When the term “homeless” is used, far too often it is used in a pejorative sense- with the false assumption that homelessness is somebody’s fault. But just as it is inappropriate to lump any group of people together by ethnicity, religion, job description, where they live or where went to school, it is wrong to assume that homelessness is a simple concept with simple solutions. These people are homeless, not hopeless.
There are myriad reasons why people are homeless. If you think it’s all about mental illness, think again. Studies here show that 25% of those in a state of homelessness have mental health issues. As 20% of the general population struggles with mental health issues, the homeless, as a group, really aren’t that different from the general populace when it comes to mental health.
But throw in our lack of truly affordable housing, physical disabilities and subsequent medical cost concerns, substance abuse, domestic violence, release from local hospitals or prisons with insufficient means to survive, personal traumas, family problems, people who come here underfinanced and then can’t make ends meet, cutbacks in social services, the lack of doctors who can or are allowed to prescribe psychopharmacologic medications… well, you can see that the homeless issues cut across multiple areas.
The numbers we see from time to time are often confusing. The last “point in time” research reported 4,453 homeless people on O`ahu. But that report is a snapshot, and it doesn’t take into account those who drift in and out of the system over time. A more complete 2017 Homeless Service Utilization Report (the latest year for which information has been released) stated that 10,712 people on O`ahu identified as homeless were served by the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).
Bottom line- we need more street help, transitional housing, and allowances within the state system for more professional service suppliers to provide care. We need to provide hope as well as homes. We need to make sure the numbers accurately reflect (with a transient population that sometimes gets moved around in a weird “whack-a-mole” game) what’s going on. We need more efforts like the newly-planned Waianae mauka camp and the expanding, successful Kahauiki Village (off of Nimitz Highway). And we need to show empathy, mixed with reality, when we see tents, car homes, wanderers, and people in need.
Think about it…
This article was originally published on November 13, 2019 in MidWeek.