Benson Leung

Mr. Lay

English 11

10 May 2022

Why is Homelessness so Prominent in Hawaii?

Introduction

Have you ever wondered why Hawaii’s homelessness problem seems worse than other

places? It’s like at every bus stop, every beachside, every public park, there’s always a homeless

person there. “On any given day, an estimated 563 families with minor children in Hawai‘i have

no place to call home”, says the Family Promise of Hawaii. The reason Hawaii’s homeless

problem is so prominent because of lack of affordable housing, low minimum wages, insufficient

education, and more. The government and local organizations have attempted to solve this issue

by requesting funds or providing free or cheap housing, but they still lack an effective solution

for establishing a stable educational program for homeless people and kids.

Problem

Since 1980, the cost-of-living expense in Hawaii has increased. While residents continue

to cope with these increase costs, more problems begin to open for those who can’t afford it.

Currently, Hawaii has the 4th highest rental costs in the country. With the housing rates and cost

of living in Hawaii getting higher and higher, people are at risk of losing their homes. Evidence

shows that the average worker is unable to afford housing in Hawaii. Statistics show that

between 1980 and 2018, the pay for low-wage worker has increased by 11%, which is nothing
compared to the dramatic increase for housing of 79% from 1980 to 2018 (Will Caron, 2018).

Hawaii is simply too expensive for the public because the monthly rent for a typical household

per month is already cuts off half the salary for a middle-class worker. This doesn’t sound

astronomically high until you consider taxes, food, insurances, transportation, and other

expenses. Many citizens are losing their homes because the supply does not meet the demand.

The cost of housing is simply too high for the average worker to afford, making Hawaii one of

the most homeless-populated areas in the world. It is crucial for the minimum wage in Hawaii to

increase as even Native Hawaiians are being forced to leave the island because they cannot

afford the high cost of living in Hawaii.

This article talks about the problem of the disparity of money between income and living

needs. He says that Hawaii is the most expensive place to live in the US, but the average

wage/income rate does not match the high cost of living on our beautiful island. Ruderman

believes that the current minimum wage, 10 dollars and 10 cents, is not enough to sustain the

housing and daily expenses of Hawaii’s citizens. Author Ruderman proposes a simple solution to

the homeless problem, and that is a $15 minimum wage. To prove his point, he uses statistical

evidence. He states that many big cities do not have a decrease in company satisfaction by

increasing the minimum wage in these states. Ruderman expresses that companies’ loss of profit

does not even begin to touch what workers lose by having a low minimum wage. He also brings

up the metal stress and well-being of these underpaid workers and believes that a higher wage

will encourage them to have higher confidence, better work-ethic and mood, and an overall

better experience for them. This will benefit companies in more ways than one. To close off his

article, Ruderman says that “The bigger issue is moral, not economic” (Russel Ruderman, 2017).

He proclaims that it is an employer’s civil and moral duty to pay their employees a living wage.
An economy should work in harmony, where both workers and employees work to together to

profit.

Previous Efforts

The Family Promise of Hawaii, or FHP, has teamed up with the Hawaii Community

Foundation to address the problem on homelessness. Before the Pandemic, the FHP had already

been working with over 30 facilities such as churches or synagogues, providing those in need

with food, water, and shelter. Their goal for doing this was to allow the homeless population to

save up money to afford housing, and it worked. Many homeless families have successfully

moved out of poverty due to their efforts, and many of their children had the chance to grow up

in a stable household. Unfortunately, Covid-19 had ruined many of the organization’s

aspirations. “It really just takes one unexpected life event” for a family to lose their home, says

Church: “It could be loss of employment, a medical issue, anything; one event, and they become

homeless. COVID is one of those things” (Samantha Church, 2020) but through support and

grants from the Hawaii Community Foundation and Weinberg foundation, they were able to find

alternative places for shelter such as campsites, and even a hotel in Waikiki. This allowed them

to help the homeless again, and they stated that 80% of their consumers were able to find some

sort of housing in 3 months or less. Church states that through the teamwork of non-profit

organizations, they can help solve the homeless problem day by day. In short, what can be done

to help the homeless have already been done, but something that could decrease the homeless

population dramatically is the chance for homeless children to have an education. As Church

reported, “families with minor children make up 32% of Hawai'i’s homeless population”. If
homeless children have the opportunity to have an education, they can get jobs and make money.

Schools should be built for the kids that need education in the future.

Danica Fong-Shoji is the perfect example of a solutionary person. Her and her husband’s

goal is to help the homeless in simple ways, like food and showers. Although they cannot

provide them with housing, she is making a difference in the homeless community, and her work

has not gone unnoticed by the press. She currently brings a mobile shower van and food for the

homeless in Kakaako and has helped over 50 homeless people per day. She brings her shower

van and roast chicken and rice means daily to help the homeless community stay healthy. She

believes that one day, they will be able to afford housing. Unfortunately, laws on helping the

homeless have become stricter, and her organization is facing many difficulties. This did not stop

her from accomplishing her goal, in fact it just made Fong-Shoji more determined. In a Honolulu

Star-Advertiser interview, Fong-Shoji said, “If they want to arrest me, go ahead” (Danica Fong-

Shoji, 2019). Danica and her husband currently have a $400,000, 5-year contract with Honolulu

to help her community with her non-profit organization, Revive + Refresh. To the criticism she

faces about spoiling the homeless, she responds by saying that the homeless people living in

Kakaako won’t magically get homes and jobs if she stops giving out food. Fong-Shoji has

recently been frustrated with her inability to acquire a permit to serve the homeless people, but

she is still determined to reach her goal of bettering the lives of her community.

