HOW DOES HAWAI`I TREAT HAWAIIANS ?
Homeless population grows and grows and grows...
By Will Hoover - The Honolulu Advertiser
WAI`ANAE — The number of homeless along one of O`ahu's most economically fragile stretches has grown dramatically, tripling since 2002 and sending the majority of those who have no place to live to the area's public beaches and parks.
Hundreds of campsites dominate the view across beaches from Nanakuli to Kea`au, in effect turning the 16-mile coastline into the "tent city" residents wanted to avoid when they hooted down a grassroots proposal in 2003 that would have created a drug-free, supervised haven for the homeless near the Wai`anae Boat Harbor.
Just the year before, alarmed officials and service providers said the Wai`anae Coast homeless problem had reached "critical mass."
"It's not a crisis anymore," said Stanlyn Placencia, executive director of the Wai`anae Community Outreach center, which serves the area's homeless.
"We now have an epidemic of unsheltered individuals here."
The Wai`anae Coast has long had its share of homeless, but of late the numbers have stunned even those accustomed to seeing their beachside tents.
Residents say the problem has never been worse, and what's more, figures suggest that the Wai`anae Coast now hosts the bulk of O`ahu's homeless.
Although exact numbers are not possible to track because of the transient nature of unsheltered people, the best figures suggesting the increase in the area's homeless population come via Placencia's program.
In 2002, the outreach program handled a total of 1,082 "unduplicated homeless" clients. Last year that total had reached 3,477. So far this year, 519 new clients have signed up.
To Be Continued...
