Faith groups seek a way forward on homelessness
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Attorney General Doug Chin told members of faith-based groups gathered at Central Union Church that “people are finally coming around to understanding that you can’t just arrest the homeless.” He said the groups could help by joining with social service agencies that aid homeless people.
About 180 people representing Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Hawaiian, Christian and Muslim faith-based groups filed into Central Union Church on Monday hoping to learn how they can reduce the largest per capita homeless population in the nation.
“People just don’t know what to do,” said Dean Sakamoto, chairman of Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii’s statewide social concerns committee.
At the daylong conference organized by Interfaith Alliance Hawaii and the Institute for Human Services, Sakamoto and others heard reasons why Hawaii’s homeless problem has gotten so big — and ways that faith-based groups can help, such as volunteering and by donating clothes, sheets, towels and food.
But Sakamoto and others also learned that there are no easy or quick ways for them to get large numbers of homeless people off of the streets and into long-term housing.
“I knew it was a complex problem,” Sakamoto said. “The solutions may be difficult.”
But just getting so many religious leaders together to focus on homelessness represented a sign of hope for attendees such as Daniel Kaneshiro, facilities pastor and director of First Assembly of God’s startup homeless program.
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“I was inspired that at least there are conversations going on for collaborative efforts,” Kaneshiro said. “This problem is so big that we need everyone working together rather than (following) separate paths.”
Mayor Kirk Caldwell has asked church leaders to house a homeless family on their properties in converted shipping containers that he would provide, while clearing any permitting issues.
St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church on North King Street lets homeless people live in an 8-by-20-foot converted shipping container in its parking lot. But others have concerns that include issues of safety, liability and finding space in their parking lots.
State Attorney General Doug Chin told the gathering about his experience with homeless issues going back to his 14 years as a deputy city prosecutor, followed by his tenure as managing director.
He called homelessness “a polarizing issue.”
Despite a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against vagrancy laws, Chin said, “People are finally coming around to understanding that you can’t just arrest the homeless. To this day people just think, ‘Well, why don’t we just round them up? Let’s force them into the best housing we have, which is the jails.’ As insensitive as that comes across, that’s how many people view the subject. … They just feel an extreme sense of frustration.”
After his remarks, Chin told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that faith-based groups could help by partnering with social service agencies to help the homeless.
And he said they do face liability issues by “taking a homeless person onto their property.”
But overall, Chin said, “I’m just very encouraged to see people care enough about this topic.”
One morning this year the Honpa Hongwanji temple on Kauai found a dead homeless person who had been sleeping on the temple’s grounds, said Bishop Eric Matsumoto.
“It was an experience for the temple,” he said. “There was a sense of not knowing what to do.”
Kaneshiro, of First Assembly of God, senses the frustration.
But as people of faith, Kaneshiro said, “we’ve been given the charter to be compassionate. And compassion for the homeless starts with us as individuals.”
18 responses to “Faith groups seek a way forward on homelessness”
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I’m grateful for the conference. My church participates in Family Promise, which has a good record of finding housing for homeless families. We also do a monthly hot meal and food distribution, but few homeless come — most are elderly people living on Social Security.We’ve had people sleeping on our lanai, but because we have a pre-school we have to be extra careful. We had to evict one guy who began using our grounds as a toilet — beyond the health issues involved, it meant that we risked him exposing himself to little kids. But the needs are so great — I’ll never forget the dad, a widower, who came to our food distribution with his young children for several months because he’d lost his job.
Many faith-based centres have attached preschools and in no way should Caldwell or Ige dump the homeless on these centers. The state and city have failed. Don’t dump the problem on the faith-based unless they want to take a more active role. Ask the churches/temples. mosques for charitable donations. Not for solutions and capacity the do not have.
There is a very successful program called “Family Promise” that many churches already are involved in. Why don’t these churches just start there?
It is the example that is being given to us all that is so important. And we can all bear the discomfort of having the homeless in proximity to our churches and schools.
Perhaps–get-off their pious backsides; get out on the streets and put their faith in actually helping someone. Apparently, they’re afraid to get their “holier than thou” hands dirty… Talk is cheap and, in this case–totally meaningless.
“Talk is cheap”
So what have YOU done to help the homeless? The local churches do a lot to help feed them and provide assistance.
Talk IS cheap, Farkward. Time to look in the mirror and ask what you’ve done to solve problems.
Government needs a new law requiring Homeless to attend church, place of worship, or other social institute at least once a week. They must find people that they can go to for help, if they want to change their life. Police can check their church i.d. cards to confirm attendance.
..(o.k., you can do this.., just restrain yourself.., it’s probably just an overmedicated old woman sitting in a rocking-chair in a retirement home or the like..; NO! NO! ..don’t say that, just walk around the block, maybe stroll in to Starbucks and buy a herbal-tea, or get on the treadmill at 24HR..; o.k. I’ll walk across the street to Aloha Tower and stare at the ocean..; OMG I cant’ restrain myself..)
Yoo-hoo! “iwelei 2000″! Yo! You!! Are you at all familiar with the U.S. Constitution? Have you ever heard of the First Amendment (now I feel like Jay Leno standing on Ventura Blvd. asking stupid questions to solicit even more stupid answers..(Mama Mia, save me..))? F.Y.I. here’s a brief section:”Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.” OY VEY! How about “The Inquisition”? F.Y.I. The Inquisition ended in the 14th Century. O.K. Try this: Next time you travel to attend “Church”, stop your vehicle and ask a Homeless person on the street if they would like to attend Church with you. Wouldn’t that be the Christian thing to do? McDonalds has Specials, like 2-for-$2, and you could share a meal too… Maybe bring your Cat too(?)…
P.S. F.Y.I. “JESUS” was born Homeless and he died Homeless…
F.Y.I. “JESUS” was born Homeless and he died Homeless…
NEW HOPE, so strident during the same sex marriage debate, now missing in action for the homeless.
What would Jesus do?………..heal them all and send them on their way…..pray for Jesus to come sooner than later?
some posters misinterpreted the conference goals. most churches are already extending assistance to homeless in their parishes. many receive money, food, clothing, toiletries, diapers, job assistance and training and more.
what the conference provided was insight to long term solutions to assisting homeless back into housing, jobs and mainstream society and strategies to reduce the overall number of homeless in honolulu.
besides donating food, clothing and money to shelters, we provide laundry soap, toiletries and diapers to our church outreach program to assist homeless families.
asking churches to shelter homeless on site is putting young children who attend school on church property at risk. before the churches take that step the state should lead the way by placing temporary shelters on public schools and measure the results.
They say “no easy or quick ways for them to get large numbers of homeless people off of the streets and into long-term housing”. Actually, THEY are PART of the PROBLEM. What they need to do is stop feeding and clothing them at the churches, in the parks and where they put up their tents. They can provide the food and clothing for the homeless AT THE SHELTERS and places like the Sand Island project. That will get more of the homeless off the streets and into shelters and designated homeless housing areas.
Start taxing churches and religion, then earmark those revenue for homelessness and other social programs.
Then the state and city would waste the money and the churches would have less ability to actually help the homeless.
This is a step in the right direction. Churches and charities benefit from a tax exempt status for the good works they do, (or attempt to do). Government needs to get out of the charity business and let these organization take the lead on these problems, that is why the exist.