Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center, which runs public health and nonprofit housing programs on Oʻahu, was in a tough spot.

As part of an annual competition for federal funds to combat homelessness, the nonprofit was applying to renew its grant for its Guide on the Side outreach program, which focuses on at-risk and homeless LGBTQ youth.

But the new funding guidelines from the Department Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, which awards the grants, now specifically reference a January 2025 executive order issued by President Donald Trump that targeted diversity, equity and inclusion programs for elimination.

So Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center made adjustments, defining Guide on the Side more broadly for the application’s sake.

“Definitely we’ve had to change language and the ways we answer the questions,” said Heather Lusk, the nonprofit’s executive director.

“We were funded for LGBTQ homeless youth outreach,” Lusk said regarding providing a nonprofit homeless housing program. “Now we’re applying for general youth outreach, but knowing that in practice, any young person could access our services, always could and always will.”

Hawaiʻi’s homeless services nonprofits are pivoting and pivoting again in the search for funding as the federal government turns away from long-favored approaches to reduce homelessness, and changes the guidelines for what programs will win grants in the annual HUD competition.

Some nonprofit housing programs, like Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction, tweaked the language in their applications. Others fashioned new proposals. All are bracing for the unknown, fearing that many hundreds of Hawaiʻi residents could be thrown back into homelessness.

“It’s truly demoralizing and exhausting,” said Laura Thielen, executive director of the Oʻahu nonprofit housing program Partners in Care, a coalition of social service providers, government officials and community members. Her group coordinates data collection and analysis among different homeless service providers and helps manage the HUD grant application process.

Every year, HUD makes available just over $4 billion nationwide for programs to address homelessness. About $18 million came into Oʻahu through the competition last year, Thielen said.

Read the full article about threats to nonprofit housing programs by Jeremy Hay at Civil Beat.