Truly Outrageous

[Photo by Cory Lum for the NYTimes]

One of the top ten most-emailed articles on the NYTimes website today addresses the issue of homelessness in Hawaii. This is a huge problem here, which is finally getting some attention since all the homeless people living on beaches in tents are a real bummer for tourists. As usual, the article focuses on Oahu rather than on any of the neighbor islands, but it’s the same story whether it’s in Waianae or here on the Big Island.

Hawaii’s economy has been strong in the last two years, and the state consistently has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. The real estate market has skyrocketed along with the job growth, and houses on the Waianae Coast that rented for $200 or $300 a month a couple of years ago are now advertised for more than $1,000.

Nobody knows exactly how many people are living on the beach. Kaulana Park, the state’s point man for the homeless, estimated that more than 1,000 people lived on the Waianae Coast beaches, but he cautioned that any count was good only on the day it was taken. And that estimate does not account for the hidden homeless: people who sleep on a relative’s sofa, or in their cars, or camp in areas not as visible as the public beaches.

I’d like to point out that this count is only for the homeless on Waianae Beaches, whereas the article is titled ‘For 1,000 or More Homeless, Beaches Are the Only Option’. Yeah. We’ve got 1,000 homeless folks right here on Hawaii Island, according to the last point-in-time count, which is already four years old. So that’s 2,000 right there. And we still haven’t counted Maui, Kauai, Moloka’i… you get the idea.

The Honolulu Advertiser has addressed this issue, too — see this article in particular for a good overview of the current situation in terms of legislation and agency efforts, as well as links to data, graphs, maps and video. From the article:

The beach dwellers say help with rent will do the trick, either by supplying more affordable rentals or providing financial assistance so they can afford the rising rents.

But they remain skeptical on whether the government can deliver on that goal in a timely fashion. Or they wonder whether the recent flurry of attention by politicians will fade after the November election.

“We’ve been having people running for office and everything, saying, ‘Give me one more year, and we’re going to make houses, give me one more year, we’re going to do this,’ ” said Alice Kaholo Greenwood, who has been homeless since July. “The time is up.”

“I think the government should re-evaluate a lot of things,” added Zalei Kamaile, who has been on the beach since late June. “They don’t have any laws against rental, how high it goes. There are people out here who have money to pay for rent, but it’s too expensive.

The strain of high rent is a reality here, and so is the tourist economy. I have a hard time paying my rent, and I only have to support myself. We can allocate all the money we want to emergency shelters and transititional shelters and outreach programs to get the homeless off the beaches, but nobody wants to address the issue of out-of-control rent and opportunistic landlords. Nobody really wants to talk about how there is one Planned Parenthood on the Big Island, while nearly 50% of single mothers here are living below poverty level (according to the latest Census Bureau stats). Nobody wants to talk about the fact that this state markets itself as paradise to nearly seven million visitors every year, but has forgotten about its residents. So if you happen to visit me sometime soon, try not to wring your hands too much about how sad it is to have poverty in this beautiful place. Don’t be so naive. It’s what you paid for.