Kauai’s suddenly homeless crowded county beach and parks after Hurricane Iniki devastated thousands of homes in 1992. Eight years later, a new batch of homeless people, though far smaller, are again making their homes at some county beaches on Kaua’i.
Kauai’s suddenly homeless crowded county beach and parks after Hurricane Iniki
devastated thousands of homes in 1992.
Eight years later, a new batch of
homeless people, though far smaller, are again making their homes at some
county beaches on Kaua’i.
This time around, the homeless are those who
can’t hold jobs and remain poor even though the economy has rebounded form the
hurricane. Some are mentally ill and have no place to go.
The situation has
put a burden on social, health and public programs, increasing the cost to
deliver them.
The Kaua’i County Housing Agency, Kaua’i Economic Opportunity
(KEO), the state Department of Health’s Adult Mental Health Division, and
churches like St. Michael and All Angels’ Episcopal Church in Lihu’e have
addressed needs of the homeless and those who are mentally ill.
But more
work must be done to make a significant dent in the problem, says KEO’s chief
executive officer, MaBel Fujiuchi.
KEO’s dream “is that there will be no
more poverty and that we win the war on poverty,” Fujiuchi said. “But in
reality, I will probably never see that in my lifetime, not here on Kaua’i, not
anywhere.”
A county Housing Agency plan in 1997 identified 350 homeless
people, most of whom lived on beaches or in the canefields. Last year, there
were an estimated 600 homeless people on the island, even though the island
had regrouped from Iniki and more jobs were generated due to better economic
times.
This year, there are an estimated 300 homeless people, down in part
because of programs by KEO and other groups to help the homeless, Fujiuchi
said.
But the number of homeless may jump after November, when Amfac Sugar
Kaua’i closes its sugar plantation operations on the island and 400 people
lose their jobs.
In general, people end up homeless because of limited
financial resources and the inability to hold a job, Fujiuchi said.
“In
most cases, their resources are limited and are not enough to sustain a
conventional home situation,” Fujiuchi said.
The Rev. Jan Rudinoff of St.
Michael Church said a significant number of the “street people” have been
diagnosed with mental illness and don’t take their medication.
“To get
them into treatment is a real struggle because they are paranoid,” he said.
“They have been in the system and didn’t like it. The drugs they used either
didn’t work or had bad side-effects.”
Kauai’s homeless figures don’t
include those who would be homeless if they weren’t doubling or tripling up in
houses. The 1997 report on homelessness noted 3,000 people wouldn’t have a home
if they weren’t living with other family members, and that another 15,000
people were three paychecks away from being homeless.
Fujiuchi said
multiple families sharing homes is not necessarily a sign they are on the verge
of becoming homeless. In Hawai’i, she said, people practice the ohana theory,
meaning a living arrangement that calls for a nuclear family and extended
family — maybe an uncle or an aunt — living in the same household.
The
number of “invisible homeless” today isn’t known because the report hasn’t been
updated, according to Mathilda Yoshioka, director of the county Office of
Community Assistance.
There would be more homeless if not for the programs
of KEO, St. Michael’s, Kaua’i Food Bank, Salvation Army and the Housing
Agency, which manages the Section 8 federal rental subsidy program, Fujiuchi
said.
The various agencies and organizations help the homeless several
ways:
l Because of its private/non-private organization status, KEO
accessed $605,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to
help renovate 40 units at the Lihu’e Court housing project to provide
affordable housing for the needy. Mutual Housing, the owner of the project,
secured other fund for the work.
l KEO owns four units in Puhi to
accommodate economically disadvantaged residents.
l Now in its 35th year of
operation, KEO employs 26 anti-poverty programs that include job-training,
rental assistance and health assistance.
l St. Michael’s Church has helped
shelter the homeless for 20 years at its site in Lihu’e, serving more than 100
people, according to Rudinoff. In return, those receiving the services,
although not required to do so, help clean the church and take on other church
projects, Rudinoff said.
l The church has distributed food to the homeless
for more than 10 years. It buys food from the food bank at reduced prices and
receives some from other churches, including Lihu’e Lutheran Church, All Saints
Episcopal Church and the Jewish Community of Kaua’i.
l Through a $37,500
grant program with the state Department of Health, St. Michael’s helps manage
the finances of homeless people diagnosed with mental illness and who are
unable to manage their finances, Rudinoff said. The program is now in its
fourth year.
l The Housing Agency, which is under the direction of
Yoshioka, administers the federal rental housing program. Without the program,
Fujiuchi said, the number of homeless would increase.
There is no panacea
for homelessness on Kaua’i, Fujiuchi said.
“We can’t solve the problem all
at once. But progress is being made each year, and every year a little bit more
gets done.” she said.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at
245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
