By the numbers: A quick look at Hawai’i's homeless

Explainer
Travis Quezon

$11,000—Honolulu's Department of Transportation Services has spent $11,000 to remove bus stop benches and replace them with one-person benches to prevent homeless people from sleeping at the stops. The action came as public complaints persisted after the City Council delayed a measure to ban lying down at bus stops. Throughout the year, Hawai'i's homeless also faced measures that prevented them from sleeping in public parks at night and on public beaches.

$53,000—Makeshift additions to a Kalihi house collapsed into a stream last week, leaving over 50 people homeless. No one was injured. The property owners have been issued over $53,000 in fines.

$60—The Next Step Project homeless transitional shelter in Kaka'ako will be charging a monthly fee of $60 to offset rising costs.

998 children—There are 998 homeless children attending public schools in Hawai'i.

$4.2 billion—Twenty homes have been listed as being in the right-of-way of Hawai'i's rail transit plan, which is projected to cost $4.2 billion. Of particular concern listed in the project's Environmental Impact Statement was the Banana Patch community, an area in lower Waiawa located along the border of Pearl City and Waipahu. It was found that the predominantly asian neighborhood faced disproportional effects as identified in the Environmental Justice law that protects minority and low-income populations:

"Impacts to the Banana Patch community suggest a disproportionate effect on community cohesion and isolation in addition to the relocation effects. The displacement of residences could result in adverse changes in social interaction or sense of community, stability, and psychological unity by removing residents from other residents who have resided in the same community for generations."

6 families—The Department of Land and Natural Resources has committed to the legal council of the six families facing eviction from Kahana Valley to not move forward with any action until "constructive discussions" continue over the week.

6,000 people—Recent estimates point to over 6,000 homeless people in Hawai'i who are accounted for in a given day.

37 percent—Of all unsheltered homeless, 37 percent are of Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian ancestry.

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