Neighbor Islands see increase in poverty rates

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Poverty rates on the Neighbor Islands far exceeded the statewide increase of 43 percent, a closer look at data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau shows.

The increase was significantly higher on Kaua'i and Maui, and people in the social services trenches say they already knew what 2000 census numbers indicated: Poverty is on the rise throughout Hawai'i.

The national poverty line in 1999 for a family of four was $17,029 and for a family of three was $13,290.

"The amount of need out there is huge," said Chad Buchanan, family services office coordinator with the Salvation Army in Honolulu. "(The census) validates everything we've been saying."

On Kaua'i, the number of families to reach poverty levels nearly doubled, while the number of families on Maui to reach poverty levels increased from 6 percent to 8 percent of the population since the 1990 census. Overall, the number of people who have reached the poverty level has risen from 88,408 a decade ago to 126,154 in 2000, or about 11 percent of Hawai'i's population.

While the Neighbor Island numbers are relatively small compared with O'ahu, the impact on the agencies that make up the social services safety net is immense, officials said.

On Kaua'i, the number of families to reach poverty levels nearly doubled since 1990, from 631 to 1,224, according to the census, while the number of individuals to reach poverty status jumped from 3,640 to 6,085.

Much of the increase is blamed on Hurricane 'Iniki, which devastated the island in 1992 and put some hotels out of business that have yet to reopen. There still are 700 fewer hotel rooms than in pre-'Iniki times, which also means missing are the jobs that went with servicing those rooms, said Bill Spitz of Kaua'i County's Office of Economic Development.

Add to that the state's sluggish economy, which included the closing of the McBryde sugar plantation, plus the downsizing of other plantations that eventually shut down, and it's not surprising that poverty has spread, Spitz said.

Maj. George Rodriguera of The Salvation Army said that when he was assigned to Kaua'i in 1995, social service agencies were still scrambling to deal with the effects of the hurricane with the help of federal emergency money and the United Way.

Rodriguera said he saw a fair amount of homelessness and families doubling up during his time on the island, which ended last year. "It was definitely the result of 'Iniki," he said.

In the same 10-year census interval, Maui experienced 28 percent population growth, the highest percentage change in the Islands. The number of families to reach poverty levels also increased, from 1,338 to 2,316 households. Individuals living in poverty rose, from 7,851 to 13,253.

When Alice Lee was first elected to the Maui County Council in 1989, the county's social service grants budget was less than $500,000. Now, it totals about $3 million, said Lee, the county's director of Housing and Human Concerns.

Much of the increase is due to making up for cutbacks in federal and state money to nonprofit agencies, she said.

At the same time, the needs of the poor have increased, which has prompted the county to allocate even more resources to fight poverty, she said. The county recently upgraded its federal housing assistance program to serve hundreds more. It also paid for a coordinator to track the needs of the homeless. And, an informal task force on federal welfare reform was formed to assess its impact on the county.

The '90s saw the opening of Ka Hale A Ke Ola Resource Center and a low-income housing facility in Kahului meant to give the poor a boost toward self-sufficiency.

Charlie Ridings, Ka Hale A Ke Ola executive director, said the economy wasn't so much to blame for increasing demand for the agency's services as much as it was rising rents, an influx of immigrants and drug and alcohol use.

In Hawai'i County, poverty grew among individuals, from 16,776 to 22,821, and for families, from 3,351 to 4,084.

Helen Hemmes, president of Hawai'i Island United Way, said the agency's fund-raising drives have increased with the demand.

The demise of the Big Island's sugar industry, and the sheer size of the Big Island played a role in the problem, she said.

"In Honolulu, you can take the bus and you can reasonably expect to get everywhere. But public transportation is not available here. You need a car to get the basics. The jobs might be in West Hawai'i, but the commute is two hours."

But even on O'ahu, The Salvation Army saw demand for financial aid, holiday assistance and food rise, Buchanan said. In 1993, toys and food were distributed to 550 families, he said, while last year 1,100 were helped.

Poverty rates are often exacerbated by immigrants, many of them poor and looking for opportunities. During the decade, 72,000 foreign-born residents moved to the Islands, the census said.

On the Big Island, the number of foreign-born residents rose by 48 percent, to 15,208. On Maui, the number of foreign-born residents grew by 51 percent, to 21,171.