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When we think about Hawaii’s representative democracy, we know that collaboration is vital to make democracy work for all the people. That’s why Community Alliance on Prisons is a member of the True Cost Coalition.

The True Cost Coalition is an alliance of over 50 nonprofits, serving over 500,000 people across Hawaii nei, who have come together to ensure that the shortfall in government funding is addressed so that we can continue lifting up Hawaii’s struggling families and communities.

Sadly, government contracts rates have stagnated for a decade, failing to cover the true cost of services provided by Hawaii’s many amazing nonprofits. Providers then have to rely on philanthropic grants to supplement their government contracts in order to be able to do the work that is fundamental to the well-being of Hawaii’s communities.

On Feb. 26, DHS testified before the House Finance Committee that an increase of 20%, or $5,285,123, would better reflect increases in operating costs for providers over the past nine years.

In these challenging times, we need each other. Collaboration must be celebrated and embraced. No one agency can serve all the needs of our communities. We must work together. We are all connected and the “silo thinking” of the government has held Hawaii back for far too long.

Every year hundreds of people are released from incarceration. They reenter the community with little to nothing to help them jumpstart their lives. The need for housing, food, health care, transportation, and other basic necessities is staggering.  

We must repair the safety net that is now torn and tattered as the needs of so many of our families and communities, and their demand for services, increases.

If the gap widens between funding levels and as demand for services continues to grow, many providers will be forced to reduce services and some may eventually be forced to close their doors.

According to a 2022 survey of Hawaii Community Based Nonprofit Organizations, 91% had government contract budgets that fell below the full operating costs required to provide the contracted services.

Of those:

• 79% always or often had to cut administrative costs.
• 56% always or often had to undercut staff salaries.
• 87% always or often turned to private funders to close the gap.
• 23% always or often had to pay loan or interest fees while waiting for a contract payment, with 59% in this situation never being reimbursed for such fees.

And 40% of all organizations surveyed felt they may not be able to continue to operate in Hawaii if government contracting challenges are not addressed.

This would be tragic and a huge setback to families and communities across Hawaii.

Collaboration starts by acknowledging that organizations providing these services are crucial to the well-being of Hawaii. We acknowledge that we all need the service providers to address some of our most intractable challenges.

We all need each other and treating people with dignity, respect and aloha goes a long way in caring for the needs of our communities.

All of these challenges reach into our broader communities making it incumbent upon us to be caring citizens, treating everyone with aloha, and helping to build a community where everyone has a place to live, has access to food, and finds meaningful work.