The cycle of persistent homelessness can be like the Greek myth of Sisyphus, the character condemned eternally to push a boulder up a hill. He'd get it up only so far when it would roll back down.

That endless struggle is witnessed daily by social service agencies working to help the homeless end that cycle.

But for singles — especially those coping with substance abuse or physical or mental illness — there's not much added support. It's for these people that the McKinney-Vento Homeless AssistanceProgram provides hope. Now, a push to boost federal funds for this successful program is moving through Congress.

Fortunately, both Sens. Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel K. Akaka have committed their support to boost the funding by $364 million. There's reason for their interest: Hawai'i's homeless population numbers around 6,000.

So far, only the Institute for Human Services has a McKinney-Vento grant, which enables IHS to offer a "Shelter Plus Care" service to its clients. The money helps subsidize rental housing and covers medical treatment, counseling or other needed help.

IHS has documented a 95 percent success rate at keeping clients from cycling back into the homeless population but can afford to help no more than the 81 now being served. Nor can Shelter Plus Care be offered by Next Step, H5 or any other outreach agencies.

That's tragic: National statistics provide reason for hope in what's called the "permanent supportive housing" approach — that little extra push to help the homeless back to independent living. Roughly four out of five clients given supportive housing were still housed a year later.

And it saves money long-term: One Rhode Island supportive housing program set annual costs at $8,839 per person, less than a third of the annual institutional costs of chronically homeless person.

Only a fraction of Hawai'i's chronically homeless are being offered this solution. It's time to extend the reach of social service in a way that could provide real stability in so many lives.