HomeMy WebLinkAboutPerry, Daniel
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:Daniel Perry <dperry@hopeserviceshawaii.org>
Sent:Monday, September 14, 2026 9:11 AM
To:Council Testimony
Subject:TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF BILL 192 – Homelessness and Housing Fund.
Aloha Chair and Members of the Hawai ʻ i County Council,
My name is Daniel, and I am submitting testimony in strong support of Bill 192 and the extension of the
Homelessness and Housing Fund through 2029.
I work in our community helping people who are struggling with housing, homelessness, and the many
challenges that come along with it. I see firsthand what people are going through, and I want to remind
everybody of something pretty simple:
These are our people.
They are our neighbors, our friends, our families, our kūpuna, and our working people. Many of them
were born and raised right here in Hawai ʻ i and are now struggling to afford to stay in the place they call
home.
The cost of living here has gotten to the point where even working families can be just one or two
paychecks away from losing everything. One major car repair, one medical bill, one reduction in hours, or
one unexpected expense can put somebody who was doing everything right into a housing crisis.
That's how fragile things have become.
We need to be honest about what's happening here. People from Hawai ʻ i are getting priced out of
Hawai ʻ i.
That includes our Native Hawaiian families, who face many of the same housing pressures while also
dealing with the increasing difficulty of remaining in communities their families have called home for
generations.
But this isn't only a Native Hawaiian issue. It isn't only a homeless issue.
It's a Hawai ʻ i issue.
When local families can't afford housing, when our kūpuna can't afford to stay near their families, and
when working people are forced to leave the island because they simply can't make the numbers work
anymore, all of us lose something.
That's why I believe the Homelessness and Housing Fund is so important.
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This funding gives our community a way to help people before they completely fall through the cracks,
while also helping people who are already experiencing homelessness connect with shelter, housing,
and supportive services.
I understand that County money needs to be spent responsibly. I believe there should be accountability,
and we should expect real results from every dollar.
But we also need to recognize that doing nothing has a cost.
If we don't invest in helping people remain housed and helping people get back into stable housing, we're
going to pay for it somewhere else—on our streets, in our shelters, through emergency services, and
through families being pushed further into crisis.
And I'll tell you something else:
None of us should think we're immune from this.
A lot of local people are closer to homelessness than they realize. I'm not saying that to scare anybody.
I'm saying it because it's the reality of living here today.
We need to take care of our people.
We need to make sure that somebody who was born here, raised here, worked here, raised their family
here, and contributed to this community has a fighting chance to remain here.
So I respectfully ask the Council to support Bill 192 and extend the Homelessness and Housing Fund
through 2029.
This isn't about politics.
It's about people. It's about our neighbors. It's about our families.
And ultimately, it's about making sure Hawai ʻ i can still be home for the people who call it home.
Mahalo nui loa for listening and for your consideration.
Mahalo,
Daniel
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Daniel Perry
CIS Case manager
(808)319-8350
West Hawaii Campus
Hope services Hawaii
dperry@hopeserviceshawaii.org
74-5593 Pawai place, Kailua Kona HI 96740
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