ʻ16 to 24 is a very vulnerable ageʻ: Housing for homeless youth

HONOLULU (KHON2) — As part of the city’s strategy to address homelessness, the city is partnering with Catholic Charities to provide housing for Honolulu’s youth.

A new housing complex is among a series of innovative ways the city is hoping to get people off the streets.

Itʻs tucked away in a quiet street in Makiki and provides supportive housing for up to ten youth ages 16 to 24.

“Sixteen to 24 is a very vulnerable age and some of these are coming out of foster care. So, they don’t have parents, you know, there’s just a lot of issues and at this age, a fork in the road, you can take a direction that would change you for the rest of your life, both for positive and maybe not so positive,” said Anton Krucky, Director of the city Department of Community Services.

The city has owned the youth housing property since 2019, purchased with federal HUD funding.

Catholic Charities has been selected to be the new service provider and will pay $100 a month in lease rent. The youth who stay there pay rent according to their financial capabilities and develop skills for independence, financial stability and personal wellness.

Krucky calls the property investment “social capital.”

“We can take these buildings and we understand the social capital construction to the community and for that contribution Catholic Charities is making to the community, we can convert that into a low lease rate for them so it makes able to operate,” said Krucky.

This facility addresses a small percentage of the larger issue of homelessness that the city is spending millions of dollars to tackle in several different ways.

The city recently debuted the CORE bus to provide immediate medical services to the homeless.

Housing for families including the Waikiki Vista recently opened and another housing project purchased with grant money is soon to be opened in Wahiawa.

Later this month, the city will be accepting bids to build a transitional village near downtown to help the homeless assimilate back into society.

“We’re trying to be balanced in our approach about how we open up these beds of many flavors and really trying to get people off the streets into clean sheets,” said Krucky.

Back in Makiki, neighbors we spoke with said the youth housing has never been a problem and makes sense to help these members of the community.

“You got the schools, you got the churches. There’s a lot of stuff going on around here, a lot of youth in this area, so I think it’s a good starting point,” said Mark Giuliani, Kewalo Terrace Maintenance Manager.

A public hearing on Catholic Charities taking over management of the youth housing complex will be held October 9.