WAIMEA — Two weeks ago, a Waimea couple in their late 50s suffering from chronic diabetes and unable to work realized they could no longer afford to keep their home.
“We tried to reverse their mortgage but by the time we were asked to help it was too late,” said Rhonda Bell, a co-coordinator with The Big Island Giving Tree (BIGT), who helps families in need of food and shelter daily. “The sad news is they have an elderly parent in her 80s they care for as well.”
The wife went on disability recently after her husband stopped working six months ago, causing their credit to plummet. As a result, they had to refinance their mortgage which caused it to increase to more than $2,000 a month, an amount they could no longer afford.
Bell works closely with HOPE Services Hawaii, an affiliate nonprofit organization of the Roman Catholic Church in the State of Hawaii. She is still looking for an affordable home for the three residents, but in the meantime, the family’s belongings will be put in storage.
This situation is not uncommon in North Hawaii. Bell also learned the same week about a family of five now living at the beach and a single mother and daughter not far from there.
“We have two different definitions we use — homeless and houseless,” she said. “To me, homeless are those who are ok with living without a permanent structure. With houseless, the majority are working people who can’t afford the rental market. Some of these people have fallen on hard times with the loss of a job, or those who have made bad choices and are having a hard time digging themselves out.”
Seven BIGT volunteers give freely of their time to help those in need.
“In our district we’ve seen the numbers of homeless and houseless increase over the past several years,” Bell said. “The current housing market for rentals is very slim and not affordable for the average family. A working family with full-time working parents and multiple children cannot afford rentals upward of $1,700 per month, excluding tax and utilities. I’ve also found in North Hawaii the majority of companies aren’t hiring full-time employees anymore, just part-time without medical coverage. Or if it’s full-time coverage it’s just for the employee, not their family.”
At Waimea Community Association’s (WCA) Sept. 7 monthly meeting, a panel of nonprofit representatives and federal, county and district employees discussed the pressing homeless and houseless issues and possible solutions.
Bell, HOPE Services Hawaii’s CEO Brandee Menino, Tim Bostock from St. James Episcopal church and Jeramy Madrid, a former case manager for CARE Hawaii, spoke first about ways their nonprofit organizations help those in need.
“Once a family becomes houseless it’s very expensive for them because they have to buy food in little quantities, ice for their cooler, gas to get to and from work and school, and tires regularly because they are constantly moving, not able to stay in one place,” Bell said.
If someone is about to become homeless, HOPE Services can be called. Elderly residents and mothers with children are their priority.
“You can call them but unfortunately they only have four outreach workers on the island and are spread thin, so contacting a worker can sometimes take up to a couple of weeks,” Madrid said.
CARE Hawaii, a behavioral health care organization that provides a variety of services, may be able to provide help faster.
“If people are in a crisis and need a social worker, they can call CARE Hawaii’s crisis line and someone will be sent out to access their situation, help with mental health services and other entitlements if it’s an immediate need,” Madrid added.
The “coordinated entry system” that HOPE Hawaii utilizes along with other organizations may help speed up the process.
“It’s a new system state and nationwide as part of an effort with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),” Menino said. “We are now connected on one database that has all the information for anyone who has applied for housing islandwide.”
HOPE Hawaii volunteers can be trained to help clients get “document ready” to apply for housing by getting their ID, birth certificate and Social Security card. Once they’ve applied, the next challenge is finding housing they can afford.
For the homeless, simple methods of communication can also be challenging.
“The county’s Office of Housing is working on allowing the homeless to use the toll-free United Way 211 number but we’re not quite there yet,” Menino said. “They are taking the lead to support that connection.”
Although there is temporary and permanent housing for the homeless and houseless in Hilo and Kona, none exists in North Hawaii.
“We’ve brought this up before with the county and what I get is that because of the ground and ordinances it’s very difficult to get federal funding to build subsidized housing here,” Menino said. “The fastest way to find housing is to lease it privately with private money.”
St. James church members have discussed ways they could assist homeless families along with other churches.
“We’ve been talking about utilizing a mainland ‘family promise model’ that has worked on Oahu,” Bostock said. “Families can apply who are houseless, with at least one parent working and kids in school. A consortium of churches provide free units where families rotate monthly. Transport is also arranged. Working with Family Promise of Hawaii, some money from the parent’s paycheck is saved for three months and then given back, which is usually enough for a deposit for a month’s rent.”
They are also considering building a large community center on the church’s property, where meals could be provided along with two or three units for temporary housing.
Continuing faith-based summits that began last year, HOPE Services will host one in Kona Sept. 27 and another Oct. 4 in Hilo as “a call to action within the faith community to end family homelessness,” Menino said.
“The Kona meeting will be at the Old Pavilion Airport, where the regional director of Family Promise will talk about how the model works,” she said. “The Hilo summit will be at the civic center. Last year, churches from North Hawaii who attended were Annunciation and St. James.”
To help the homeless find work, Madrid mentioned several options.
“People can call to apply for vocational rehabilitation with the Department of Human Services if they have a physical or cognitive disability,” he said. “It’s something I’ve gotten a lot of people into that can give them re-training and education, and can pay for part of their education going back to school.”
Government officials on the panel were David Willard, director of the Veteran Center in Kona; Community Police Officer May Lee based in Waimea; and Lance Niimi from the Hawaii County Office of Housing’s and Community Development.
Williard explained their role.
“We do outreach to combat veterans on the west side of the island,” Willard said. “We have someone in Waimea Monday through Friday, and therapists and outreach workers that work closely with the police department and HOPE Services. About 10 percent of the population here are vets, but a lot of them don’t know what they’re eligible for because they’ve never come in to ask. We help house those homeless.”
Officer May clarified how the police handle homeless issues.
“We mostly handle crimes being committed, such as property damage, shoplifting, or if they try to break into a car,” Officer May said. “The patrol officer gets the calls for a homeless person screaming in the street, sleeping in the doorway of a business or defecating somewhere. As a community policeman I make rounds every day in Waimea. It’s not illegal to be homeless, crazy or on drugs. But if you find them on your private property you can issue a written trespass warning or file a harassment case.”
Niimi, appointed by Mayor Kim in his county position Aug. 16, acknowledged pressing needs in Waikoloa Village and Waimea.
“The most difficult thing we’ve found is finding a place for the homeless to go. We’re trying to use what we’ve learned in Kona to help other areas on the island,” he said.
Moving forward, Bell asked community members to be their “eyes and ears.”
“We and our volunteer base are so small that we don’t have a wide lens,” she said. “If you know of someone who is needing help, please let us know so we can help and connect them with the right people to get them off of the streets, beaches, highways, parking lots and out of their cars. If we don’t know, we won’t be able to help them.”
Poor attendance at the community meeting that night shed light on a bigger problem.
“This tells me something about the issue — that we really have to raise awareness and nurture the hearts of our community to be more engaged, involved and take personal responsibility,” Patti Cook said, WCA’s president. “Perhaps one of the best things to come of the evening was more conversation and collaboration between faith-based groups, nonprofits and our public officials. I also think the Legislature needs to hear from us and know that this issue is important. If they don’t hear about homelessness it’s not on their radar.”
WCA’s Vice President Donnelly concluded the meeting by saying, “I think there are solutions and outlets that can be involved. We can make a difference one at a time.”
Info: Residents homeless, houseless, or close to becoming so, can contact HOPE Services Hawaii at 938-3050 or call the crisis line at Care Hawaii at 800-753-6879. Veterans can call an outreach counselor at 329-0574 to schedule an appointment.
