Ex-homeless woman
By Lori Tighe
urges: Treat homeless
like humans
Star-BulletinShe remembers the looks. People stared right through her, or shunned her.
She also remembers the joggers saying good morning and the picnickers leaving wrapped food on the table for her.
"I saw the wrongs and the truths, the assumptions, stereotypes and judgments," said Andrea Everett, 34, who lived in Ala Moana Park for six months with her husband, Howard, 40. "I also felt the aloha spirit."
Andrea Everett will be the guest speaker at today's forum on homelessness at the University of Hawaii to discuss firsthand the issues she faced.
"The Everetts are very typical of the growing population of homeless in Hawaii," said Laura Ellis, case manager for Health Care for the Homeless Project at Kalihi-Palama Health Center. "It's harder to find a job, and they both suffer from depression."
Andrea Everett hated being homeless. "It was the most stressful situation of my life," she said. "I actually dug through trash cans for food. We argued constantly because of the stress."
The Everetts found housing, a tiny studio apartment in Waikiki in September through Shelter Plus Care. The federal housing program serves 55 people in Hawaii.
"It felt like moving into the Taj Mahal," she said, referring to the room, mainly filled with a double bed.
On Monday, Andrea got a job working at a convenience store and deli. Howard, an air-conditioner repairman, is still looking.
"My stress level dropped tremendously since I got my job," Andrea Everett said beaming. "It's almost impossible to get a job without an address."
The couple appear to be doing well now, Ellis said.
"They have a long way to go. I think they're still getting use to being inside. The emotional stress is doubled living outside."
The Everetts, married three years, left Oshkosh, Neb., for Hawaii because Howard got a job with his uncle's landscaping business here. But they arrived in April and heard his uncle moved to Texas a week earlier.
"We had 18 cents in our pocket because we expected to stay with his uncle," Andrea Everett said. "I have never been homeless in my life. What did we do? We just survived."
They lived on Magic Island among the ants, centipedes and rain. They read library books under the restroom lights and washed themselves under the cold outdoor showers.
"The toughest times were when the sun went down and you wondered if you would sleep, or if it would rain," Howard Everett said.
The Everetts didn't go to a shelter because they would be split up.
"He's all the people I have and vice versa," she said. "A lot of couples prefer to stay outside than be apart."
Surviving is a full-time job, he said.
They hooked up with other homeless people like "Caveman Jack" who told them about social services and soup kitchens.
The couple went to the airport and returned luggage carts for 25 cents. Forty carts earned them $10, which bought them two meals and cigarettes.
They were denied state welfare at first. They said state officials asked them why they even came to Hawaii.
"Last time I checked, Hawaii was still in the U.S.," said Howard Everett, who served in the Navy.
At a beach near Diamond Head, two women jumped Andrea Everett and robbed her of $280 in food stamps and a bus pass.
She received her first state assistance check for $277 in September.
"The homeless are invisible. You lose your pride. Well, you don't lose it, you misplace it," she said.
"If you see someone less fortunate, give if you can. But at least treat them like a human being."
