The homeless camp is back in Kakaako.
The tents and makeshift shelters are around the edges of the park closer to Ala Moana Boulevard than the ocean. The area around the Children’s Discovery Center is mostly cleared out except for some tarp-and-pallet shelters and vehicles in the back parking lot.
Three weeks ago homeless people voluntarily moved away from the Children’s Discovery Center when the executive director of the nonprofit said they might have to shut down the charming play-and-learn attraction because the shantytown around the building was ruining business. No one wants to bring kids to play where people poop on the front walkway.
So the poopers made some concessions, and things were quiet for a while. Then a few tents came back. By the end of the first week, there were probably 30 tents in the park — automatic sprinklers be damned. Then there were more. And more. Now it’s tents and bikes and dogs and kids. It’s 2015 all over again.
Kakaako has gotten quite a bit of media attention, but the problem is spread across Oahu, in beach parks, under bridges, in downtown doorways, all around
Moiliili field, all over.
Meanwhile, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell is calling a drop of 184 fewer homeless people counted in a three-night survey on Oahu “significant,” even though the same count found the number of unsheltered homeless on the street up by 12 percent.
“I consider it very good news that the Point in Time Count shows a significant decrease on the island of Oahu,” Caldwell told reporters. “Overall, this is good news. I was holding my breath.”
Homeless numbers are up 12 percent on Honolulu streets, and Caldwell is ready to exhale? Wow.
It should be noted that these numbers are not hard statistics, but the result of a strategic though imperfect count conducted by organized volunteers over a three-day period.
Who can honestly look around Oahu and say that the homeless problem has gotten significantly better in the past year?
On one side are people who call for compassion on top of compassion, patience and donations, prayers and grant money, who prefer the word “houseless” over “homeless” and decry the city’s sweeps of parks and sidewalks.
Then there are people who are just sick of it already and feel like the working stiffs of Hawaii are being had. They gave money to nonprofits, they showed up for cleanup days and handed out bags of toiletries, but now they just want everyone to live by some rules and get out of the beach parks so that they can be used as beach parks again.
In the middle are some pretty hardworking, earnest people who are trying to make a difference with programs, hygiene centers, outreach and supportive structure. It’s an achingly slow attempt.
This is not a time to just “keep on doing what we’re doing because it’s working.” If numbers are being reduced by less than 200 a year but the number of people living without permanent shelter is still up above 4,000, that’s not solving the problem. That’s not even managing the situation.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
