Streets, shelters surveyed to count state’s homeless

On Sunday night a 67-year-old homeless man named Sam slept on the pavement at the Wai­kiki Baptist Church.

On Monday, Andrew Large, the church’s senior pastor, saw Sam at a Kuhio Beach picnic table and pointed him out to other volunteers so that he could be counted in the annual Point-in-Time count, which measures the number of homeless people on a particular date.

"I recognize him. I had to ask him to leave when people started pulling into the parking spaces for church," said Large, who joined about 50 other volunteers to help local planning agencies, called Continuums of Care, complete their annual survey. "It will be interesting to see how many of these guys that I know because they’ve been sleeping at the church. I’m hoping that we can figure out a way for them be self-sufficient." 

Continuums of Care set out Monday all over the state to count the number of Hawaii residents living in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs or unsheltered on the streets. Their point-in-time counts, which ask the question, "Where did you sleep on Jan. 25?" will be conducted through Friday.

State Homeless Coordinator Colin Kippen said the counts are important because they will provide the basis for the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s 2015 homeless estimate, which is a large factor in how much money is awarded for homeless programs and services in the isles.

According to statistics from last year’s Statewide Homeless Point-in-Time Count, on any given night in Hawaii, as many as 6,918 individuals are homeless, with around 3,135, or 45 percent, of them sleeping on streets and sidewalks, in beaches and parks or squatting in buildings. That count partially formed the basis for Monday’s news that 45 homeless housing and service programs in Hawaii were awarded $11.62 million of the $1.8 billion in nationwide grants distributed by HUD.

"A safe place to sleep at night is a basic necessity that no one should go without," U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said of the grants. "These funds will help our state, local and nonprofit agencies who know Hawaii best make sure that homeless individuals and families have the help they need to get back on their feet and find a place to live."

Kippen said this latest batch of renewal grants puts Hawaii about $100,000 ahead of last year.

"It’s good news. Despite the economic condition of the federal government, we are seeing a slight increase in renewal funds," Kippen said. Local agencies might see greater gains for their programs in a few weeks, he added, when HUD announces its list of new grants. These likely will give priority to programs that fund permanent supportive housing, such as Housing First and rapid rehousing, over transitional and emergency shelters.

Kippen said it’s hard to say where Hawaii will fare in the latest count, the results of which probably will be announced in the spring. But Justin Phillips, the homeless outreach team leader for the Institute for Human Services, said homelessness has been underrepresented before.

"This year we’re making a greater attempt to go down the streets and up the mountains and all the other places where homeless people are living," said Phillips, who led a Wai­kiki volunteer team Monday night.

Volunteer counter Susan Halvorsen, a social worker for the state Department of Health, said count accuracy is important.

"Two of my co-workers are here, too. We want to help so that we can get better information about Hawaii’s homeless that can be used to write more grants for housing and services." 

Paul Wilbourn, a 53-year-old who has been homeless on and off in Wai­kiki for several years, told Halvorsen that he’s ready to give shelters another try.

"I had a problem. I was drinking too much. But, hell yeah, I’m ready now," said Wilbourn, who is originally from Phoenix. "It’s so hard out here. Let’s do it. Today."