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Here is a sobering statistic: Hawaii has the highest rate of homelessness per capita among the United States, according to the “2014 State of Homelessness in America” report of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Like many others in the Hawaii Pacific University community, I view it as a privilege to live, work and study in Hawaii. However, amidst the beauty of our island “home,” the reality is that we witness homelessness in the urban setting of our core campus just as we do in other urban environments.

As a university community, HPU has adopted the Hawaiian values of pono (acceptance and purposefulness), kuleana (responsibility and concern) and aloha (kindness and humility). This raises a vital question for us: How does our treatment of our homeless population reflect on our core values? Do our actions demonstrate an authentic commitment to our ideals, or reveal them as mere words?

While the myriad issues surrounding homelessness are complex and not susceptible to quick or easy solutions, we are taking action. The HPU School of Social Work organized a full , which were free and open to the public, and HPU community members spent last week focused on homelessness as it affects every person in our community. In this effort, our purposes were to raise community awareness, encourage dialogue, develop partnerships, and foster action.

As my HPU colleague Michaela Rinkel, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the bachelor of social work program, notes: Homelessness is a complex issue, and people who are homeless have different needs, requiring different solutions. Rinkel points out that the intention of the outreach week is not to start and finish a project; it is to get conversations started about the issue and to continue building partnerships with others in the community.

I will underscore the statement, “homelessness as it affects people.” If we can find it in ourselves to get beyond what we see on the surface and earnestly and compassionately try to understand the situation and story behind each homeless person, we would be one step closer to addressing the issue.

Mark Tjarks, Ph.D., a professor of English on our HPU faculty, has led by example, raising awareness of Hawai‘i’s homeless community through his Po‘okela award-winning play, With the support of an HPU Trustees Scholarly Endeavors Program grant, Tjarks conducted research in the community, and based on extensive interviews with 60 members of ‘Oahu’s homeless community, service providers, community leaders and local coordinators on homelessness, he brings individual, diverse, and compelling stories to life through his play.

HPU is proud of its diversity and the incredible learning opportunities it offers our students. The value of diversity to us includes making an effort to understand the experiences of others whose lives may be very different, and whose challenges may be wholly unfamiliar. It provides an avenue to change fear to empathy, and judgment to compassion, changes we hope to foster across our state.

Embracing these goals and our core values, we invite you to join in the beginning of a journey in partnership with us. If we all could help — even if it is in a small way — the sum total of our contributions will lead to a better community for all citizens.