Next week Lorenzo Jantoc and his family will move into a Waikiki rental overlooking the Ala Wai Canal, where they spent six weeks living homeless among the rats and other hazards.
"It was really tough. I slept on the ground. My family slept on benches. We didn’t know who we could trust, and once we even saw a rat," said Jantoc, whose family of four became homeless in 2014 after struggling through a job loss and years of multifamily living.
Watching their children suffer motivated the family to seek shelter at the Institute for Human Services, which launched an expanded Waikiki outreach in November, with kickoff support from Hawaii’s visitor industry. Within months Jantoc has found employment, and IHS had found housing for the family. While the family will pay rent at their condominium, IHS’ homeless prevention and rapid rehousing program provides startup costs.
"You can’t imagine how good it feels," said Latosha Burks, Jantoc’s fiancee. "We are so glad that we found out about IHS’ services. We wish more people were aware of them. I think it would make a difference."
The state’s visitor industry and some of its most iconic entertainers agree. That’s why they are partnering with IHS on May 9 to host the first Hawaii for Hawaii concert, which aims to raise $1 million so the nonprofit can help more homeless individuals and families exchange their makeshift accommodations for real homes.
To be held on the Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Great Lawn, the concert will be similar in nature to Kokua for Japan, Haiti and the Philippines — local concerts that raised millions for relief in those countries.
"We’ve raised millions for other countries when they’ve had disasters, but homelessness is one of the biggest challenges that we could ever face here in Hawaii," Hilton Area Vice President Jerry Gibson said. "All of us are stakeholders in this challenge — whether we are running hotels, building condominiums or running businesses on the outer islands. We need to come together to help each other out."
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HAWAII FOR HAWAII
A benefit to raise $1 million for the Institute for Human Services’ expanded homeless outreach in Waikiki:
» When: May 9, doors open at 5 p.m., concert begins at 6 p.m. and closes at 9 p.m. with a fireworks display
» Where: Hilton Hawaiian Village Great Lawn, 2005 Kalia Road
» Tickets: $45 with VIP tables of 10 available. Visit www.honoluluboxoffice.com.
» Parking: $5 self-parking, $13 valet
» Also: An online auction starts at 9 a.m. Friday and closes at 6 p.m. May 10. Visit www.biddingforgood.com/hawaii.
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To be sure, homelessness has presented challenges for Hawaii tourism, especially in Waikiki. Visitors have been increasingly dissatisfied with nuisances like unhygienic conditions and negative encounters.
On any given night in Waikiki, there are 321 unsheltered homeless people, according to last year’s Statewide Homeless Point-in-Time Count.
While the number might sound low, its effects are amplified by the district’s mile-long footprint and its economic impact, which fuels the entire state.
The concert will build on a $200,000 cash contribution from the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, which helped IHS leverage $824,000 of its own funds to launch its Waikiki pilot program in November. Additionally, the visitor industry has provided about $83,000 in in-kind furniture and bedding donations to make housing move-in-ready for about 76 households.
Since then IHS has served about 150 Waikiki homeless. Of those, they’ve moved 42 into shelters, placed 15 into housing and assisted 14 in moving out of state.
"Our workers collectively commend IHS for the noticeable difference that we’ve seen in Waikiki since they started their expanded homeless outreach," said Barry Wallace, executive vice president of hospitality services for Outrigger Enterprises. "That being said, the problem isn’t solved since new homeless people keep coming. We need to stay vigilant."
Kimo Carvalho, IHS community relations director, said meeting the concert goal will sustain Waikiki outreach through 2016.
"That’s going to give us time to develop best practices in Waikiki that can be applied across the isles," Carvalho said. "It’s also going to give us and our partners time to explore permanent funding such as a special improvement district similar to the one the that supports beach restoration. The Waikiki community is going to be more receptive if we can show them strong results."
Lots of big names are joining the industry effort. Gibson said Henry Kapono, John Cruz and Brother Noland, who together call themselves the Rough Riders, will perform.
"When they played for the first time on Maui, they sold out," Gibson said. "They’ll be a big draw along with all the other phenomenal entertainers who agreed to work for reduced costs or donate their time to this occasion."
Kapono said local artists, including such names as Hapa, Amy Hanaiali‘i, Jimmy Borges, Starr Kalahiki, Taimane, Makana, the keiki hula dancers of Halau Hula Olana and comedian Kaleo Pilanca, quickly embraced the charity event.
"We all see homelessness every day, and we are all concerned because we love Hawaii and we want everybody on the island thriving," Kapono said. "This is a way for us to draw attention to the problem of homelessness and help raise money that can be put toward solutions. We all felt that it was just the right thing to do."
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Correction: The benefit concert is scheduled for May 9. The sub-headline in an earlier version of this story and in the Friday print edition had an incorrect date.
