President's Message
 Aloha Chamber members:
This past Saturday, I had the humbling experience of participating in the Salvation Army Hawaii CEO Sleepout at the State Capitol, a new initiative to raise awareness and support for homelessness and hunger. Member participants included Rick Blangiardi, Hawaii News Now; Phillip Hasha, Redmont Group; Bryan Luke, Hawaii National Bank; Jon Conching, Hyatt Regency Waikiki; and other business leaders.
The evening started with a community outreach walk in Chinatown to distribute sandwiches to the homeless. It was obvious there are different categories of homelessness. Regardless of background, however, each homeless person has a story and deserves to be treated humanely and with dignity. The walk was followed by a roundtable discussion on topics that included homeless mentality, how to treat homeless individuals or groups, why people are or become homeless, and coming up with solutions.
Lights out was at 11:30 p.m. Sleeping at the Capitol was nothing compared to what it is like out on the streets. We were provided with a cardboard box to sleep on, a blanket and food, and were in a safe zone. Out there, the struggle is real. More than 4,500 keiki are homeless and many families are one paycheck away from being houseless.
We would like to thank the Salvation Army for this initiative, as well as other organizations and stakeholders for addressing and providing resources to help solve this growing problem. We would also like to recognize The Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now for their ongoing and proactive coverage and keeping this issue in the forefront. It’s critical that we have strong and collaborative leadership, continue to elevate our efforts and become a part of the discussion to find solutions, as homelessness is not just a social issue, but an economic and statewide issue that affects everyone.
Laulima & mahalo,
Sherry Menor-McNamara
President & CEO
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