This week’s steady rainfall has made it harder for homeless people to find shelter, especially when their regular hangout is a public park in Kakaako.

Christopher Martinez and his three boys — ages 11, 9 and 7 — crowd into their car to sleep at night at a public park. But when daylight comes they have to find some other kind of cover from the downpour.

"We got kinda wet," Martinez said. His boys have complained a little about being cold and again asked, "When are we gonna get a house?" he said.

"The good thing is, I’m still able to get unemployment."

Right now they could really use some waterproof jackets or raincoats, he added. Martinez hopes that through Helping Hands Hawaii’s annual Adopt-a-Family program, his family will be adopted in time for Christmas to lighten the hardships for his boys.

The Star-Advertiser’s Good Neighbor Fund is lending a hand to the nonprofit, which assists the needy throughout the year with finances and material goods donated by the public.

Martinez has been raising the boys by himself for nine years, with no relatives to help him.

"Most of the time it’s hard, it’s a struggle dealing with them, but it’s like a piece of cake versus not having my sons with me," he said.

Martinez lost his building maintenance job six months ago, and he and the boys were evicted from their home five weeks ago. He is looking for work, preferably as a welder, which is his trade.

He is also suing his employer for wrongful termination, saying he feels he was discriminated against because of his ethnicity and his past.

Several years ago he was imprisoned for two years for being an accomplice in car theft, and he previously spent some time in jail when he was 16, Martinez said. He attributes the misfortune that has dogged his life to hard luck, though he acknowledges that some of it "was my fault. I should’ve known better."

Martinez said, "The boys do not have much and would really appreciate anything. However, the boys have always wanted an iPod, as they love music, but I could never afford one."

More practically, they need clothing, household appliances like a large electric frying pan, a toaster and microwave oven, and food for a holiday meal, he added.

Maile Pelangka is also a single parent, raising three rambunctious boys at the Weinberg Village Waimanalo Transitional Shelter. She works the graveyard shift at a 7-Eleven store so she can take care of her sons during the day. Her mother watches the boys — ages 5, 3 and 1 — at night.

Now 22, Pelangka has been a single mother and homeless off and on since she was 19. A victim of emotional and physical abuse, she has had to live in a tent in a back yard, at her father’s house, or with her boyfriend’s mother, who did not like her.

"With barely any support, I’ve been trying to do the best that I can for my three sons," she said. It’s such a battle "just getting them clothes that fit them … or shoes that fit them or even things like bikes or toys they see others have.

"One thing I wish I could get my two older boys, Osean and Isaiah, is a game system because they love to play games, and every time always ask me to buy one. But they are just way too expensive. I always explain I can’t afford.

"All my kids’ wishes I wish I could fulfill, and it hurts me so much with those things I can’t, but (I’m trying) just to be the best mom I can be, for four years of my life, struggling, trying to make ends meet and just to know that my family is OK."

Pelangka is worried that when her time at the shelter is over in a year, she still will not be able to acquire public housing because of the long waiting list. She is training to become an assistant manager at the store so she can better provide for her family.

Pelangka requested clothes for her boys, as well as Bakugan, Buzz Lightyear and Disney toys; and eating and cooking utensils, and Tupperware-type food containers. If she could have one personal luxury, it would be Hawaiian jewelry.

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ON VACATION

June Watanabe is on vacation. "Kokua Line" returns on Jan. 4.