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Jessica Huynh

Mr. Donald

Writing for College

19 April 2018

The Invisible Face of the Streets

​ ​Extreme isolation and alienation are difficult to fathom. Those without a home endure

great separation from the society. With streets swarming with people, these individuals get

isolated and degraded. People become homeless for many reasons, but the effects are typically

the same: they often have no home, no job, no food, no network of social support, no healthcare,

and no hope. Hawaii has the fastest growing rate of homelessness, with a staggering 465 per

100,000, according to ​The​ ​Washington Post.​ Not all homeless people are on the streets because

they are lazy or addicts; they simply cannot sustain themselves financially. Non-profit

organizations and the government are striving to alleviate the prevalence of homelessness by

helping them get into shelters or homes, find employment, and obtain essential needs.

Providing housing is the first step to decreasing homelessness. Honolulu, Mayor Kirk

Caldwell, saw the increase in vagrancy and realized “it [was] important to empathize and support

those who are living on the streets by providing them with stable housing” (“Honolulu Mayor

Kirk Caldwell Declares ‘War On Homelessness”). Doing so, he developed the “pilot project”

whose objective “embodies a paradigm shift that focuses on giving people shelter before other

services” (Hofschneider). This project enables vagrants to be housed in their own neighborhood

as opposed to being moved all into one neighborhood. His goal is to get at least 100 people off

the streets over the next two-year using approximately $3 million to $4.5 million in federal funds
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to do so. Because of constrained assets available, he plans to begin in areas where there are

numerous vagrants: Waikiki, Waianae, and downtown. Several organizations such as Hawaii

Catholic Charities and the Institute of Human Services (IHS) and Darryl J. Vincent, from the

U.S. Veterans Initiative, stands behind Caldwell in proceeding with this plan. Caldwell’s

proposition demonstrates great commitment in addressing homelessness the right way.

Subsequently, it would provide an estimate of 7% of Honolulu’s 1,465 destitute residents out of

4,556 with housing (Hofschneider). Providing housing first will provide vagrants with the shelter

to enhance their unsanitary lifestyles.

​Many organizations are beginning to look at housing as an imperative need for the

homeless community. The Institute for Human Services (IHS) collaborated with Hawaii Lodging

and Tourism Association to start an outreach program in Waikiki for the destitute. The

association is donating $100,000 to start. In fact, IHS staff is assisting the homeless in getting

into shelters or homes, finding employment, receiving medical care, and reconnecting with loved

ones. Connie Mitchell, IHS Executive Director, stated that the outreach program’s objective for

the first year is to aid about 300 homeless either placing them in shelters or sending them back to

their homes outside of Hawaii. HLTA has also contributed another $100,000 to IHS as well as

used furniture, beddings, etc., to Housing First recipients. Kimo Carvalho, IHS development, and

community relations’ manager hope to raise another $400,000 to open a drop-in center in

Waikiki. Furthermore, launch a 25-passenger shuttle for homeless to check out IHS shelters in

Iwilei. This means to say shelters are crucial to survival.

IHS offers a variety of approaches to enable destitute individuals get into perpetual

housing. They “[hope] that once people get introduced to [their] services that they’ll want to
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stay” (Schaefers). That was the case for Robert Binnie. He chooses to walk more than five miles

to get a hot meal at IHS, which helped himself bounce back from alcoholism and homelessness

in Waikiki. Eventually, life got better for him; he got a 16-month stay at the shelter, now an

apartment of his own, enrollment in Kapiolani Community College where he intends to be a

math teacher or radiologist. Binne said, “It took [him] a while to trust (IHS), but when [he] did it

opened [him] up to a whole new world” (Schaefers). This is evidence that the destitute group

must take into account that they need to meet these organizations half-way in order for their lives

to change. If they do not, then that is on them. These organizations are making an effort to help

provide housing so they can ameliorate their lives.

