Aging Neighborhoods
Accessibility is not a convenience; it is a right. I'm committed to fighting for increased access to local medical facilities, cost burden relief for families taking care of loved ones, ensuring our kūpuna receive the care they deserve at home, and our keiki have a healthy start in life.
Along with accessibility is sustainable housing and infrastructure. This year highlighted, like never before, just how un-maintained and unsafe our essential utilities are. I'm an advocate of smart development that keeps people, not profit, at the center, prioritizing public transit and community-oriented design.
Neighbors (Kūpuna)
The economic pinch of the rising cost of living is felt across all income levels and ages, especially by those on fixed incomes. Families are having to choose between caring for loved ones themselves or working absurd hours to pay for home care. For those who live independently, rising costs and insurance fluctuations are causing instability and limiting their ability to plan for the long term.
Housing & Infastructure
Between 2007 and 2014, I moved houses every two years.
From 2014 to 2021, I had 11 addresses. During my undergraduate studies I moved homes every four months.
In 2021, I found myself on the brink of homelessness while working for Hawaii's largest homeless services provider.
Housing is personal, but it's also universal. It's something foundational and when unstable, it affects everything. Showing up for yourself, family, friends, or being present at work—it all can feel impossible. It's not thriving, it's pure survival. The rising cost of living, it affects every income level, put its weight is not equally shared. Housing should never be a question but a guarantee, for all households across the spectrum of housing, for all income levels, including those with fixed incomes and in need of supportive services. Hawai‘i is one of the most isolated island chains. We have finite resources and land; it makes sense that we care for and maintain what we have. We need to look at and invest in maximizing what supply currently exists.
Hawai'i Chamber of Commerce, Young Professionals Program
Cost of Living Summit
2023: Housing Panel co-organizer
2024: Housing Panel co-organizer + moderator
2025: Summit co-organizer, Housing Panel moderator
The Hawaiʻi Supportive Housing Work Group was organized by the Statewide Office on Homelessness & Housing Solutions (OHHS) beginning in June 2022, in coordination with the State House Housing Committee Chair, Representative Nadine Nakamura.
What is Supportive Housing? Supportive housing is a type of housing intervention that serves our higher needs households by combining a housing unit with 1) a rental subsidy to keep the unit affordable and 2) access to services to ensure that the resident has the support that they need.