When most people think of Hawaii, they probably think of paradise beaches, excursions to volcanoes, and bright floral shirts that husbands are told not to wear once they return from vacation. All of this is true of the 50th state; however, there is a fact that isn’t part of the destination highlights. Hawaii has an exponentially growing homeless crisis.

On Friday Oct. 16, the Aloha State was declared to be in a state of emergency by Governor David Ige. According to CNN, Hawaii has about 7,620 homeless people. While that isn’t a lot compared to some major cities, Hawaii has the most homelessness per capita in all of the United States. That means for every 100,000 people, 465 are homeless.

States of emergencies, especially for the state of Hawaii, are usually weather-related. However, this declaration will help fund permanent and temporary homes for the homeless. Finding affordable housing in Hawaii is a challenge. The popular real estate website Zillow, states that the average housing price has gone up 5.2 percent in the last year, alone. Hawaii is a destination for most, so affordable housing isn’t that easy to come by.

Shelter for the homeless is a very important need for Hawaii, particularly for the most populous island of Oahu, which has the most homeless people of the eight islands. With weather that can get up to extremes, the state hopes that this emergency declaration will help decrease the amount of people living on the streets and get them into a permanent and safe place to live.