Homeless for the holidays: State sees 87% increases in homelessness as many residents have to fight to stay afloat

Maui resource cards can be used as a tool for help for those who are in need. Courtesy photo
Desiree Mendez said that for the past nine months, she’s been without shelter, living on the beach after her vehicle broke down and facing one challenge after the next.
After falling on hard times, she said she had the difficult decision to send her children away to live with family while she’s been working three jobs just to try and stay afloat.
Previously, she had been renting the same place for the past decade when she said she was given notice she and her family would have to leave and find a new place. The decision came after the Lahaina tragedy, where more than 2,200 structures were destroyed in the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire that caused about $5.5 billion in damages.
While Mendez was not a Lahaina resident, she said the high cost of living on Maui matched with having to navigate the rental market during the post-disaster landscape has led her to where she is today.
“To have to break up my whole family, it’s been hard,” she said.
She said that on more than one occasion, she has been close to finding a permanent home, but then something would fall through.
“It’s so disheartening to almost have a place and then it gets taken away,” she said.
And she’s not the only one.
“There’s a lot of people that are in the same boat,” she said.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s office of community planning and development issued the 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress, stating that homelessness in the nation is at an all-time high. According to the data, between 2023 and 2024, Hawaii had an 87% increase in homelessness.
“Now just to get into a place I have to have the rent and a deposit and I don’t have $5,000 to $6,000 saved,” Mendez said. “My truck, the clutch went out, so I’ve been on foot, on the beach, for three months solid.”
Mendez said her truck is now fixed, and she returned to Maui recently after spending time with family on the Big Island for the holidays. She hopes for the new year something will turn around in her favor.
“I’ve slipped through the cracks and now I just have to work hard to get my ‘ohana a home,” she said.
On Friday, Hawai’i Gov. Josh Green signed the 14th Proclamation relating to Homelessness. Previously, the governor and lieutenant governor implemented a law to prevent evictions following the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire to help quell the growing issue of homelessness.
However, Mendez and other renters on Maui are saying the problem is much more complex.
In the meantime, Naomi Crozier, the homeless solutions coordinator for the Maui County Mayor’s Office, said there’s support for people like Mendez, even if the outlook seems bleak.
“Don’t give up,” she said.
Crozier was hired in her position prior to the Lahaina wildfire and started in September, a month after the fire. While her role is focused on providing solutions to Maui’s pre-disaster houseless situation, she has an extensive background in homeless outreach on the island and previously worked in mental health services and as a housing coordinator for Mental Health Kokua.
In her current position, she helps to facilitate collaboration among the various resources available on Maui, including Maui Economic Opportunity Inc., Family Life Center and more that are funded in some capacity through the county.
She also assists in the annual point-in-time count effort, which will occur again in January. She said that last year there were 387 individuals recorded as houseless or unsheltered, and 285 accounted for this past year.
She said the county’s houseless situation has “many, many layers,” and there’s not a one-size fits all solution to the issue. Instead, she sees the benefit in taking a multifaceted approach and exploring different models, from affordable housing and supporting the statewide housing first initiatives to mental health support and addiction recovery. She said there are resources available, even if it may not always seem that way.
For instance, Mental Health Kokua offers two hot meals a day, a shower and laundry, and has staff available to connect individuals with help.
“I think people don’t know there’s resources out there, so they can get frozen with fear,” she said.
She also said there are things everyone can do to help the unsheltered on Maui.
“Treat people with dignity and humanize their problems,” she said.
“Housing is a basic human right,” she added.
For more information about resources available on Maui, visit mauicounty.gov/2318/Homeless-Program-Division.