Wai'anae homeless plight worsens
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
WAI'ANAE — Two years ago, a vocal contingent of Wai'anae residents gave a resounding thumbs down to a grassroots proposal to erect "Camp Hope" — a drug-free, supervised haven for folks down on their luck with no place to live — on five acres of undeveloped wilderness next to the Wai'anae Boat Harbor.
Police, social-service workers and homeless advocates who favored the plan said the naysayers had their heads in the sand and predicted the community's homeless crisis would only escalate.
And indeed, the crisis has expanded, according to one agency that keeps tabs on community members who have no homes.
"There are more people living in the bushes and in the shrubs than there has ever been before," said Stanlyn Placencia, executive director of the Wai'anae Community Outreach.
Last September, after Wai'anae police flushed a homeless contingent from the very underbrush where "Camp Hope" would have been erected, some of the interlopers threw together a makeshift shantytown on private property next to the entrance to the boat harbor.
There, for the past nine months, the ragtag encampment has remained in direct view of thousands of motorists traveling along Farrington Highway — a constant visual reminder of the community's exploding homeless predicament.
Back at 'Square One'
A month ago, the two dozen shantytown inhabitants were given notice to vacate the property by June 25. But even after the squatters have gone, the homeless issue will remain.
"We're right back to square one," said HPD Sgt. John Ayat, who helped initiate the original grassroots "Camp Hope" plan as a way to stop the repeated cycle of police chasing the same homeless people from one beach to another.
"It's very discouraging when you're in it for two to three years and it looks like there's light at the end of the tunnel."
What lessons the community may have learned from the shantytown episode remain to be seen. But some conclude it has done little to raise awareness among the townsfolk.
"It's polarized them," said William Aila, Wai'anae Boat Harbor master. "There are those who say we need to help the homeless people who want to be helped. And there are those who say, 'We don't want them in Wai'anae, we don't want them on the beach, and we don't care where they go.' "
Cynthia Rezentes, chairwoman of the Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board, said many area residents are working two and three jobs. For them, finding sympathy for the homeless can be a tough sell — especially if the homeless are viewed as deadbeats, or worse, people who refuse to work.
"I think there are people who won't want to hear about the homeless no matter what," she said.
'Critical mass' in '02
Meanwhile, Placencia said, fewer and fewer of what she refers to as Wai'anae's "houseless individuals" are seeking assistance — which is why a recent survey indicated Wai'anae's homeless numbers have declined slightly from previous figures that put the population at more than 1,300.
"The fact that people are being swept off the beaches and pushed up and down the coast has actually created disengagement," said Placencia, who warns that the area's homeless problem has been exacerbated by O'ahu's skyrocketing housing market.
In 2002, Wai'anae's mounting homeless population had reached what officials described as "critical mass."
With the help of residents, service providers and homeless people themselves, police initiated a grassroots committee called Wai'anae CAR (Community Area of Responsibility) to hash out a possible solution to the growing sense of urgency.
For nearly a year the committee worked out a general plan known as "Camp Hope."
'Camp Hope' rejected
The plan would have provided a drug-free, supervised haven for people down on their luck with no place to live. Those willing to accept help could connect with trained professionals who would assist them in working their way back into society.
But in October 2003 when CAR members presented the "Camp Hope" concept to the community, the negative outcry was intense.
Wai'anae would be converted into the "homeless capital of Hawai'i," screamed outraged residents. Plans for "Camp Hope" stalled.
"The situation has not improved at all," said Ayat, who still holds out hope that Wai'anae will wake up to the fact that enforcement alone cannot end the area's homeless plight.
The solution, he says, will be found in community involvement.
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com
