Posted on: Monday, September 24, 2001

Island Voices
Homeless epidemic looming

By Alika Campbell
Kailua resident

If you've been to the beach lately, perhaps you've gotten a glimpse of the future. At beach parks all across O'ahu, one can see the signs. From the tents in Waimanalo to the bags of personal belongings squirreled about Ala Moana Beach Park, the signs are there.

Who could have guessed that at the dawn of the 21st century, there would still be so many of our friends, neighbors and family members without safe and secure shelter. Homelessness was not a problem of the past; it is a fact of the present, and should be an alarming concern for the future.

"Welfare reform" was trumpeted as a wonderful reworking of the public benefits systems that would provide for the truly needy yet still hold people individually accountable. The law was designed to reduce welfare fraud and transition people off welfare and into self-sufficiency through work. Both laudable goals.

The basic bottom line on welfare reform is that there is now a five-year lifetime limit on receiving public benefits. Once one has used up one's five years of welfare, that's it — there ain't no more.

So what does this have to do with Hawai'i's future? Well, the welfare reform law went into effect just about five years ago so we'll be facing the first five-year cutoff in just a few months.

Now think about all the homeless families and individuals who are already living in the parks, on the beaches and on the streets. Many of these are the folks who either don't receive financial assistance or can't find affordable housing with what limited assistance they do receive.

Now think about all the folks who are just getting by. Maybe working a couple of part-time jobs and getting a little assistance from welfare to make ends meet each month. Think about all the people (maybe friends, maybe family members, maybe even you) who are living in over-crowded housing, in extended families, to make rent each month by combining welfare payments.

Now take away the financial assistance. What one has left is a possible epidemic of homelessness. Men, women and children who used to have places to live now forced to fend for themselves. People forced to choose between paying rent or buying food.

A few years ago, the state funded a statewide survey of homelessness that tried to get an accurate count of the number of people living on the streets, at beach parks and in homeless shelters. This number was somewhat small.

The survey also aimed to get a fuller picture of homelessness by counting the number of "hidden homeless," those staying with friends and family as they tried to get back on their feet, those couch-surfing from place to place, or those whose housing is only secure for the very short term. This number was noticeably larger.

Lastly, and very smartly, the survey aimed at counting the number of folks in the state who are "at risk" for homelessness. At risk was defined to mean that if someone lost his or her income and could not immediately replace it, he or she would be unable to pay rent for more than two months. This number was very large.

In fact, when one adds up all three numbers, they equal about 25 percent of the state's population. That's a quarter of the people of Hawai'i within a few paychecks of being on the street. And this was when the welfare cutoff was two years away.

Has welfare reform successfully transitioned some folks off welfare and into work? Of course. Are there still going to be people in our community hurt by welfare reform? Of course.

It seems we are faced with both a great challenge and a great opportunity. The challenge is providing for the needs of those currently homeless while preventing a significant number of folks becoming newly homeless as a result of welfare reform. The opportunity is to demonstrate that Hawai'i is truly the land of aloha, that we take care of our own, and that we are looking to a brighter future for all, not just some.

However, this can only happen through awareness and action. Now is not the time to turn a blind eye or to ignore the signs of things to come. Take a look around to see what's going on and then do something about it.