Family Promise Focuses on Homeless Children and Their Families

1 in 30 Hawai‘i children experience homelessness each year, and it can have “a disproportionate effect over the rest of their lives.”

Homelessness and housing instability among children “can have a disproportionate effect over the rest of their lives,” says this nonprofit’s executive director

Family Promise of Hawai‘i is dedicated to keeping homeless families together, with a special emphasis on helping children.

“They’re not usually the focus of as much public policy and media coverage, but there are an estimated 1 in 30 young children in Hawai‘i who have experienced homelessness annually,” says Ryan Catalani, executive director of the local nonprofit.

“Experiences of homelessness and housing instability during those young ages can have a disproportionate effect over the rest of their lives. [Those experiences] can change the architecture of the brain and can lead to impacts in education, economic well-being, and even physical and mental health as children grow up.”

In 2024, FPH served over 500 families – a total of about 1,700 individuals – which is twice as many as in 2023 and a record for the organization. Catalani attributes the increase to an expansion of services on Maui after the Lahaina wildfires and the suspension of many Covid-related government rental assistance programs.

Circumstances change year to year, but the high cost of housing and the overall cost of living remain the root causes of homelessness in Hawai‘i, Catalani says.

He says families often reach out to Family Promise as their last option after exhausting all other financial and shelter support.

“Some families have a built-in safety net of other family members they can tap on and some families don’t.”

FPH’s main program provides families with private interim housing at no-cost. While there, families work with case managers to identify obstacles they might face and develop “re-housing” plans.

Once families leave the program, their case managers monitor their housing status. About 90% of reachable families are still housed after a year, says Catalani.

The nonprofit aims to keep families together long-term even in difficult times.

“Case management is at the core of all of our work, and I think this is just a fancy term for one-on-one individualized support that is housing-focused, meaning that is our first goal but it’s also very holistic,” he says.

“We’re not just trying to change the family’s life in the short term, but change the life of the next generation and moving forward.”

FPH’s second ‘Ohana Navigation Center opened in Wahiawā in December, providing temporary housing for up to 12 families at a time. The first center is in Mō‘ili‘ili.

Values

Respecting the dignity and worth of all people and treating everyone equally and fairly is one of FPH’s three core values, Catalani says.

“What it comes down to is believing every person, as an individual, has value,” he says. “That trickles down into a lot of our other values.”

The other core values are being housing-focused and connecting with other organizations, such as Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies and Continuum of Care, a federal program focused on homeless people.

FPH was founded in 2005 through grassroots efforts and relies heavily on continued community support, Catalani says.

“It’s that spirit of community engagement that I think has always made FPH so special.”

You can volunteer or donate at familypromisehawaii.org.