Jan. 23.

There were 837 homeless people counted this year on Hawaii island, the report said, compared with 797 in 2020. The Kauai count found 444 homeless people, 20 more than in 2020 and the highest number since at least 2018.

Maui County’s 2022 Point-in-Time Count revealed 741 homeless people, representing a five-year low. In 2020, 789 homeless people were reported in the count.

In general, the number of neighbor island families experiencing homelessness fell compared with the last count, according to the report.

The 22 families reported on Kauai and the 63 in Maui County represented five-year lows for both counties.

There were 66 homeless families this year on Hawaii island.

Altogether there was a 7% increase in unsheltered homeless people on the neighbor islands compared with 2020. The 1,394 unsheltered people reported this year is a five-year high.

There were 554 unsheltered people on Hawaii island, 436 in Maui County and 404 on Kauai, according to the report.

This year’s full Point-­in-Time Count can be found at Bridging the Gap’s website.