 Photo credit: L Ruminski On Wednesday, August 23, 300 participants from government, private and nonprofit organizations and community members convened at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort to discuss ways of ending the cycle of recidivism through housing solutions, healthcare, employment, and community safety. Read the West Hawaii Today article or copy.
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Adapted from the Oversight Coordinator Monthly Reports for December 15th, 2022:
GHH leadership met with Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission Chair Mark Patterson, Commission Member Theodore Sakai, and Oversight Coordinator Christin Johnson on October 12th, 2022, to discuss concerns regarding justice-involved homeless individuals, specifically within the jail and prison system. Since 2004, the Hawai`i Island Going Home Consortium has been leading efforts to provide innovative and culturally responsive reentry and reintegration services to justice-involved individuals, their families, and communities. GHH has taken the initiative to develop a strategy for intergovernmental collaboration meetings leading up to a Reentry Housing Summit in April 2023. The Coordinator and Commission will be an active part in the intergovernmental collaboration and staff will attend the Reentry Housing Summit. Full December 2022 Report.  Members of the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce delivered 26 gaily decorated gift baskets to the GHH office in Hilo. Read article in The Hawaii Tribune-Herald here. Photograph by Michele Mitsumori.
Member businesses, supporters and friends of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce recently provided “Chamber Holiday Angels” family gift baskets for all 26 families currently serviced by Going Home Hawaii. The chamber’s Social Committee selects a member nonprofit organization each year as the recipient of this annual Chamber Holiday Angels activity. The gift baskets were delivered to Going Home Hawaii, where staff will be distributing them to each Going Home family who will receive a basket full of books, games, treats and supplies for family-related activities that they will be able to enjoy together during this holiday season, including “Family Pizza Party,” “Family Gardening,” “Family Reading Night,” “Outdoor Adventures,” “Family Baking Night” or “Space and Astronomy.” Hawaii Island Going Home Consortium provides innovative and culturally responsive reentry and reintegration services to justice-involved individuals and their families.  The Governor’s Coordinator on Homelessness convenes monthly webinar sessions on topics related to homelessness and behavioral health, including topics specific to providing these services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The monthly webinars are an extension of the Behavioral Health and Homelessness Statewide Unified Response Group (BHHSURG). For more information about the monthly webinars, including suggestions for topics, please contact Homelessness Assistant Justin Limasa at (808) 586-0193 or by e-mail at gov.homelessness@hawaii.gov.
The October's webinar on the topic of Institutional Reentry and Housing Needs featured GHH CEO Les Estrella, RYSE Diversion (Nemesis Nichols) and Beyond Bars Program (Tadia Rice). Webinar Recording. Presentation Materials. Community Alliance Partners (CAP) has published their 2022 Election Questionnaire, which invited candidates running for a range of offices to respond to questions about housing and homelessness. The questionnaire was developed and facilitated by CAP, a coalition of non-profit, government, business and community stakeholders and volunteers committed to ending homelessness of Hawai`i Island. In sharing their views on ending homelessness, several candidates cited the work of Going Home Hawai`i, in the order listed in the Election Questionnaire:
 Show Details: Going Home Hawaii & The Men of Pa'a: Les Estrella, Going Home Hawaii; Carlos, Ian, Rick of the Men of Pa'a. -- The health of our environment has a trickle-down effect which eventually impacts our individual health. The guests talk about the social determinants of health and their expertise in bettering our environment to enhance good health for everyone-everywhere. Watch here.
 Going Home was featured in Big Island Times in an article by Emily Bevard titled, "Going Home Hawaii Seeks to 'Break the Cycle of Recidivism' for Those Leaving the Justice System and Reentering Society."
The organization, CEO Les Estrella said, exists for the community to have a safe space for all to enjoy. By assisting formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, he said they can break up the cycle of recidivism and improve safety in the community. While the state’s recidivism rate currently sits at about 60%, Estrella said programs like Going Home Hawaii reduce the rate to around 15 to 20%. “It’s cost-effective to put money and resources into community programs that help to transform people into contributing members, instead of putting them away to come back out again and commit another crime,” Estrella said. Read the full article.  “[Reentry support] is not just about helping the individual transition successfully, but caring for our community itself.” Les Estrella, GHH CEO in "Secrets of Success After Prison" Learn more about justice-involved individuals changing their lives with the help of supportive programs and caring employers across the state in "Secrets of Success After Prison" by Beverly Creamer in HawaiiBusiness Magazine.
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