Life’s a beach: Homeless in Hawaii

Published 10:00 pm Sunday, July 25, 2010

HONOLULU — Every morning, Tony Williams wakes to the sound of waves crashing on Hawaii’s famed Waikiki beaches and has a spectacular view of the Pacific. But he’s not paying a cent for his priceless vista.

Williams is among the growing number of homeless on Oahu taking advantage of inviting beaches and support services in the islands, where they never have to worry about freezing. A census taken earlier this year showed there were nearly 4,200 homeless on the island.

Officials fear homeless encampments on the beach could damage tourism, and they are weighing several proposals that they say would help the homeless, while moving them from public view.

The proposals include offering plane tickets to the mainland, creating a homeless “tent city” on less visible state land and providing more affordable housing in Honolulu, where rents are among the nation’s highest.

“If you’re going to be homeless anywhere, it’s good to be here,” said Williams, a 35-year-old tattoo artist from Long Beach, Calif., as he hung his clothes to dry between two palm trees. “I’m dealing with the cards I got dealt. I don’t want to stay here forever.”

“They don’t seem to bother people, but it’s probably not the image Hawaii wants,” said Kathryn Novak, a tourist from Manchester, England, as she prepared to swim off Waikiki. “You’d imagine they’d have their own area, and not so much where the tourists are.”

The concept of offering affordable housing to the homeless may be the most promising and have the fewest side effects. As with similar programs elsewhere, it’s called “housing first.” The $1 million program launched this year aims to get the chronically homeless into their own apartments.

The idea is that a stable housing environment would do more to help people survive on their own.

The most contentious of the proposals would use state money to fly the homeless back to wherever they came from, as long as they have family at the destination to take them in. Proponents say the program would cost far less money than what is spent on food stamps and welfare payments.

They weigh a $300 one-way ticket to the West Coast against what they say is a $35,000 per year cost for each person with services. But, some acknowledge, the scheme could also create problems.

Hawaii’s homeless would become another state’s problem. It might also provide an incentive for more homeless to travel to Hawaii if they knew they’d get a free ride home.

Williams is proof that the plane ticket plan could be abused. He took advantage of a similar program in New York City that flew him to Hawaii in the first place after he had a friend here pose as a family member to take him in.

New York’s program, called Project Reconnect, has assisted 18,800 households at a cost of $218 per person. Five people have returned to Hawaii through the program, according to program officials. Another program in Denver has reunited 45 homeless individuals with their families so far this year, but none were sent to the islands.