Struggling in a market with rising rents, Teresa DePeralta signed up for public housing two years ago, joining the thousands of others waiting to get an affordable rental in the state's low-income projects. Today, she's still waiting.

Only now she waits on the beach.

DePeralta and her family two weeks ago joined the ranks of the visibly homeless, setting up an encampment at Ma'ili Beach Park along the Wai'anae Coast. Before that, the DePeraltas had been staying with relatives and friends, unable to afford a place of their own.

Like many other homeless residents waiting for public housing, DePeralta is frustrated by state actions she believes have contributed to the homeless crisis. She criticized the state's diversion of more than $200 million from affordable housing funds over the past decade and its lackluster record of keeping public housing projects in good shape and ful- ly occupied.

"I think it's ridiculous," DePeralta says. "All that money should've been used for housing."

Her frustrations are shared by Venise Lewis, another homeless resident living on the same stretch of beach in Ma'ili. Lewis has been on the housing wait list for about 18 months — the entire time she, her two daughters and her husband have been on the beach in their most recent bout with homelessness.

They, too, have struggled in a real-estate market that has seen rents double the past few years in some neighborhoods.

Lewis says the government hasn't helped matters. While so many people are homeless, she has seen units at public housing projects stay vacant for months. "I feel they're not doing their job," Lewis said.

The prospects of DePeralta and Lewis getting their families into the state's federally supported public housing projects anytime soon aren't good based on the sheer numbers. Roughly 12,000 people are on the wait list, and the waits average three to six years, depending on family size, what areas they applied for and other factors.

The state oversees 68 federal projects totaling more than 5,300 units. More than 700 of those currently are vacant.

For units needing minor repairs, the state can have them fixed and reoccupied in less than two months. But units needing major renovations can be vacant for years, mainly because of a shortage of funds.

Of the 759 units that were vacant in October, about 200 needed major repairs, another 340 needed minor renovations and 184 were scheduled for demolition.

To help put a dent in the repair backlog, the Lingle administration plans to seek millions of dollars — a precise amount hasn't been decided yet — from the Legislature in the upcoming session, according to Patti Miyamoto, interim executive director for the Hawai'i Public Housing Authority.

Her agency has come under criticism because of its high vacancy rates and the lengthy turnaround times for filling empty units.

The split of the state's housing department into two should help because HPHA can now concentrate on public housing, Miyamoto said. The other agency will deal with housing financing programs.

Among Miyamoto's goals: reducing vacancy rates, currently at about 14 percent, to less than 5 percent and cutting the average turnaround time, now at 352 days, to less than 30. Hitting those goals could take several years, Miyamoto said. "It's not going to happen overnight."

In the meantime, DePeralta and Lewis say they can only wait.

DePeralta said living on the beach is tough on her husband, Steven, who is disabled and has multiple medical problems. Two other adults staying with them also are disabled. DePeralta said she stopped working so she could care for her husband.

Lewis, who recently lost her part-time job and is seeking another, likewise said tent life is tough for her two daughters, Kauilani Lewis-Hashimoto, 8, and Raeana Lewis-Hashimoto, 10.

But neither woman knows when their name may be called for public housing.

"I could get lucky and get rich and no need (public housing)," DePeralta said. "That's a dream. We just have to wait."

Reach Rob Perez at rperez@honoluluadvertiser.com.