Thousands of people struggle daily to meet their payments and some even end up on the

streets. Fortunately, Family Promise of Hawaii is devoted to helping homeless families reach

sustainable independence by transitioning them into long-term housing. They intend on

supporting families with children escape vagrancy by offering safe haven. They shelter up to

twenty-eight people (eight families) each week giving them shelter and administration to help

them move into stable housing (Thielen). An unidentified participant who was helped by Family

Promise of Hawaii revealed to her experience as a vagrant:

My family and I were staying at a hotel until we ran out of money and were forced to live

on the streets. I learned how to budget my money which has helped with being able to

save money for rent and other things that are crucial to my family’s well-being. Family

Promise has definitely changed my family’s life for the better. During our stay, I was able

to get a full-time job as a warehouse worker. They helped us get into a housing program

and we are moving this week! Family Promise has empowered me and my family to
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succeed so we do not experience homelessness ever again. (“Family Promise of Hawaii”)

There are a variety of ways organizations offer support, whether it is financially, independent

training programs, or even housing.

Housing First is the central foundation to meliorate the quality of life for the homeless.

The Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF) joined forces with a group of non-profit associations

to create the Housing ASAP Program to help get vagrants off the streets and into long lasting

housing. “Since [they] started this initiative in 2014, [they] have seen 714 families move into

permanent housing,” HCF’s Vice President for Strategies, Initiatives and Networks, Chris Van

Bergeijk said ( “Working to Help Get Hawaii’s Homeless off the Streets”). HCF stated that

twelve funders provided $4 million to non-profit organizations to help give vagrants the

assistance, the resources, and the opportunities to live a better life. Hawaii’s population of

homeless families has gradually been decreasing by 17 percent compared to 2016. City auditor,

Edwin Young stated, “The city is making progress and [he] think what [they are] trying to do is

make suggestions for improving their efforts and address the challenges that lie ahead and that

they’ve made in the past” ( “Working to Help Get Hawaii’s Homeless off the Streets”). The

objective of the Housing ASAP Program is to move more families into stable housing faster and

keep them there. Housing will give the homeless an opportunity to get their lives together with a

fresh start.

The crisis of homelessness can be subsided through the accessibility of employment.

Work will be vain without job training programs; they play a significant role in helping homeless

individuals recover. The House Bill 1281, introduced by Rep. Chris Lee (D,

Kailua-Lanikai-Waimanalo), gives destitute people a one-day temporary job doing public service
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tasks: litter cleanup and graffiti erasure. “It is a way for homeless individuals to be able to earn a

few dollars, a meal, and step up for themselves,” Lee said. “More importantly, it is a tool that

brings them into the network of social services that can be provided and puts them on the radar

screen for the very first time like no other program has ever been able to do” (Polson). Not only

do they get paid hourly wages, but also their mental health service and substance abuse treatment

are covered through the program. "[By] providing opportunities [like this] for destitute people to

'work for a day' can start the process out of homelessness while respecting the dignity and

individual needs of each person. Daily money for basic living needs is critical for people on the

streets" (Polson). The bill was said to be only running for three years, until 2019, due to the

concernment of the Department of Human Services on the potential cost of the program. Hawaii

has the highest vagrancy rate in the U.S. per capita. The governor’s office has revealed that in

2015, 465 individuals out of 100,000 are homeless (Polson). Offering job training programs will

bring homeless people jobs and opportunities to establish a better life.

Job training programs will equip unsheltered homeless people with the knowledge and

skills they need for their future jobs. The Institute for Human Services mobile employment

center plans to make employment more available to the homeless community living in

encampments and communities throughout the island: Waikiki, Waimanalo, Waipahu, Kapolei,

Haleiwa, and Waianae as this is a way to decrease the rate of homelessness (“IHS Mobile

Employment Center Will Bring Jobs & Opportunity to Unsheltered Homeless”). The popup

center is funded by private donations from The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation and the Central

Pacific Bank Foundation. Executive Director of the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, Tertia

Freas, said, “Bringing jobs services to where the demand is will hopefully connect more people
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to employment and reduce homelessness” (“IHS Launches Mobile Employment Center &

Services”). IHS offers job preparations such as, “dressing for success, resume building, interview

skills, ESL courses, transportation assistance, budgeting courses, and tailored skill development

to support career goals” (“IHS Mobile Employment Center Will Bring Jobs & Opportunity to

Unsheltered Homeless”). Since 2013, IHS has assisted 422 homeless clients in obtaining jobs in

nearly every industry and hopes to increase those numbers by setting them up for employment.