Solutions

In Raffery’s article, she goes explains in detail about the obstacles homeless children can

face in the educational aspect of life. According the Raffery, “the loss of their home is more

sudden, more unexpected, and more traumatic” for children. The sudden change of
environment, pace, community, lifestyle, etc. can harm a child’s mental health severely. In her

article, she provides statistical evidence on how we can help solve these problems. Starting

with the bigger pictures, children need homes. A home provides them with shelter,

confidence, and a safe place. Looking at details, Raffery writes that “71 percent of homeless

families with school-age children were sheltered in areas far removed from their original

homes” (Yvonne Raffery 1989), meaning that transportation is a major issue among these

children. Another major problem is residency and guardian and parental requirements. The

government makes it hard for homeless children to attend school with these laws. Some

schools have a limit on residency, or require certain guardianship documents, etc. Other

problems include lack of hope, lack of motivation, hunger, thirst, lack of clothing, mental

instability, lack of confidence, nervousness, and health problems. She also provides many

solutions to these problems. Transportation issues can be helped if schools provide some sort

of transportation system for these kids. Residency and other law issues can be solved with

flexibility, and a willingness for the staff and government to be lenient towards allowing

homeless children an education. Mental and these sorts of issues can be difficult, but support

services, a good educational program, a supporting group of students and staff, and

encouraging guardians and staff to be advocates for good mentality and behavior are some

ways to minimize this issue. The goal is to get these children into homes, “but until our

policymakers recognize that it is cruel and abusive to expose our nation's most vulnerable

children to the hardships of homelessness, schools can help by providing an environment that

supports these children's physical, emotional, and social development” (Yvonne Rafferty,

1995), says Raffery. Homeless children are extremely vulnerable to mental and physical

abuse, and school acts as a safe space for these children. The importance of a good education
cannot be stressed enough, as it can drastically decrease the homeless population by offering

them the chance to get a job.

Hawaii’s homelessness problem has been extremely prominent for a long time.

Representative Ryan Yamane, chair of human services, health, and homelessness committee, and

Scott Morishige, the governor’s coordinator on homelessness, have both expressed their desire

for more funding towards to the “Ohana Zones” program. This program helps the homeless in a

variety of ways, including but not limiting to supporting them with transportation, social

services, health services, and with the transition from homeless to finding a dwelling. Ohana

Zones has connections and is funded by the state and country but is currently short on funding.

Ohana Zones does not simply supply the homeless with the occasional bento or clothes, but

rather they really try to get them into homes, with federal approval and support. Morishige states:

“The request to expand funding for the Ohana Zones program is on top of the money for core

services” (Scott Morishige, 2021). The Ohana Zones program is extremely important for

decreasing the homeless population because they provide fund contracts for many departments,

including Human Services, Health, Housing Finance, Development Corporation, and Youth

Services. Currently, Scott Morishige is planning to request $15 million for the Ohana Zones

program and wants to continue to extend the program up to 2026. “We look forward to seeing

the specific proposals coming out of the Legislature,” Morishige says. “We’re supportive of any

efforts that would increase affordable rental housing inventory, increase access to help people get

into the units we have, and programs that also help provide services to provide wrap-around

support such as to individuals facing behavioral health challenges” (Scott Morishige, 2021).

Morishige and Yamane are exactly the type of solutionary people we need to tackle this problem.
They have made great efforts in the financial and political areas of Hawaii’s homelessness

problem, and they hope to significantly reduce the homeless population in 2025.

Conclusion

In conclusion, homelessness is an issue that will always exist in every country and place,

but strides have been taken to reduce it. Although homelessness requires practical and physical

things to be done like mentioned above, there needs to be an internal, intentional change in the

work ethic and determination in the homeless population as well. Although helping homeless

people move into homes and giving them food does help, there needs to be a return on

investment for our help. By helping them in any way, we deserve something back, and that is for

them to have good work ethic and the desire to help themselves. In the meantime, the most

effective way to end homelessness is and always will be getting them into homes, and this is

where the state needs to have funds to allow for this to happen. In Hawaii, homelessness will

likely never go away completely, because of the costs of living here and due to Hawaii’s good

weather and relaxed atmosphere, but if we continue to work towards this issue, it will surely get

better.
 Work Cited

Caron, Will. “The Cost of Housing, Hawaii's Top Expense, Has Skyrocketed since 1980.”
HBPC, HBPC, 1 Dec. 2020, https://www.hibudget.org/blog/housing-hawaii-top-expense-
skyrocketed-since 1980#:~:text=The%20monthly%20expense%20for%20rent,per%20year
%20just%20for%20shelter.

Research paper on homelessness in Hawaii. Ka Leo O Na Haumana. (2014, February 2).

Retrieved April 26, 2022, from
https://kaleoonahaumana.wordpress.com/2014/02/02/research-paper-on-homelessness-in-
hawaii/ 

“New Models for Helping Homeless Families during COVID-19.” Family Promise of Hawaii -
Hawaii Community Foundation,
https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/hawaiiresiliencestories-family-promise-of-
hawaii.

“Meeting the Educational Needs of Homeless Children.” ASCD,

https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/meeting-the-educational-needs-of-homeless-children.
Ruderman, Russell. “It's Time for a Living Wage in Hawaii.” Honolulu Civil Beat, 28 Feb. 2017,
https://www.civilbeat.org/2017/02/its-time-for-a-living-wage-in-hawaii/.

Fawcett, Denby. “Denby Fawcett: Feeding the Homeless When the City Says Not To.” Honolulu
Civil Beat, 2 Apr. 2019, https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/04/denby-fawcett-feeding-the-
homeless-when-the-city-says-not-to/.

Ordonio, Cassie. “Proposals to Help Hawaii's Homeless Population Taking Shape at

Legislature.” Honolulu Civil Beat, 29 Dec. 2021,
https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/12/proposals-to-help-hawaiis-homeless-population-taking-
shape-at-legislature/.