‘Think out of the apartment’ to provide homes for homeless

Marc Alexander, director of the city housing office, was correct in saying in his April 12 Island Voices commentary: We know what works and should stick with it. But we must also augment these programs with new strategies if we want to end homelessness.

Obviously, if every homeless person had a home we wouldn’t have a homeless crisis. The reverse is also true: Unless every homeless person gets a home, it’s impossible to end the homeless crisis.

We already know how to end homelessness; Dozens of nonprofits and government programs successfully help thousands and transition many into permanent housing and independence. We know that “Housing First” programs, which provide subsidized apartments with supportive services, have a success rate of 89 percent with homeless impaired by addiction or mental illness. For people homeless solely for economic reasons, subsidized apartments or temporary financial assistance — if the amounts are sufficient — have a 100 percent success rate. But all these successful programs can’t end the homeless crisis because there’s a shortage of subsidized housing. It’s like successfully fixing 10 percent of a leaky roof; the house will still be destroyed by the 90 percent that leaks.

How much housing do we need? There are about 7,220 homeless people in Hawaii. Providing for undercounting and unexpected population surges, 8,000 apartments is a safe number that would be sufficient to house every homeless person in the state.

So, why can’t we build or subsidize enough housing?

Conventionally constructed apartments take eight to 10 years to build, and cost roughly $450,000 per unit; 8,000 units would run about $3.5 billion. Rents run anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500 per month. Even when there’s money available, some landlords won’t accept homeless tenants.

Recently, less-expensive modular dwellings were used for low-income housing projects like Kahauiki Village, which cost roughly $250,000 per unit (including infrastructure), and Kauhale Kamaile in Waianae, which cost about $320,000 per unit. While these are cheaper than traditional brick-and-mortar apartments, 8,000 of these units would run about $2 billion. Moreover, rents for these developments range from $700 to over $1,100 a month, which is unaffordable for many, if not most, homeless people.

Is there a solution to this dilemma? Yes. We need to “think out of the apartment.” Successful programs such as Housing First can work just as well in an ultra-low-cost modular home as they do in an apartment.

There are modular dwellings on the market that cost $15,000 or less, have 200-300 square feet of living space, are virtually earthquake- proof, fire-proof, hurricane proof and can be assembled in a few days or less. These can be incorporated into “villages” on government land, that wouldn’t interfere with the continuity of residential, tourist or retail commercial neighborhoods, so “not in my backyard-ism” won’t throttle construction.

Villages would have communal showers, bathrooms, “wrap-around supportive services” for those who need them, access to public transportation, places to lock ID and a mailing address. With this concept, we could house every homeless person for about $200 million. That’s less than we’re already spending on the homeless for emergency medical care, law enforcement, homeless sweeps, property damage and trash removal.

This solution is already embodied in House Bill 2014, “The Pu‘uhonua Homeless Villages Act.” It’s the only bill with a comprehensive solution to the homeless crisis. This bill passed both the House and Senate unanimously, but for some reason, isn’t getting the media attention it deserves. It’s now headed for a conference committee — where its future is uncertain.

Mike Goodman is director of the Hawaii Kai Homeless Task Force.