The Institute for Human Services (IHS) not only shapes homeless people for job

opportunities but helps them find employment. IHS is partnered with businesses who are

interested in providing homeless clients with job opportunities. With the client’s authorization,

IHS will assist businesses with personal background checks and drugs test to help lower hiring

wages. Executive Director of IHS, Connie Mitchell, said, “[Their] ability to get people into jobs

quickly depends on [their] relationships with business partners. [They] ensure the right client is

always matched with the right employer” (“IHS Launches Mobile Employment Center &

Services”). Many homeless individuals want a better life, and that can emerge with programs like

this.

A job training program’s role is to build homeless people into a more-rounded individual

for employment. IHS Hele2Work Employment Services helps homeless people by “[assessing

their] employment history and interest, and then [matching them] with appropriate training and

community experiences through which [they] are able to apply [their] skills or learn new ones”

(“Hele2Work Employment Services”). For example, Hele2Work Cleaning Services Training

Program helps homeless people get a full-time work in Hawaii’s cleaning industry. “Clients and

staff assist landlords and homeowners with deep cleaning services, including flooring (including
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carpet, vinyl, marble, tavern-tine, hardwood, and linoleum), kitchens, restrooms, and appliances

(including ceiling fans, ventilation systems)” (“Employment”). Homeless clients who seek

employment often becomes hired quickly, which then qualifies them for housing and eventually

end their homelessness.

Employment opportunities are vital to the counteractive action of vagrancy. Kahumana

Transitional Job Training Program support homeless families into housing through employment.

Their main goal is to “provide assistance for families in need so that they may become sufficient

and attain permanent housing” (“Transitional Job Training Program”). The program offers

residents of Ohana Ola O Kahumana and Ulu Ke Kukui part-time positions to help out with the

financial payments that they can not meet. Job training opportunities offered include agricultural

training, retail training, culinary and service training, hospitality training, food service training,

and facilities management (“Transitional Job Training Program”). Training services help give

homeless individuals the guidance and preparation they need for their career path. In addition to

training services, we can provide the homeless with their basic needs.

The quantities of homelessness can decline by providing essential needs they lack such as

clean garments, health-care, education, and food. St. Mary of Moiliili Episcopal Church, located

near McCully, strives to provide an abundance of services to the homeless community such as

laundry assistance.

Churches [such as St. Mary of Moiliili Episcopal Church,] with aging congregations and

small numbers that wants to help the homeless don’t have to do all the work themselves

and can ask agencies for help,” Johnson said. “Outreach programs might seem like an
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overwhelming, impossible thing to people, but with others to help, it is possible… We

can do it together. (Gee)

As a matter of fact, two years ago St. Mary teamed up with organizations like the Institute for

Human Services (IHS), University of Hawaii medical school, and the Legal Aid Society to aid

the homeless. They served hot meals and distributed grocery bags to about ninety people.

Additionally, “the church provides about $1,000 in quarters every month, and businesses

contribute volunteers, food, toiletries and supplies” (Gee). The church started Laundry Love,

directed by Craig Shoji, a member of First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu, since “the homeless

felt people treated them with greater respect with clean clothes” (Gee). This program simply

helps homeless with their laundry for free so they can be in a better sanitary condition. This gives

them the opportunity to spend their money on other pivotal necessities. Impressively, 733

families have been helped this year alone. This would not be conceivable if Ericka Drayton,

owner of a laundry shop didn’t contribute. She closes her laundromat to other customers for

several hours so she and her staff can wash and dry each of the homeless individuals’ clothes

(Gee). Appearances play an important part in society; the way homeless people look and dress

affects the way they are viewed.

The reducing of homeless people begins by aiding them with health-care expenses.

Having health insurance is not cheap, but verily exorbitant. For example, in 2009, 57 years-old

Alexander Akuna was living on Nanakuli beach when his heart and kidneys began failing. He

was in and out of Queen’s throughout the following year because of different interminable

infections expedited by drug usage, poor nutrition, and harsh living conditions. He is one of the

many homeless patients who frequently goes in and out of the hospital and this often leads to
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costly emergency room visits. For instance, he was in the hospital for a year and a half which

cost as much as $1 million. “Medicare and Medicaid, the government health insurance programs

for seniors and low-income residents, pick up some of the cost of homeless care. But Queen’s

calculates it absorbs about $5 million in unpaid homeless expenses each year” (Consillio). The

list of expenses for the homeless continues with the regular calls for an ambulance which costs

about $1000 per ambulance transport. This affects those with life-threatening emergencies.

