It’s no secret that life in Hawaii can be a scramble to make ends meet. Cory Dickens knows this first-hand.
A former heroin addict who spent five years sleeping on the streets of Chinatown in Honolulu, a cleaned-up Dickens was in Kainaliu Saturday morning as numerous residents lined up to receive free turkeys and fixings for Thanksgiving meals — courtesy of the King’s Daughters Ministry and Hawaii Food Basket. Only, Dickens and two of his daughters weren’t there for the food.
They were in a quest to find housing that lately has felt hopeless.
“I’m renting a room from a friend. Four kids, all of us line up on the floor, yeah?” Dickens said. “I can’t plan meals, can’t fill the fridge with food. There’s lots of studios, but you hardly ever see a three to four bedroom, and I got to be close to Kailua-Kona.”
Dickens has $2,000 a month to spend on rent. That’s because he’s what his sister has termed the richest bum on the street. He has money in a trust from his grandfather. He’s helped out when he stays clean — when he messes up, he gets zero.
“I have a year and four months clean and sober,” he said.
Besides orchestrating the giveaway of 170 turkeys and meals that included ham, chicken, rice, cranberry and all the fixings, King’s Daughters president Helen Vailuu was trying to network for Dickens and his family.
The event highlighted how far a little compassion can go.
Food pantry shelves, thankfully, tend to be well stocked this time of year as the community pitches in to help, said Marshall Akamu, Kona warehouse operations manager for the Food Basket. But hunger isn’t just here for the holidays.
“What I worry about is after the holiday season when everyone fades away,” Akamu said. “We really appreciate it if people do drives in March and April. During the summer, when the kids are out of school and are at home struggling while their parents work, that’s where we fall short all the time.”
Vailuu and her volunteers have held the Thanksgiving giveaway for years. Seven families this year have offered to cook the meals for those who lack the means to prepare their own food.
“That really helps us because we don’t have enough volunteers,” Vailuu said.
She’s looking for a donation of an electric stove for one woman. Come Monday, a Christmas tree will be erected in the King’s Daughters Ministry Thrift Store. In the weeks ahead, cards will be hung in the tree, written with the needs of those who come in and fill out the requests. Donors can peruse the cards and decide what items they want to sponsor. The ministry is also taking donations of new toys.
Joyann Nena of Kailua-Kona is the economic engine of her entire family, holding down two jobs — one at KTA Super Stores and the other at Kona International Airport, while taking care of her two-year-old son, R.G. Kiosy Jr. In February, she bought a car for her entire family to use, and they took it over. So on Saturday, Vailuu handed her the keys and title of a 1997 Subaru hatchback, donated by Kailua-Kona resident Renee Raynon. A group of excited ladies who gathered around the car were also pretty excited about a $150 certificate for a makeover at The Hair Bender Salon in Kealakekua.
Nena, 20, wiped away tears. Caught off guard, she had been brought up to the event under another pretext by her friend, Sarah Price, a home visitor with Family Support Services.
“I had no idea,” Nena said. “She just asked me if I could take off this Saturday. She said it was a big thing happening in the community.”
“I’m just trying to support my son, trying to get life back together,” Nena said. “We lost my dad a few years ago so I’ve been feeling like I’m the one who needs to help my mom. It’s hard but I always said I’m Superman, even if I’m a girl.”
