Who We Serve
Our services begin when individuals and families enter the doors at one of our two emergency shelters (one for single women and families with children and the other for single men). Our guests could be a person simply looking for a hot meal (which we serve three times daily) or a place to take a hot shower. Or, they could be a person or family in crisis who has nowhere to turn for a safe place to sleep and support.
Often, our guests have had life events (e.g. trauma or domestic violence; mental or physical illness; eviction related to a new landlord) or made choices (substance abuse; criminal convictions) that caused them to lose everything they possessed, and destroyed their circles of supportive relationships.
IHS remains the only 24-hour walk-in, emergency shelter on Oahu and continues to provide a full range of services to men, women, and families with children who are homeless or are in danger of becoming homeless. The agency operates two facilities in Honolulu. The men’s shelter, located at 350 Sumner Street, is capable of housing up to 200 men each night, while the shelter for women and families, located at 546 Ka’aahi Street, serves up to 100 single women in addition to 23-27 families, which can include as many as 60 children. The agency strives to be ADA compliant and makes reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.
In FY2011, IHS provided services to over 4,000 individuals in our community. In addition to providing a safe place to sleep, eat, and shower for 1,429 individuals, we helped to prevent homelessness for close to 450 households and assisted 665 households (1,280 individuals) in moving from homelessness into stable housing. Additionally, we served 237,316 meals to shelter guests and other community individuals in need.
Stats – Meals & Bed Nights
- Meals: 237,316
- Bed Nights: 91,776
- 738 Single Men
- 315 Single Women
- 376 Family Individuals
IHS continues to serve a population that reflects the ethnic and culturally diversity of our Islands.
