The dogs are her company and her protection in a camp of about 45 shacks that has become increasingly dangerous as drug use among residents took off. Stephens, 55, acknowledges she might be able to find better housing elsewhere in Hilo if she got rid of the hulking dogs, but she can't bring herself to do it.

So she stays, year after year, surviving on $565 a month in government payments for a disability she suffered in a car crash.

"I'm starting to get more aches and pains from that accident," she said. "I need a house. I feel like I'm going to end up dying down there."

Virginia Stephens

Rob Daley, pastor of Central Christian Church and the master of ceremonies for the day announced to the packed picnic tables under the park pavilion at Wailoa River State Park that they were there for a higher purpose.

"It doesn't matter if we've come together to get a turkey lunch," he said. "This is a divine appointment."

Hilo's Free Lunch and Community Fair for the Homeless featured hotdogs, noodles, salad and 53 turkeys — a gesture for the upcoming holiday season.

The adults sorted through free clothes or got free haircuts, listened to music, and some won door prizes. For the dozens of children running among the picnic tables, there was a water slide in the sun, a jumping castle and shave ice.

Brandee Cachola

Even in a small town like Hilo, most of the time the homeless are usually "out of sight, out of mind," she said.

Outreach workers for the homeless in Hilo said the numbers of homeless people and people seeking help are growing.

The hot housing market has made rental units more scarce, and rents have increased. Now more people are pursuing the same units, and landlords have grown more selective: Some would rather not rent to low-income families or to people with county housing vouchers. Landlords may be able to get more money renting to someone else.

Others face different obstacles. Darci Agres, 36, has lived for almost a year in a camper trailer at Pu'u Maile with her nine children, ages 17, 16, 13, 11, 8, 7, 4, 3, and 1. "It's hard to rent a house with nine kids," said Agres.

Agres said she is just beginning a nursing training program and is seeking a slot in a Hilo public housing project.

The people and families at the fair also include people from crisis shelters and mental health group homes, Cachola said.

As for the homeless problem overall, "I think it's getting worse still," Cachola said. "If you look at Hawai'i Island Food Bank, shelves, it's very empty. We're hoping that this holiday season when everybody is having the feeling of giving, we can put that food back on the shelves."