Children thrive best in a nurturing, safe, stable home environment. Homelessness is neither safe nor stable. It is not an environment that promotes the healthy development of children. In fact, being homeless puts children at greater risk for maltreatment.
Neighborhood Place of Puna actively works to end family homelessness on Hawaii Island. Through our homeless outreach and prevention program, we strive to help homeless families get into stable housing as quickly as possible. We also help families who are at risk of becoming homelessness find ways to remain housed and off the street.
The good news is that there are not thousands or hundreds of homeless families in Hawaii County. There are only 72 families as of the end of November 2017.
As a community we can permanently house 72 families. But, we all need to do our part. These families will not be housed though a single agency or by the government or one church alone. It will take all of us working together to End Family Homelessness.
If you, your church, or your organization would like to help us house a family please contact me for more information.
Also, please consider making a financial donation to Neighborhood Place of Puna. We are a small local non-profit and the majority of our funding comes from small grants, private foundations, and individual donors. It is only through generous donations from individuals like you that we are able help homeless families get housed.
Thank you for your support and your commitment to ending family homelessness.
Paul Normann, Executive Director