A couple of days before the city's intended date to demolish her sidewalk home, Kionina Kaneso had absolutely no idea where she, her daughter, and grandchildren would spend the night. A full time fast-food worker, she had bad experiences at shelters before and was hesitant to live in another, ending up in one of the nation's largest homeless camp for two years.
According to federal statistics, the number of homeless people in Hawaii has ballooned in recent years, leaving the state with 487 homeless per 100,000 people, the nation's highest rate per capita, leading New York and Nevada.
Since 2010, the increasing number of homeless people has come even as the national rate has fallen during the economic recovery. The increase, influenced by years of rising costs in the island chain, low wages and limited land, plunged the image of people sleeping on beaches alongside the state's famed relaxing tropical paradise.
Officials have tried solving the problem, which is most serious in Oahu, the most populated island. They've made homeless services available and banned sitting and lying on Waikiki's sidewalks and suggested using shipping containers as temporary housing.
The pressure on homeless services has caused some resentment. Since the state doesn't have a detailed list by race of the overall homeless population, homeless shelters uses data which shows that 30 percent were Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian; 27 percent Micronesian, Marshallese or other Pacific Islanders; and 26 percent white.
Gov. David Ige declared a state of emergency on homelessness emphasized the extent of the crisis:
- According to service providers, even if there are shelters and programs to help the homeless people, there are still more people going into these shelters than they can accommodate. Statistics show that there are about 550 people on any given night in Oahu, where an estimated 4,900 of the 7,620 homeless people live.
- According to state estimates, the state needs 27,000 affordable rental units by 2020, but lawmakers set aside enough money only for 800 units this year. The budget to maintain these houses could cause the state $800 million over the next decade.
