People in poverty can, in theory, climb out of that sorry state — assuming they're equipped with a ladder to do so.

Sadly, the ladder in place for people who are homeless, or housed in the poorest condition, is missing quite a few rungs.

Advertiser writer Mary Vorsino laid out the dreary landscape of Hawai'i's public housing crisis in a series that chronicled the state's efforts and, ultimately, shortcomings in meeting the critical need for shelter. Stories last week traced the broad continuum of housing issues, including a report on increasing numbers of homeless families camping at Kapi'olani Park.

It's a frustratingly knotty problem that will take public and private efforts to fix — both to end the immediate shortage and to help fuel residents' own potential for securing housing.

This would involve a broad range of initiatives but should include new approaches, such as directing more of the available public subsidy funds toward programs that give residents incentives to save and chart their own course toward home security.

First, of course, the state needs to cut through the backlog of repairs with minimum delay. The intolerable situation — which at the start of summer amounted to 500 units awaiting repairs — should be treated as the emergency it is. The process of issuing contracts and tackling jobs needs to be whittled so families can be accommodated more quickly.

Hawai'i Public Housing Authority has embarked on a "turnaround plan" in the valiant attempt to attack the problem in a comprehensive way. Some of the components are encouraging, including improving efficiency in repairs and moving new families in.

Chad Taniguchi, the agency's chief, said the plan was launched after a consultant studying the authority recommended heavy layoffs to cut expenditures. Confronted with the work backlog, authority officials met with unions and staff and decided to table the layoffs idea, instead redeploying the forces into teams with the job of repairing and renting units in targeted areas.

The results of that focused effort look promising: Taniguchi said 140 of the 500 are fixed now, and 82 are newly occupied.

That's a good start. Now the administration needs to monitor progress closely to ensure that pace is maintained.

Gov. Linda Lingle has used emergency powers before, when the homelessness crisis demanded shelter be provided quickly. That "nuclear option," which enabled suspension of ordinary procurement processes, should remain in her back pocket if the catch-up efforts bog down again.

Hawai'i's public-housing population tends to turn over far less frequently than in other states, which compounds the problem of families languishing on the waiting list.

And is there any wonder? There are very few affordable rentals on the regular market into which they can move. If they earn more they lose subsidies and can't bridge the gap to market-priced housing.

Developing more affordable rentals has to remain part of the solution. It's good to see that officials with the housing authority are looking to Mainland models, such as mixed-use redevelopment, in which private developers invest their own money for renovations in exchange for rights to building near-market and at-market units.

But looking beyond developer incentives, some taxpayer funds could be diverted to give residents, too, the incentive to improve their lot. "Asset building" — a kind of matching-grant program supplementing a family's own savings, can bring a down payment closer within reach.

Several Isle agencies are already part of the Hawaii Alliance for Community Based Economic Development, a coalition with asset-building projects in the works.

It's an approach that has been used to wean families off Section 8 federal subsidies, but could be expanded to help public-housing residents build toward a long-term homeownership goal.

At the moment, the public housing network is concentrating, as it should, on "putting out the fire" of the current crisis. But once the smoke starts to clear, creative plans must get under way, to give hope for a viable future to Hawai'i's needy families.