Holiday drive faces bigger need this year
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
The signs of Christmas are all around — malls are decorated, children are writing their wish lists for Santa and a festive mood is in the air.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
But for thousands of people in the Islands, the holidays bring little joy amid their poverty and helplessness.
Helping Hands Hawai'i volunteer Richard Martin, left, helps client Sam Mori load a sofa into his van.
The Advertiser and Helping Hands Hawai'i, an AUW agency, are teaming up again this holiday season to help those in need through the Advertiser Christmas Fund drive.
Donations to the Christmas Fund have topped $100,000 for three straight years — $105,000 in 2000; a record $181,218 in 2001; and $139,923 in 2002. The money is used by Helping Hands Hawai'i to assist those who need immediate help with rent, utilities, food or tuition.
Beginning tomorrow, The Advertiser will run daily stories about people in need, from cases provided by Helping Hands Hawai'i. The cases
described represent only a fraction of those helped by cash and other donations.
Social service agencies say there are more working families living on the edge this year. The lucky ones have a roof over their heads and food on the table, but little else. Many more are not as fortunate.
Monetary donations also may be dropped off at any First Hawaiian Bank branch. Goods can be donated at the Community Clearinghouse at 2100 N. Nimitz Highway, near Pu'uhale Road. For details, call 440-3804.
Vicki Suyat, director of development for Catholic Charities Hawai'i, said calls for help are up 30 percent this year. "We went from 700 to 1,000 calls a month," she said. Much of the increase, she said, is from the working poor, who have trouble working enough hours to qualify for benefits.
To donate, send checks payable to "The Advertiser Christmas Fund" to Helping Hands Hawai'i, P.O. Box 17780, Honolulu, HI 96817.
Teresa Gonsalves, Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center's support services supervisor, called the situation "bleak."
"We have more working families needing help. The typical family that needs help has complex medical issues, and housing is always a problem. Complicating all this is no medical insurance," Gonsalves said.
Capsun Poe, program manager for Helping Hands Hawai'i's clearing house, said the biggest need this year appears to be beds, dressers, dining tables and large appliances.
Aloha United Way's 211 information and referral hotline, which links people in need with government agencies and services, said calls for food and shelter are up 50 percent this year.
"The numbers don't tell you why, but from talking to different agencies, we see several factors," said Amanda Jones, AUW vice president for marketing and communication. "One is the lack of affordable rental housing in Hawai'i, which drives up the cost for rent. For people living from paycheck to paycheck, a rent increase means less money for food."
A second factor is the state's tight job market, she said. "The low unemployment rate numbers are deceptive, because it doesn't reflect people whose hours have been cut back or people who had three jobs and lost one," Jones said. "It forces them to make choices like, 'Do we buy food, or clothes for the children?' "
Hawai'i Foodbank has struggled to meet the demand this year, said Foodbank president Dick Grimm.
Lynne Akana, a site coordinator for Palama Family Service Center, said Foodbank drops at two Kalihi public housing projects feed more than 150 families and 800 individuals. "We used to have stuff left over, but not anymore," she said. "Rice is really a luxury now."
Akana also has noticed trends.
"We have people who lost or quit their jobs during the bus strike because they couldn't get to work," she said. "It would have cost most of them more money to get to work than they were earning."
A large influx of immigrants from the Federated States of Micronesia seeking education, employment and medical care is affecting the system, Akana said.
"It's a big wave, and many come here thinking they can stay with family in public housing, but they can't. And they don't qualify immediately for welfare assistance."
Immediate temporary housing at transitional shelters is not available, Akana said. "The wait list for one had 45 people. It's hard to get connected again if you can't get a job or housing. Most of them are not begging or asking for handouts, they're just trying to get on a track."
Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.
