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City and state team up on clean-up of Kalihi Stream homeless camp
By Hawaii News Now | April 16, 2026
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - State, city and private work crews began clearing a massive homeless encampment along Kalihi Stream on Thursday, starting with the mangrove forest that borders the stream near Keehi Lagoon and hides dozens of structures and floating shelters.
The encampment once included a two-story floating house. Drone video last month showed residents bailing out and rebuilding after the first of a series of big rains. The two-story structure later washed around to Keehi Lagoon Park, where the state broke it down.
Multi-agency response includes mobile shelters
The mobility of the house and other floating shelters is one reason the response was so massive, said Ed Sniffen, Hawaii Department of Transportation director.
“If just the city came in here, they wouldn’t be able to do this as quickly, because the resources are not available to just one agency, and there’s a potential that those that are on this side just move over to the other side,” Sniffen said.
The goal is to finish the work in six weeks before the start of hurricane season.
“If you walk around and see the encampments, and see the debris that’s here, very difficult to see that this is a safe place for anybody to be,” Sniffen said.
Along with shelters on the water, many structures are embedded into the mangroves with heavy construction, nails, screws and four-by-fours pounded into the ground.
“If you go in further, there’s at least 200 loads of debris that’s got to be cleared. That doesn’t even include the green waste that’s here right now,” Sniffen said.
Residents were notified of the cleanup on Wednesday and given 48 hours to move out before crews start destroying shelters.
Residents given 48 hours to move
One resident, who gave her name as Shirley, said she hadn’t been given enough time to move. She said she has lived on the shoreline for a year, but many have been there longer. She was concerned about her dogs and said she hoped to get into the Hale Mauiola at Sand Island shelter nearby.
“I was waiting for the HMO Sand Island, but they (have) no more openings until next week,” she said.
Sniffen said there are about 25 people still in the camp. Outreach teams from the Institute for Human Services (IHS), which operates the neighboring Kahauiki Village, have met with them.
“The response is mixed. Sometimes people want to stay out here, and we can help them with their supportive services like retaining vital documents through DMV, and other resources,” said Angie Knight of IHS.
Managers of Kahauiki, which houses formerly homeless families and kupuna, have been pleading for a cleanup for over a year. The camp created sanitation, crime, and trespassing problems, and the mangrove and kiawe forest was also a nuisance.
“Now you have green space that you can enjoy and not be wary of thorns. You can see the ocean,” Knight said. “It’s heartwarming to see that the help is coming and that it’s going to be continuous support.”
State officials said they are committed to keeping the area clear long into the future.
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