Honolulu addressing emergency housing needs on Oahu through HUD

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced today that the City and County of Honolulu will be accepting the full allotment of 312 vouchers from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address emergency housing needs on O‘ahu.

The Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program is available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Through EHV, HUD is providing housing choice vouchers to local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) in order to assist individuals and families who are a) homeless, b) at risk of homelessness, c) fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, or d) recently homeless and for whom providing rental assistance will prevent the family’s homelessness or having a high risk of housing instability. 

“The EHV program will bring much-needed emergency housing options and services for those who are most vulnerable or at risk of homelessness,” said Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “We are grateful to HUD and we are committed to making this very worthwhile program work with our overall efforts to address homelessness.”

The City’s Community Assistance Division under the Department of Community Services will be administering the emergency housing vouchers program. According to HUD’s local office in Honolulu, over 700 emergency housing vouchers have been allotted statewide thus far as follows: City and County of Honolulu: 312, County of Hawaii: 110, County of Maui: 76, Kauai County Housing Agency: 28, and Hawaii Public Housing Authority: 182. 

For more information contact: Joy Barua, [email protected]