By Staff Reports
(HONOLULU) – The City and County of Honolulu’s Homeless Outreach and Navigation for Unsheltered Persons (HONU) program is now in operation at Old Stadium Park in the McCully/Mōʻiliʻili area to provide its proven and effective homelessness services in urban Honolulu.
HONU was installed at Old Stadium Park on June 2 and started intakes on June 9. The facility is scheduled to stay at that location until the end of September, with an option to extend as necessary. There will be between 40-45 beds on site to assist the homeless population in the area, with shelter options for single males, single females, couples, and families.
Prior to relocating to Old Stadium Park, HONU had been in Kapolei since last October, providing shelter for 575 clients. Of those 575 clients:
- 257 were placed into shelters
- 52 were reunited with family
- 15 were relocated to the mainland or to a neighbor island
- 15 went to transitional housing
- 18 left for medical or treatment purposes
- 3 were provided with boarding housing
- 21 secured permanent housing
The average length of stay for an individual at HONU before being moved on to more permanent and/or supportive housing is now below 10 days, down from an average of 23 days in 2022.
HONU was created in December of 2019 and is operated by the Department of Community Services (DCS), which oversees most of the City’s initiatives to address homelessness and affordable housing. The HONU program is a mobile triage and shelter site located on public lands, typically at City parks, for approximately 90 to 120 days. While enrolled in the program, HONU participants receive navigation services designed to identify the most immediate and appropriate shelter or housing option for them.
Prior to Kapolei, HONU had been located at Neal S. Blaisdell Park in ʻAiea, where 365 individuals received much-needed services. HONU has proven to be so effective that neighborhoods have specifically asked for HONU to come to their location or to return, if HONU has been there before.
The HONU program is funded in partnership with the State of Hawai‘i. DCS works closely with several other City departments to activate HONU, including the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department of Facility Maintenance, the Honolulu Police Department, the Board of Water Supply, and many other local private and non-profit community organizations.