Walking along the walk on Waikiki beach there are so many homeless people. Not the homeless teenagers and young adults that I saw in New Orleans and Portland but middle-aged and elderly people. On my first visit to Honolulu, I drove to the Western part of the island for a hike that winds its way over ocean blowholes, and bird breeding grounds. On my way, I passed a tent city on the beach. I was later informed that it was a community of homeless folks, many of whom are struggling with crystal meth addiction. The homeless population here is pretty overwhelming in Oahu.
A tidbit from a NYT article on the situation: Nobody knows exactly how many people are living on the beach. Kaulana Park, the state’s point man for the homeless, estimated that more than 1,000 people lived on the Waianae Coast beaches, but he cautioned that any count was good only on the day it was taken. And that estimate does not account for the hidden homeless: people who sleep on a relative’s sofa, or in their cars, or camp in areas not as visible as the public beaches.
Many living on the beach have jobs, mostly in the service and construction sectors. They include families with children, who attend public schools by day and sleep in tents on the beach at night.
Venise Lewis, 35, who lives near Ms. Greenwood at Maili Beach Park with her husband and two of their four children, said her daughters, ages 8 and 10, must finish their homework in the afternoon because there was no lighting at the beach after sunset.
When I share this with people, I have found a common response. "Well, if you have to be homeless, Hawaii is probably the best place." And though I thought the same thing, I quickly chastized myself because pain follows people where ever they are as does joy. Sure, the climate beats New York City, but one has to wonder how so many people get to an island that is 5 hours away by plane or if there is a systemic problem that makes homelessness so prevalent. After meeting a publich health department worker, Betty, she explained that part of it is the cost of living and people deciding to stay who came with little money; however, there seems to be the thought that social workers from CA in the 90s would strongly suggest that folks save or use the SS check to buy a one way ticket to HI. We will see what the new governor will do about this who happens to be Jewish and republican (and rumored to be family but that is often a rumor that gets labeled onto single powerful women).
Yesterday on the sidewalk by the beach was a Japanese (I think) woman who was in a wheelchair and her arm was in a sling. Etched on her face was an architypal expression of pain. It made me think that we can't escape whatever is happening in our lives regardless of the destination. Later, I saw her with her grown daughter and her two young grandchildren with such a joyful smile. Again, I thought how relationships, connections are the things that can reach down beyond the pain and bring us to a different place.
I am off to do some hiking on the island of Kauai and to bring in the New Year there. It will definitely be less hectic than Waikiki.
Happy New Year! May you find the connections and the deepening of relationships in 2007!
A tidbit from a NYT article on the situation: Nobody knows exactly how many people are living on the beach. Kaulana Park, the state’s point man for the homeless, estimated that more than 1,000 people lived on the Waianae Coast beaches, but he cautioned that any count was good only on the day it was taken. And that estimate does not account for the hidden homeless: people who sleep on a relative’s sofa, or in their cars, or camp in areas not as visible as the public beaches.
Many living on the beach have jobs, mostly in the service and construction sectors. They include families with children, who attend public schools by day and sleep in tents on the beach at night.
Venise Lewis, 35, who lives near Ms. Greenwood at Maili Beach Park with her husband and two of their four children, said her daughters, ages 8 and 10, must finish their homework in the afternoon because there was no lighting at the beach after sunset.
When I share this with people, I have found a common response. "Well, if you have to be homeless, Hawaii is probably the best place." And though I thought the same thing, I quickly chastized myself because pain follows people where ever they are as does joy. Sure, the climate beats New York City, but one has to wonder how so many people get to an island that is 5 hours away by plane or if there is a systemic problem that makes homelessness so prevalent. After meeting a publich health department worker, Betty, she explained that part of it is the cost of living and people deciding to stay who came with little money; however, there seems to be the thought that social workers from CA in the 90s would strongly suggest that folks save or use the SS check to buy a one way ticket to HI. We will see what the new governor will do about this who happens to be Jewish and republican (and rumored to be family but that is often a rumor that gets labeled onto single powerful women).
Yesterday on the sidewalk by the beach was a Japanese (I think) woman who was in a wheelchair and her arm was in a sling. Etched on her face was an architypal expression of pain. It made me think that we can't escape whatever is happening in our lives regardless of the destination. Later, I saw her with her grown daughter and her two young grandchildren with such a joyful smile. Again, I thought how relationships, connections are the things that can reach down beyond the pain and bring us to a different place.
I am off to do some hiking on the island of Kauai and to bring in the New Year there. It will definitely be less hectic than Waikiki.
Happy New Year! May you find the connections and the deepening of relationships in 2007!
