Homeless Centre to be run by Catholic Charities Hawaii

Tuesday, September 27th, 2016

A new homeless centre with a capacity to house 50 people at a time, is to be operated by Catholic Charities Hawaii.

The State of Hawaii paid US$750,000 to renovate a converted maintenance shed to house the centre.

The Family Assessment Centre is located next to Kakaako Waterfront Park in Honolulu which has become at persistent homeless encampment.

In a Friday ceremony, Governor David Ige handed the facility’s keys over to Jerry Rauckhorst, Catholic Charities Hawaii’s president and CEO.

“Catholic Charities Hawaii is proud to be selected to oversee the state’s new Family Assessment Center,” Rauckhorst said. “This new facility complements Catholic Charities Hawaii’s philosophy of providing those in need with ‘a hand up, not a handout.'”

“Today is an important day for families facing homelessness on Oahu,” Ige said. “When we address homelessness in families, we’re impacting entire generations.”

It is expected that the homeless centre will assist more than 400 homeless individuals over the next two years.

It will temporarily house homeless families while they are being connected to long-term housing by social service specialists.

Guests will not be required to have identification — a key obstacle for many people experiencing homelessness — and will be transitioned to permanent housing or other appropriate services in 90 days or fewer.

The Family Assessment Center will be helping homeless families from both Kakaako and across the island.

Scott Morishige, Hawaii’s homeless coordinator said that, while many shelters for single adults typically have empty bed space each night, homeless families are on long waitlists to get into a family shelter.

“It’s a different segment of the homeless population,” he said. “And there are still some unsheltered families with children living in the park.”

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