KEKAHA — Friends told Pbliya Negra that no one would show up for an event to talk about the homeless. Instead, community leaders, agency staffers, the faithful and dozens more totaled around 125 people that attended the first Substance of
KEKAHA — Friends told Pbliya Negra that no one would show up for an event to talk about the homeless.
Instead, community leaders, agency staffers, the faithful and dozens more totaled around 125 people that attended the first Substance of Hope event Sunday at Kekaha Community Center.
“We saved the life of one person who was about to become homeless, and that is what I wanted,” said Negra, a recently retired Kekaha resident who was homeless for eight months at one point in her life.
“The people who did come overextended themselves with acts of compassion. We can build on that accountability (for) each other.”
The keynote speaker was Regina Carvalho, spouse of Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and the Kaua‘i chair of the Hawai‘i State Commission on Status of Women.
Carvalho said she wanted to hear directly from homeless people to better understand their experiences. She also wanted to be present at an event with the people who serve them.
“I am hear to listen and to learn,” Carvalho said.
The commission has a homeless project and its own Homeless Service Utilization Report notes there were 774 homeless on Kaua‘i in 2009 and 704 in 2010. More than half of them were unsheltered, according to the report.
Homeless women need an action plan, where they understand where they are and where they want to be, Carvalho said. Goals and resources are the first step to opportunity.
Keola Alalem Worthington, a candidate for Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said the event was an opportunity to speak with people in peril about their lives. His immediate concern is that all Hawaiians on Kaua‘i have a home because this is their heritage and homeland.
“Homelessness effects everyone on the island, including all nationalities, and it’s important that we love one another just as much as we love ourselves,” he said. “If you haven’t been in the position of being homeless then you will never understand what it’s like to be homeless.”
Negra said that in the stigma of homelessness is universal, but in Hawai‘i, they have an undesirable status as an island with a tourism driven economy.
“More than any other place that I have lived, the issue of homelessness here is that of a distasteful category, and it makes them become a marginalized part of society,” she said. “The perceptions and misperceptions translates with how people deal with the homeless.”
Someone can become homeless by losing a job just like that, Negra said. In her experience, the most disappointing part was losing friends because of her situation.
This new perspective is her motivation to share her concerns about the relative lack of resources going to the root sources of homelessness.
“The Band-Aid approaches,” she said are the essential needs of food pantries and other services, but it is a temporary fix to prevention and permanent affordable housing.
Negra said people are recycled through 20 agencies but still walk away homeless at the end of the day.
“I decided to do something different. I want to raise awareness. People just don’t know the dynamics of homelessness and self-sustainable solutions.”
Solutions and outreach
Kaua‘i County Council Vice Chair JoAnn Yukimura spoke about pending legislation she described as a partial solution to address homelessness. One proposal is for tax breaks to landlords that give lower rent to the homeless, she said.
The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity were present from St. Theresa’s Catholic School and Church in Kekaha.
“This is outreach to help those in need in any way that we can,” said Sister Hannah Johnecheck. “For those that may not have a lot monetarily, we want to help them keep and reclaim their dignity.”
“This shows the love that people have for those in need,” she added.
Sister Carol Ann Gambsky said the event was educational in brining first-hand awareness of the plight of the homeless. She said women and children are the most vulnerable.
The bottom line is ensuring that the help doesn’t come at the expense of dignity, she said.
“You can’t really judge people,” Gambsky said.
Wendell and Wanda Kabutan, members of the Waimea Baptist Church, were also present to show support.
Wendell said they wanted to be part of this initial meeting of women to talk story about needs and to gather input on sharing skills and expertise in gaining business and community support.
“This is another way of trying to come up with solutions that the county or the state cannot produce for women that have been through the system and can’t seem to access the services that they need,” Wendell said.
Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity has a 42-day emergency transitional housing. YWCA operates a shelter for victims of domestic violence and children. In the meantime, there are hundreds of people on the subsidized housing list.
Speakers said something needs to be done to protect families with children when they don’t come up on the list before the transitional housing deadline runs out.
Rev. Dr. Gwendolyn Kehaunani “Nani” Hill of Hanapepe Hawaiian Congregational Church said the need is clear as data shows nationwide that women and children are now the fastest growing number of homeless.
“It raises the issues of homelessness, especially for women here right in front of us,” Hill said. “This is a reality and we are reaching out to those who are in need. It is actually walking the talk.”
Tiffani Carlin, a U.S. Navy HT2 Hometech welder with SEPTAR at Pacific Missile Range Facility, said she and two servicemen spouses, Audrey Aguire and Sabrina Milo, heard of the event at a Lions Club meeting and wanted to lend their support. They believed in the efforts to show people there are other options, Carlin said.
“I guess I was surprised more or less about the number of homeless women,” Carlin said. “This is such a close knit community and I thought that it just didn’t happen here.”
Naoko Ho, Jean Chapp and Eric Nordmeier were present as Lions Club members.
Polly Brun-Lee of the Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center, said she was present to support the event and to discuss the organization with people in need. The center works to address the issues of orphan and destitute children in Hawai‘i.
June Muñoz, community outreach worker for Ho‘ola Lahui Hawai‘i, was present to provide information and resources, including health and dental care services with a sliding fee scale. She said the event works as a grassroots level activity that gets around institutional barriers.
Were it not for staff outreach to meet with homeless, who literally come from all around the island, Muñoz said not many people would get through the hurdles of forms or have transportation to come in to Lihu‘e.
She credits Negra with taking her own experience to show other the way around obstacles in order to become stable.
“To be inspired to help others is awesome, and it’s great to see this many people come out on a Sunday. (It) shows that we can work together,” Muñoz said. “It would be great to have more support.”
A community member, Geraldina “Geri” Norby, said that the lack of shelters should alert island communities to use their public spaces more effectively. She said community centers, churches and other facilities with showers, laundry and kitchens could make up for where emergency and affordable housing is lacking.
Millicent Cummings recited a poem in her spoken word cadence, written by a single parent from Kaua‘i who was homeless and moved to O‘ahu where she struggles to make rent each month.
Tiffany Tatum, a mystic sound alchemist of the Odissi Temple Dancers, performed a spiritually charged tonal chant.
Blue Dux of Koloa, sang songs of civil justice and reflected on the Easter Sunday evictions of the Koloa camp residents. She said the lack of urgency to create such hardship and stress on elders who believed they had the right to remain on the property.
Kaipo and Lovey Napoleon of Anahola, were present to talk about how Habitat for Humanity helped them build a new home. They said it wouldn’t have been possible without them and the Hawaiian Community Assets classes to prepare for the mortgages and financing process.
Faith Harding, director of Women and Youth Prevention at Malama Pono Health Services, said the homeless are at high risk of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis.
Staff of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Project and the American Cancer Society were also present.
Kim Nizo was there to conduct glucose screenings.
