Lawmakers to visit houseless community in Waikiki

HONOLULU—The State House Committees on Housing and Human Services are scheduled to visit Kapiolani Park in Waikiki to talk to the houseless community there about viable solutions on Tuesday, July 13 at 12:00 p.m. Lawmakers will tour Kapiolani Park, fronting the area of Waikiki Beach across the Honolulu Zoo.

Rep. Rida Cabanilla, chair of the Housing Committee, Rep. John Mizuno, chair of the Human Services Committee, and Rep. Tom Brower, vice chair of the Human Services and district representative, are working with community organizations to meet with local houseless residents. During the site visit, they will discuss issues relating to “chronic homeless,” the Housing First Pilot Program, and proposed “safe zones.”

“It’s important to have our lawmakers come out and actually see the living conditions, and to hear directly from the homeless on what works or doesn’t work,” said Brower, author of House Resolution 62, HD1, which was adopted by the House of Representatives and proposes to offer an immediate solution for the homeless, by establishing “safe zones” that would designate a safe and supervised area for houseless people to stay at night.

“This is a complex issue, and it will remain so unless lawmakers get out of their offices and see what’s happening on the street,” Cabanilla said.  “This is a way to reach out and personally work with the homeless community on solutions that are viable for them.”

“We will hold a legislative briefing this Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 10:00 a.m., perhaps much of what we cover may become a prelude for discussion at the upcoming briefing,” Mizuno said. “Still concerning to me is the sheer number of ‘homeless’ we are dealing with, as well as the percentage of ‘homeless’ that are from outside Hawaii. Our services are being drained and we need to turn this around, in a prudent, cost effective, and humane way.”