Ticket-home plan can help homeless

Hawaii’s appeal is undeniable, as alluring to down-and-outers who fantasize about a fresh start in paradise as it is to the tourists who arrive with plenty of cash and reliably return home after a week or so of fun in the sun. Too many of the former risk the steady supply of the latter — especially when the one-way ticket crowd is on full display on the sidewalks of Waikiki.

This bottom-line fact is driving a number of initiatives to reduce the impacts of homelessness on Oahu, some of which actually help needy individuals and others that mainly make their plight less visible, especially to the tourists whose spending powers Hawaii’s economy.

We’ll count a proposal to help indigent newcomers return to their home states among the good-hearted efforts that serve a dual benefit, and especially like the fact that it would be funded by the private sector — primarily the hotels, restaurants and other businesses that comprise the Waikiki Improvement Association.

The organization is looking to establish an airfare fund to help homeless people buy plane tickets back to the mainland or wherever else they have family or other support networks that can assist in getting their lives on track. The plan revives an option that the Legislature previously approved, but which the Department of Human Services refused to implement.

Rather than dismissing this idea as a gimme for scheming snowbirds, as DHS did, critics should understand that the association is acting at the behest of social workers and medical personnel who have lots of experience working with street people, including chronically homeless who are mentally ill or addicted to drugs and alcohol. They describe this plan not only as viable, but as necessary, and say it could immediately reduce the number of people living on Honolulu’s streets.

These are not naive beginners unfamiliar with unintended consequences wrought by wily clients who work the system. They’re front-line professionals who realize the potential downside and would carefully screen potential recipients to ensure that only those who intend to leave Hawaii permanently get the subsidy. The Institute for Human Services, for example, a nonprofit that provides emergency shelter and other services for homeless people, already helps at least six people a month obtain airfare out of Hawaii and could help many more if only it had the funding.

Moreover, it’s high time that the tourism industry steps up to fund these types of initiatives. Numerous housing, nutrition, social-service and health programs for homeless people are underwritten by nonprofit groups and taxpayers; the latter fully funds the city’s enforcement efforts, which include removing homeless people’s belongings that block public sidewalks. Waikiki businesses that benefit directly from these interventions should be more involved in the various solutions, including the proposed airfare fund.

Oahu’s homeless population has surged 32 percent over the past five years, and includes more than a few hardscrabble folks who spent their last few bucks to get here and now realize they’ve made a mistake. Their tropical fantasies have been dashed — they’ve got no jobs, no place to live on an island where housing is both expensive and sparse and have learned the hard way that Hawaii’s legendary aloha spirit extends more freely to locals and temporary visitors than to destitute transients perceived by some as freeloaders.

Sure, the islands offer great weather, widely available health care and decent welfare benefits — but none of that beats a roof overhead at night, and the prospects of that are better elsewhere. Helping more homeless people reconnect with family members and other support networks on the mainland isn’t silly, it’s merciful — and it’s likely to be cost-effective for Hawaii taxpayers and the tourist industry alike in the long run.