Hawaii has long been known as a tropical paradise, but in recent years another image has intruded into the state's carefully crafted one of idyllic beaches and relaxing resorts: homelessness. The number of homeless people has grown in recent years, leaving the state with 487 homeless per 100,000 people, the nation's highest rate per capita, above New York and Nevada, according to federal statistics. Many of the homeless, however, defy the stereotype of the mentally ill or drug addicted. They are families, with men and women who work full-time jobs. They are struggling to get a foothold in a place with a high cost of living and low wages. Here: in this Thursday, August 27, 2015 photo, a homeless man drinks water while sitting on the beach at Ala Moana Beach Park located near Waikiki in Honolulu. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

People affected by Hurricane Maria bathe in water piped from a creek in the mountains, in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, Thursday, September 28, 2017. Residents of the area drive to the pipes to bathe because they were left without water supplies by the damage caused by Hurricane Maria. The pipe was set up by a neighbor who ran it from a creek in his property to the side of the road in order to help those left without water. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

A photographer takes a snapshot of the reflection of balloons as they take off from Balloon fiesta park in Corrales, N.M., near a north diversion channel reservoir Wednesday, October 7, 2015. (Photo by Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal via AP Photo)

A reflection on waste liquid shows a tourist walking near the Blue mosque at the Sultanahmet Square on the first day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Istanbul on April 13, 2021. (Photo by Ozan Kose/AFP Photo)

Sunrise in the New Forest near Lyndhurst in Hampshire, UK this morning, August 15, 2024. (Photo by Cenk Albayrak-Touye/Picture Exclusive)

A green jumping spider (Lyssomanes viridis), in a forested area of Cerro de la Muerte, in San Jose, Costa Rica, 20 May 2025. International Day for Biological Diversity is celebrated every 22 May around the world. (Photo by Jeffrey Arguedas/EPA/EFE)

A girl bathes to cool off herself with water that is leaking from a broken pipe valve on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, May 18, 2015. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Models take part in the promotion of the Miss Bumbum (buttocks) beauty pageant, along Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on August 7, 2017. The annual Bumbum pageant to select the nation' s sexiest female buttocks will be held on November, 6 in Sao Paulo. (Photo by Nelson Almeida/AFP Photo)