Outreach workers help the homeless

For 3 1/2 years, homeless outreach workers Bill Henning and Bill Whelan Jr. have sought out the homeless, linking them with services, food and housing.

St. Michael & All Angels’ Episcopal Church hired the men to each work 19 hours a week, but because of their determination to “make a difference” in the lives of the homeless, they put in 50 hours a week and more.

The two say they have served up to 250 homeless between them, and want to find more to help.

Their work, however, may come to an abrupt end because St. Michael’s may not be able to get another contract with the state Department of Heath to operate the program another year.

St. Michael pastor Jan Rudinoff said the state doesn’t think the church can meet its upgraded requirements for services to the homeless.

If the program is shut down, it will mean one less program available to attack the problem of the homeless on Kaua’i, Rudinoff said.

No current numbers on the homeless population of Kaua’i are available, but a statewide study done in 2000 identified 15,129 people, or 25 percent of the island population, as “hidden homeless (many people living in one house) or are at risk of becoming homeless.

Whelan and Henning contend the homeless problem has gotten worse and is mushrooming primarily due to the conversion of Kaua’i homes into vacation rentals for visitors.

Skyrocketing rental prices for the remaining homes also make it nearly impossible for residents to find housing they can afford, the men said.

In some cases, the problem forces families to double or triple up in homes throughout Kaua’i, raising the risk for increased social problems and crime and taxing social service programs.

Rudinoff said his church operates the homeless outreach program with a $37,500 grant from U.S. Department of Health that is administered by the state Department of Health.

While the church wants to resubmit another contract bid to continue the services, “I don’t think the DOH will give us it because we don’t meet their requirements” (for upgraded certification of case workers),” Rudinoff said.

The church must put up $6,000 to receive federal certification of the services the church now provides, Whelan said.

“We operate on $37,500 a year, and they want us to put up another $6,000. That just doesn’t work for us,” Whelan said.

Officials with the state DOH and the state Department of Accounting and General Services, which allocates the funds for the Kaua’i project, were not immediately available for comment.

St. Michael’s church was the only non-profit organization that bid for the contract last year.

More organizations haven’t applied for the grant funds because the amount is too small for the job, Rudinoff said. To stretch the $37,500, St. Michael’s chips in another $20,000 of in-kind services.

Rudinoff also said the program has not operated as smoothly as it should because DAGs has been behind reimbursements to the church since the program started.

He said he has had to take out a personal line of credit with First Hawaiian Bank to keep the program going,

As outreach workers, Whelan covers the area from Lihu’e to the west side and Henning works the area from Lihu’e to the North Shore.

The focus of the project is to help the homeless who suffer from mental illness, but more often than not, Whelan and Henning help anyone who is homeless.

They find clients through referrals from the Kaua’i Police Department, Kaua’i Economic Opportunity, the state Department of Human Services, the mental health division with the state Department of Health and residents.

The men then link their clients with organizations like KEO, other groups and government agencies offering services to the homeless.

“We introduce ourselves, give clothing and food (from the Kaua’i Food Bank). We occasionally buy them meals,” Whelan said.

Henning performs the same functions, but steps up his efforts by offering donated furniture to clients.

Henning said the work of KEO’s Care-a-van, a van that distributes food and other items to the homeless, augments his effectiveness in reaching the homeless and serving them. Henning said “Trink” Martin, who drives the van, links him with new clients.

Whelan said he is dedicated to his work because he likes to help people in need.

“I don’t know what it is with me. I think it is that so many people are not able to help themselves,” he said. “These are the type of people I have been helping all my life.”

It wasn’t always so.

As a young man who prided himself being “street smart,” Whelan made money running a saloon and a landscaping company in New York. He bought cars, boat and traveled. But he found his life to be empty and wanted to do something meaningful, Whelan said.

In the late 1960s, he opened his saloon to children of the House of Providence Orphanage, calling on merchants to donate gifts while he provided meals, cake and soda to the children.

Working with disadvantaged children made him realize “how good it felt helping people,” Whelan said.

He later opened a clinical-residential treatment center for severely, emotionally-disturbed youths in New Mexico.

Whelan, now 66, also was involved in drug-alcohol prevention work before he came to Kaua’i in 1996 and began work with the St. Michael’s homeless program.

Henning said he also is a natural for the job because of his experiences with mental illness, alcohol and homelessness while growing up in Illinois.

His mother battled the same condition, and because of the illness, Henning and his sisters, as young children, were put in an orphanage for a time.

Eventually, Henning found like his own life. He worked for a wrecking company and the National Can Company Corp., owned two used car dealerships, all in Chicago, and raised a family.

A resident of Kaua’i for 16 years, Henning, 58, has been a property manager as well. He has traveled to Tahiti, Bali and Mexico numerous time.

Henning said he has made money, but he likes working for the underdog through the homeless program.

“Life isn’t always about making money,” he said. “In this job, if you give good energy, they will give it back. I get a lot of appreciation from the folks I have helped.”

Staff Writer Lester Chang can be reached at mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 225).