HONOLULU -- Gregory Reese, 39, said he came to Hawaii from Seattle in May because he was promised a job that didn't work out.

Now he's one of the growing numbers of single homeless men from the mainland.

"I've been living around the airport, right near Nimitz, and I've been going to local churches, getting meals over there and getting help for clothes and showers and stuff like that,” said Reese.

Several state lawmakers are trying to raise money to send Reese home. He said he has no money and his father in Seattle has lung cancer.

Rep. Rida Cabanilla said homeless men from the mainland come to Hawaii to take advantage of the state's generous welfare programs.

“With our climate and the aloha spirit that we have in our islands, we're going to be a receptacle of a lot of homeless people from everywhere else in the mainland,” Cabanilla said.

She said it would cost the state less to buy many of them a one-way ticket back to the mainland.

“I think that's a drop in the bucket to send them back home and have their family and friends happier. It's the most effective means. And it's not like we're dumping people back there. They have to be people eager and willing to go back like Gregory,” Cabanilla said.

Rep. John Mizuno said he's chipping in $100 of his own money to buy Gregory a ticket, and said it would make sense to use state funds to send others home.

A one-way ticket to the mainland from Hawaii costs from $245 to about $350. Mizuno said if a homeless person gets food stamps it costs the state $314 a month. General assistance costs $350 a month, and medical expenses can run into the thousands.

“So this will do two things. Family reunification, and save the state's finite resources for local homeless resident,” Mizuno said.

Reese was ready to leave.

“I want to go back to my dad cause he's got cancer and I just miss home,” he said.

Resources: Help the Hawaii Homeless Facebook page