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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, November 25, 2003

EDITORIAL
Grease the wheels of homeless center

No, it's not your imagination. There really are more homeless folks in doorways, parks and beaches. A new state survey has found Hawai'i's homeless doubled in the past four years.

Previous counts were based on the number of homeless seeking services. But the new tally functioned more as a census with hundreds of volunteers counting heads. They included the "hidden homeless" who are not in the system because they haven't sought services.

While 28 percent of the homeless hold jobs, they don't make enough money to pay rent and bills, the survey found.

So now that we have hard numbers to back the anecdotal evidence that the tide of homelessness is rising, what do we do? Lots of things.

Just like any community, the homeless one is far from monolithic. There are folks with serious psychiatric disorders, people who have lost their jobs or fallen out with their families because of drug or alcohol problems, as well as individuals and families who are just temporarily down on their luck.

As a form of triage, the city is planning a $6 million one-stop homeless shelter and service center whose offerings range from a bed and shower to medical and job help. City Managing Director Ben Lee said the city will issue a request for proposals by the end of the year. A nonprofit organization would run the center.

No site has been identified, and it won't be easy to find one. "People are concerned about the homeless, but they don't want them in their back yard," Lee said.

To further complicate matters, Lee points out, not all the homeless want to get off the streets. Plenty are comfortable living on beaches and in parks.

Nonetheless, judging from the lack of shelter space, the demand far exceeds capacity.

At the end of the day, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the homeless problem. Each group demands a different approach. But the one-stop homeless shelter and service center might be a stepping stone to a more permanent solution. Let's not hold it up.