Interesting piece.  But the bigger story was hidden in a couple of throwaway sentences.

For many young people of the community, it’s all about “survival,” Ho said.  After graduating from high school, many go straight to work. By the time they’re 21, many have children, so supporting the family becomes the priority.

Let's be honest, poverty could be mostly wiped out in a single generation of individuals patiently getting their life together BEFORE starting a family.  The greatest service that the political-ambitious Espino could provide to Waimanalo would be urging other young people to get their financial house in order before having kids, rather than merely becoming another Democrat politician who enables and coddles and watches problems get worse while "fighting" for more welfare money.

Others will disagree that this is a major takeaway from this story.  But that's what jumped out at me.