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For a year, "Anne," 32, and her husband had been hanging on by a thread, but it snapped at the end of last year.
Safety nets designed to help
Charities help with 9/11 fallout
needy families buckle under
the strain of isle economic woesBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.comThe couple ushered in the new year at Ala Moana Beach Park, where they spent the next several nights while their 2-year-old son stayed with his aunt in public housing.
"I cannot stand my son sleeping out here in the cold," Anne said.
Almost 52,000 Hawaii residents have lost jobs or had their hours cut in the post-Sept. 11 economic slump, more than double the claims for unemployment insurance over the same period last year.
With 1,200 more families cut from the welfare rolls, social service providers worry that they will hear more stories like Anne's in the coming months, when the safety net of unemployment insurance, family and friends can no longer hold those who lose their income.
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Yet even in the year before Sept. 11, homelessness was on the rise, as people discovered that minimum wage jobs, reduced welfare benefits and other public assistance could not sustain them.The closure of Aala Park for renovations and more stringent restrictions on sleeping in state and city facilities also have led more people to find whatever refuge they can in designated campgrounds and beach parks, making their plight more visible to park users.
Anne described a slow descent into homelessness.
When they moved to Hawaii from Alaska a year ago, she and her husband, a fisherman, were able to afford their own apartment. But then her husband started "hanging out with the wrong people," and they lost their apartment because she could not support the family on her part-time cashier job.
They moved in with her sister-in-law temporarily, but because she lived in public housing they had to leave.
"We don't know where to go, so we come out here," she said under a tree, across the street from Ala Moana Center. "I'm scared to sleep out here. I'm scared because it's so cold. Plus, I miss my son so much.
"At night I just pray, 'God, please open your doors for us.'"
Those living on the beach say it is difficult to get into shelters immediately. Doreen, 43, and Frank, 46, moved to Keaau Beach Park after being forced to leave a camp near Lake Wilson.
Farther down the beach, Gayle, 44, who lives out of four undrivable cars with her husband, adult daughter and two grandchildren, expressed frustration that there are no transitional shelters for families with no income. "Right now they're taking only mothers with infants, battered wives," she said.
Her daughter receives welfare, which the family supplements with food from churches and by donating plasma twice a week for $180 a month.
"We look for jobs," Gayle said. "Nobody hires us."
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Tricia Glancey, coordinator of the Care-a-Van, which provides outreach services for the homeless through the Waikiki Health Center, said that she has observed a huge increase in the population she serves.For the fiscal year ending June 2001, Glancey said, the Care-a-Van treated 1,200 people, up from 900 the previous year.
"I think our economy is very poor and it costs so much to live out here, and it's just really difficult for people to get a decent paying job," she said. Minimum wage is not enough to survive on, she said.
Thomas, 56, the assistant manager at Ala Moana Beach Park snack shop, can attest to that. Sometimes he works seven days a week, but it does not pay enough for him to come up with a security deposit and rent. Some of his income goes to child support.
He moved to a "camp" at Ala Moana Beach Park after he and his wife separated, he said. The working couple previously lived in other parks.
Glancey noted that many homeless people have substance abuse problems and there is no bed space in rehabilitation programs to accommodate them. If there is, medical insurance generally runs out after 30 days, which is not long enough to help people who have used alcohol or drugs for most of their lives, she said.
Recently, Glancey said, many of the homeless people who had been working were laid off after Sept. 11. And, although it has yet to be a real factor, "We are expecting to be slammed by the whole 'welfare reform,'" Glancey said.
Lynn Maunakea, Institute for Human Services executive director, said that other than a regular seasonal rise in requests for services, demand for emergency shelter so far has not spiked.
While a few families have come to the shelter because of the change in welfare laws, no one has cited Sept. 11 as the reason they were seeking shelter, Maunakea said. She said it is too early to see any real effects from recent income loss.
"What I've been saying all along is that we're a place of last resort," Maunakea said. "People are going to exhaust all alternatives before they come to a homeless shelter."
People will use credit cards and turn to family and friends before going to a shelter. Some may even prefer living on the beach, she said.
"I'm expecting it a little bit in the future or down the line, it doesn't happen immediately."
Like Maunakea, Sandra Miyoshi, administrator of the state's homeless programs, said she expects to see a rise in the homeless population due to Sept. 11 or welfare reform in another three to six months.
Whenever there is a ripple effect in the state's economy, Miyoshi said, "there's been a while before the ripples affect homelessness."
As almost 52,000 Hawaii residents deal with recent unemployment or hour cuts, social service agencies are fighting to keep these people in their homes until they can regain a livable income. Charities help
pay rent for those
jobless after 9/11By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.comThe Salvation Army and Catholic Charities are two nonprofit agencies that administer the Eagle Fund, an emergency rent assistance program that provides up to $1,000 for rent and utilities every 60 days to those affected by the post-Sept. 11 economic slump.
Both agencies report that response to the fund has been overwhelming and while they still have more funds available, outreach workers are limited by the capacity of their staff to meet with clients.
"In terms of financial assistance, the numbers of people have really been skyrocketing," said Chad Buchannan, coordinator for the Salvation Army's Family Services office.
Since October 2000, the Salvation Army has opened its appointment books on the first day of the month. Within two working days, all appointments for financial assistance have been filled for the month.
After Sept. 11, the demand for the Salvation Army's services has increased further.
"We're more than double what our normal monthly service would be," Buchannan said, adding that they see about 26 people a day.
Suzy Torquato, director of intake information and referral at Catholic Charities, said the agency distributed $130,000 in financial assistance from October through December 2001, compared to $86,000 for the first nine months of the year.
"A lot of the people that we've received calls from in the last three months really have been people that would not have come before," she said, adding that people often begin by saying, "I'm really sorry, I've never asked for help before."
In general, the new clients are "really hard-working people that unfortunately were affected by all the events that was happening," she said.
For more information about the Eagle Fund on Oahu, call the Salvation Army Family Services at 845-2544 or Catholic Charities Family Services at 521-4357.
On neighbor islands, the Eagle Fund is administered through Kauai Economic Opportunity, Maui Economic Opportunity, Maui Economic Concerns, and on the Big Island via the Office of Social Ministry and the East Hawaii Coalition.
