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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
A homeless encampment in Kakaako next to the Children’s Discovery Center earlier this year.
The state expects to finish renovating a 5,000-square-foot maintenance shed by February that it plans to use as a temporary homeless shelter for as many as 60 individuals or 15 families at a time, state homeless coordinator Scott Morishige announced today.
Gov. David Ige has frequently mentioned the shed as a possible location for a new shelter in an area where homeless people currently line the Kakaako shoreline after they were forced out of the so-called “Kakaako makai” homeless encampment this summer.
Ige’s office said in a news release today that the shelter is expected to operate only for two years once it opens. The shed was previously used by the Hawaii Community Development Authority.
“The shelter site was identified after a thorough vetting process that took into account feedback from shelter providers and homeless families,” Morishige said in a statement.
The shelter is expected to operate 24 hours a day and clients are expected to stay no longer than 90 days on their way to longer-term transitional or permanent housing, Ige’s office said. As many as 240 people could use the shelter in a year.
State officials conducted soil testing “and gutted the interior of the building to assess the structural integrity of the shed before making the final site selection,” Ige’s office said. “The site has existing water and sewer infrastructure and is in close proximity to public transportation and social services.”
The cost of repairing the roof, painting and designing and building the interior is expected to cost $750,000.
The Department of Human Services plans to solicit bids in mid-December for a social service agency to provide homeless services for the shelter’s clients. The agency will work out of two portable trailers on-site.
Ige, another Hawaii embarrassment.
None of Hawaii’s senators or congress(wo)men want to repeal the unlimited COFA immigration that is contributing to the homeless crisis. And locally, Hawaii’s politicians are VOLUNTARILY giving benefits to immigrants that the US Supreme Court said we aren’t required to do (and they tend to have high rates of diabetes and other health problems, which drives them to move here in the first place). And Caldwell and his cronies won’t admit that relocating to a place where there is lower cost of living, and/or where the mainland transplant has relatives and community network, is a viable alternative to simply providing free housing, medical, food, insurance, utilities, clothing, education, dental, etc., here in Honolulu, the most expensive place in the nation. This state is doomed.
As Hawaii struggles to deal with rising rate of homelessness this is very good news, we have to start somewhere. —While there are currently shelters and programs in place to help the homeless, there are far fewer empty beds than are needed — about 550 on any given night on Oahu, where an estimated 4,900 of the 7,620 homeless people live. (according to service providers)
The starting of a project is the easy part. It is the ending part that is difficult. Since the last word is always about money.
It is far from adequate and should have been done 2 years ago. Abercrombie was a joke as governor as well as Ige. But yes, of course we will take what little we can get.
HORSEPUCKEY; or, in this instance SHIBAI…
Where is this maintenance shed located in Kakaako? How do we know it just wonʻt compound the problem?
I wondered the same thing. where is it? what’s the address? wouldn’t it also make sense to include a photo of the shed?
Good idea! Corral them and get them out of the area and in shelters. Got to make the rest of Kakaako clean, no Homeless!
Enforcement of eliminating temporary shelters in the parks will begin in Febuary 2016? The state government now has a target date in dealing with the emergency! Sheesh did we expect anything earth shatering in dealing with our domestic prblem?
In a few years, there will be 21 rail stations to house the homeless. Problem solved!
Waiting for the next train car is perferctly legal at every train station. At least there’s one toilet available.
And the homeless just do not consume enough fiber, making for a long wait behind closed door. As I experienced in restroom of the Chinatown’s police station.
And the homeless just do not consume enough fiber, making for a long wait behind closed door.
What is the projected cost to pay for the private agency/organization to operate the shelter??
Lame reporting from SA as usual.
The way the City/State is handling this problem is just like the carrot for the rail–how much will it cost in the end???? NOW, just close your eyes and imagine living in paradise!!! Free food, free shelter and living on the the beach!!! I can see the travel agents booking all the transients/homeless from around the world—Democratic/Liberal Hawaii–yes, broke, but a heart of Aloha. And, as usual–who pays?????
Move to Bakersfield. Problem solved.
When ever the government talks about temporary, it usually means a minimum of a decade.
If this burdens the wealthy foreigners buying million dollar condos, it WILL be temporary. And in the meantime, the State will be building permanent shelters in Waianae and Kalihi, where they will eventually move all the drug addicts, criminals, mentally ill, etc., permanently. The State may keep a handful of homeless families in Kakaako to pretend that the burden is being shared by the wealthy, but the vast majority of homeless will be dumped in Waianae and Kalihi. I say this from decades of experience in Hawaii.
The rich never picks up the tax tab. Main Street always gets the bum rap in any failure by the government.
In my personal opinion, locating the homeless in areas like Sand Island would be much more appropriate than any where near our more cosmopolitan and visitor industry areas, including Kakaako, which would be a lot more suitable for housing for our real middle income residents. We have to jump on every opportunity to keep Hawaii, Hawaii…, and keep it OURS!
So what happens at the end of the 90 days? It’s right back to the tents. Complete waste of money by a state that doesn’t have any money because they are spending it all on a dumb rail system that no one wants.