Posted on: Sunday, December 19, 2004

O'ahu's homeless remembered

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

When homeless people die in public parks, beaches or streets, their bodies are dropped off at the city morgue. After a cause of death is determined and if no one claims the remains, a state welfare agency pays to have them cremated. Their ashes sit in a box on a shelf.

No memorial services are held to remember these unfortunate people who live at the lowest tier of society.

But on Tuesday, Honolulu for the first time will join more than 100 other U.S. cities holding a Memorial Day for the homeless, with service providers, volunteers and students gathering to remember those who have died alone and without a home.

"Nobody should die out in the streets," said Laura E. Thielen, executive director of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance. "Everyone should have a home to be in and to be taken care of. It is a real sad statement on our society that people are dying out on the street alone."

Outreach workers from the Waikiki Health Center, Kalihi-Palama Health Center and Social Security will gather at Ala Moana Beach Park with students from Moanalua High School.

The students asked to be part of the effort and collected about 500 shoeboxes of personal hygiene items to distribute to homeless people living in the park.

Moanalua biology and media teacher Theresa Nishite is the adviser for the project.

"I called Aloha United Way and asked if they had anything going on for the holidays for the homeless," Nishite said.

"I always tell my students that because they have so many blessings in their lives, food on the table, clothing and a good home, they should be very grateful. There are people that don't have those things, and they can reach out and do something good for somebody else."

Moanalua 11th-graders Felipe Ojastro and Paige Ribadisos will be among the students at the park to distribute the boxes.

"Being that it is the holiday season, we wanted to do something good for the community," said 16-year-old Ojastro. "Most of us go to the beach at Ala Moana, and that is packed with homeless people."

Ribadisos, also 16, has never had a conversation with a homeless person before, but is expecting to do so today. "You feel real good after you do something like this," she said.

According to the Honolulu medical examiner's office, more than 20 unclaimed bodies of homeless people move through the facility every year.

Every year since 1990, the National Coalition for the Homeless has sponsored National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day on Dec. 21.

Last year, cities from Detroit to Seattle and Washington, D.C., sponsored events to honor those who had died and to recommit to the task of ending homelessness.

Last year, middle-school students in Alameda, Calif., built a memorial wall inscribed with all 105 names of the homeless people who died in the county the previous year.

In Cincinnati, mourners huddled around a trash can set alight as a memorial to the homeless who had died in and around that city in the past year. Organizers read a list of the dead as participants in the service held lighted candles and said silent prayers.

Thielen said people here will gather at Ala Moana Beach Park and ask the homeless people themselves what kind of services would be appropriate.

"Since this is the first time we are doing it, we are going to be asking people out there what they think we should do in future years," Thielen said. "If people want to say something, we would really welcome it.

"We hope we can figure out what they would like to do for next year. A service or something, and we will help if they feel that is important for them."

Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.