CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM A woman who goes by the name Leila swept the gutter at Kaahi Place as her pitbull, Harley, stood guard nearby. Leila has been homeless for more than a year.

Homeless in Honolulu

Business community runs out of patience and plans to cleanup

Since opening his business on Kaamahu Place more than three years ago, Jay Yano has seen the homeless situation grow worse.

Personal belongings on the sidewalk force pedestrians onto the street. People are living in their cars, taking parking spaces from business customers and employees.

"We've been getting comments from our customers and some customers have turned away and left," said Yano, owner of Bad Boy Hawaii, a graphic design and T-shirt printing company. "I'm sure a lot of people -- they don't come unless they have someone with them."

Several business owners on Kaaahi Place and Kaamahu Place are tired of the situation and have planned a cleanup of their neighborhood on July 21. They will ask the homeless to move into shelters.

The neighborhood cleanup comes after a city report found the number of unsheltered homeless on Oahu has grown by 30 percent since 2005.

The area in question near Dillingham Boulevard is shared by 20 businesses, the Institute for Human Services, and a halfway house for women.

About 15 homeless people live on the street or in shelters made from cardboard, or just sleep on mattresses along the walls. Clothes, chairs, bins and pets also line the concrete.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Savannah Ahotau, 9 months, looked out of a van window as her mother, Sherry Ahotau, looked on near the Institute for Human Services. Ahotau was homeless at Aala Park and recently entered the shelter. "I'm doing this for my baby. I don't want to end up like everyone else, because God put me here for a reason and it wasn't to be homeless on the street," said Ahotau. The pair were waiting for the shelter to open after it was being fumigated.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Louis Ramirez rested on his bed Saturday at Kaahi and Kaamahu places near the Institute for Human Services. Ramirez has been waiting for an opening for three weeks to join his wife and three children at the shelter, and sleeps on the streets in the meantime.

Hearing that residents will ask him to leave, he asked, "To where? The shelter won't provide me with no assistance."

Louis Ramirez, who lived in his car until police towed it away, sleeps on a mattress and stores his personal items in a lavender chest. He said he will move into IHS, where his wife and three daughters live when space opens up.

For now, Ramirez knows the people on the street and feels comfortable with them.

"It's better to be in a small group than to stay by yourself," he said.

One business owner, who declined to give his name, said the neighborhood is sympathetic to the homeless' plight but it's time to clean up the area's shabby image. He said employees have quit because they are afraid of the area.

Before the cleanup, IHS will alert the homeless and help them find a place to stay, said IHS Director Connie Mitchell.

On July 21, about four police officers will be on hand to help by removing trash and asking the homeless people to leave.

Because the sidewalks are both private and public, business owners will ask the homeless to leave, and police will assure they comply.

"We don't want to arrest them for trespassing," said Maj. Kurt Kendro. "We want to get their compliance."

He added, "It's the community that's going to be able to solve the homeless issue. We're helping to empower them."

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Shopping carts and belongings clutter the sidewalks of Kaahi Place near the Institute for Human Services.