{"id":503,"date":"2026-05-23T10:05:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T10:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=503"},"modified":"2026-05-23T10:05:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T10:05:16","slug":"despite-the-odds-homeless-waianae-teen-gets-his-high-school-diploma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=503","title":{"rendered":"Despite the odds, homeless Waianae teen gets his high school diploma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WAIANAE (HawaiiNewsNow) – Graduating from high school is a big achievement. Eric Schultz had to overcome bigger challenges that most students don\u2019t face.<\/p>\n

Read more Hawaiian Humane Society waives dog adoption fees as shelters reach critical capacity<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was so grateful to just walk to the stage and grab my diploma,\u201d he said after Friday night\u2019s graduation ceremony at Waianae High School. \u201cI was gonna cry, but I just held it in, and I just walked the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schultz, 18, didn\u2019t expect to be celebrating the accomplishment.<\/p>\n

According to the latest Point In Time count, there were 802 homeless minors on Oahu. Nearly 90 percent of them were staying in shelters.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Schultz was one of them. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen plenty families have struggles with houselessness because of the rise of income and housing and jobs and all that. It\u2019s hard to get now, I mean, to come by,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Schultz has been in and out of shelters since he was 15 as his parents struggled with addiction.<\/p>\n

Hawaii News Now first met him earlier this year, when he spent a morning handing out donated items of homeless families along the Waianae Coast.<\/p>\n

At that time, he said, \u201cI was living in my car for almost a year, and I was still going to school at the same time. And it didn\u2019t change my view on anything. I just kept working toward my goal to graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schultz said he got a lot of help.<\/p>\n

Desiree Adams became one of his hanai Aunties who helped him get back on track.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe used to come over a lot because he was hungry and he didn\u2019t have any food to eat,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n

Read more HECO and environmental advocates split over Hawaii clean-air plan<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Adams let him live in her family\u2019s house for more than a year after making him promise that he would follow her rules — including obeying a curfew — and going back to school.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018You know, Auntie, will you help me? Will you help me go back to school?\u2019 And so we took him back to school, got the paperwork, worked with his parents,\u201d Adams said. \u201cHis parents were very supportive of me helping him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schultz is still living at a transitional shelter operated by Residential Youth Services and Empowerment, or RYSE. The organization said only 50 percent of the youths that they help get their high school diploma.<\/p>\n

Schultz is now one of those who succeeded.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cHe thanks me a lot, but I said I don\u2019t want any credit for this accomplishment,\u201d Adams said. \u201cYou made the choice to change, and you made the choice to set your goals and follow your goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that he has his diploma in hand, Schultz plans to attend trade school to study plumbing. But he also plans to continue helping those experiencing housing insecurity in the Waianae area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope my story can touch other people to go out at their schools to help find funding, or stuff to help out the community, like hygiene, food, clothes, toys — anything to help out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more Magnitude 6.0 earthquake on Hawaii island shakes the state; no tsunami generated<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Schultz says he’s been in and out of shelters since he was 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDespite the odds, homeless Waianae teen gets his high school diploma - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=503\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Despite the odds, homeless Waianae teen gets his high school diploma - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eric Schultz says he's been in and out of shelters since he was 15.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=503\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-23T10:05:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=503#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=503\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Despite the odds, homeless Waianae teen gets his high school diploma\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T10:05:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=503\"},\"wordCount\":543,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=503#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c76ce24f30ae0689cef8ca1ee05dbdc1.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=503#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=503\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=503\",\"name\":\"Despite the odds, homeless Waianae teen gets his high school diploma - 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