HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0589.022 2020-2022 Plcounul
COMM.EM
dill Ill
February 22, 2022
102
2 ' 1
3i3
i
Dear Madam Chair and Council Members,
3
My name is Michelle Manalo,and I am writing on behalf of Going Home Hawaii, in support of Bill 111,
which would appropriate at least 75%of the property tax revenue that is currently collected from
second homes valued over$2 million.
I
Our organization helps members of our community avoid and overcome homelessness,through our
recovery and reentry programs,which are an integral part of the wraparound services offered by
partners in our community.These programs are proven successful, but only when they are adequately
funded.
If you increased our funding,we would expand our efforts in assisting with our services.
Homelessness is a traumatic experience. Whether someone is on the street for one night or for ten
years,the trauma they experience can become a complex and vicious cycle of health issues(which
include mental health/substance abuse), low wages, inability to become employed,violence,abuse,
arrest, incarceration, and broken support systems. If these issues are not adequately addressed,and if
the person is not able to heal,they are unlikely to attain permanent housing.
With federal COVID money drying up in September,and state funding that is unreliable and inadequate,
we need our county to step up and make sure that programs like ours are well resourced,so that we can
continue to move the needle on homelessness.
Please join me in supporting Bill 111,so that we can make housing and wraparound services accessible
to our island's most vulnerable residents.
Yours truly,
Michelle Manalo
Cary. PAA. 0
R o P,ef. I