“With homelessness on the rise, hospital visits and medical costs are rapidly climbing”

(Consillio). As of 2016, there has been an estimate of 10,459 homeless visits, which adds up to

$100.2 million of gross charge. “For the most part, emergency rooms in the 21​st​ century have

replaced the churches of old,” said Dr. Daniel Cheng, assistant chief of Queen’s emergency

department. “We’re talking about medical care, shelter and basic human decencies like food,

clothing” (Consillio). To help the homeless circumstance, Hawaii Pacific Health negotiated to

have nursing homes and rehab facilities take in homeless patients, by agreeing to pay for

short-term stays at YMCA, hotel, or respite home during recovery (Consillio). On top of that,

Straub Clinic and Hospital have spent about $30,000-$50,000 in 2015 to house homeless during

recovery. Many organizations are contributing ample time and money to help the homeless

community revive and the homeless needs to realize and understand that especially with

situations involving health-care.

Education is the prime component to ending the boundless cycle of homelessness. Yet,

government officials pay no attention to the educational needs for homeless children. Children

face numerous obstacles that prevent them from seeking an equal education such as lack of

transportation, enrollment requirements, and social barriers. As a matter of fact, “transportation

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remains the biggest barrier for homeless children enrolling in school and accessing available

programs and service,” according to a statement made by a Department of Education to Congress

(Tanabe and Mobley). The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a legislation that helps

bring down these barriers by providing federal money for homeless shelter programs. This gives

homeless children a chance to have the same rights to an education as any other child. However,

even though “many of these barriers have been addressed through amendments to the McKinney

Act, the Act falls short in implementing solutions due to its lack of funding and adequate

enforcement provisions” (Tanabe and Mobley). These barriers exist because these children lack

development skills and are twice as likely to repeat a grade and be suspended from school.

Because of lack of transportation, homeless children are not able to succeed in school due to

being absent frequently. Furthermore, social barriers cause homeless students to be isolated. For

instance, they cannot pay the required fee to participate in a certain activity.

These barriers, individually and collectively, put homeless children at a disadvantage in

their pursuit of an education relative to other children. Because of this inherent

disadvantage, legislation is necessary to provide homeless children with equal access to

education. (Tanabe)

An education will allow homeless children to create their character for a good future occupation.

Food will not decrease the amount of homeless there are, but it is a needed for life.

Living in Hawaii, food can be expensive to purchase. This is why the majority of the populace

have money-related issues. Feeding Hawaii Together services’ “are designed to meet the needs

of Honolulu’s working poor as well as the elderly and disabled living on fixed incomes” (“Help

Save Feeding Hawaii Together”). They understand that “living below the poverty line, many are
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forced to make difficult choices between purchasing food and paying rent, utilities, or critical

medications” (“Help Save Feeding Hawaii Together”). Every year they circulate a huge number

of canned and perishable products and even household items to families in need. Feeding Hawaii

Together has a warehouse which is designed to be like a “grocery store” that empowers people to

come and shop once a week and take anything from perishable to non-perishable substances that

they pleased for free. “By providing food in this manner, [people] are able to: retain their dignity,

build confidence, become more self-sufficient, and eat healthier, more balanced meals” (“Help

Save Feeding Hawaii Together”). Helping the homeless attain basic needs will help ease the

amount of obstacles they are already endure.

Homelessness has always been a major concern. This terrible problem stretches across

all racial, ethnic, and societal boundaries, and can impact anyone’s life at any moment. Anyone

could have a house today, and the next, be out on the streets begging. Everyone needs a decent

home, as this is an essential human need. However, not everyone gets a home. But with the help

of non-profit organizations, the government, and the community, the homeless epidemic will

diminish gradually. There is much the public can do to minimize homelessness, such as donating

clothes, canned goods, money, used furniture, toiletries, dental hygiene essentials, and school

supplies. Volunteering with organizations is also an extraordinary method to connect and take in

a greater account of these individuals on the streets. On top of that, there is an assortment of

volunteering options available to fit each person’s inclination. The government, too, has

moderately taken action but clearly not enough because the rate of homelessness is still intense.

More needs to be done focusing on the source of the problem, the costly price of living in

Hawaii, rather than the effects. By marketing affordable houses and lowering the high demand
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for tax, the general society will have the capacity to sustain themselves better without having to

face the streets. Every action, no matter how small it may seem, can make a drastic impact.
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