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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, May 26, 2008

SHELTER
Homeless advocate can remain at shelter

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Wai'anae Coast Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Alice Greenwood

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Alice Greenwood, who became a focal point for the homeless crisis on the Wai'anae Coast two years ago, will remain at the state's Pai'olu Kaiaulu emergency shelter in Wai'anae after all.

Earlier this month it was reported that Greenwood had been told on May 6 that she had 15 days to leave the shelter due to rule violations.

At that time, Greenwood — an advocate of the shelter system and one of the first people to leave the beach to enter the new $6.5 million shelter in March 2007 — said she would get a tent and return to the beach with her 7-year-old adopted son.

But last week Darryl Vincent, shelter site director for U.S. Vets, which manages the 275-person facility, said he and Greenwood had ironed out their differences and that she would be staying at the facility until placed in a transitional shelter or permanent residence.

Greenwood had earlier said she thought the shelter managers had retaliated against her for being outspoken about her son's behavioral problems. She said the child she adopted as a "crack baby" has some aggression issues, but contended that other youngsters at the shelter had caused more problems than her son. She also said her son gets frustrated and aggressive only when older children at the facility pick on him.

She said the "rule violations" was her refusal to sign what she described as a "compliance document" on May 6. Greenwood said she refused to sign because, to her knowledge, no one else had ever been asked to sign such a document and she disagreed with some its conditions.

On Tuesday, Greenwood filed a formal request for a "fair hearing" regarding her son. That led to her meeting with Vincent at which they settled their differences, Greenwood said. Because of the shelter's confidentiality restrictions, Vincent said he could not comment on the matter specifically other than to say, "The bottom line is it worked out well."

Without mentioning Greenwood's name, Vincent said she "had become willing to comply with what we need" for the shelter to offer treatment services.

"It's a win-win situation," he said. "We came to an agreement that we will be allowed to help in the treatment services. Therefore, discharge was not necessary."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.