Homelessness in Hawaii is a SERIOUS ISSUE for the islands…Not only are Locals and Kama’aina upset about this, but Travelers and Vacationers are angry about…to the point that they won’t be coming back and they will be telling others not to go to Hawaii either! We touched on Homelessness, but we never really dove into being Homeless in Hawaii to the extent we do today in this podcast, but there are many reasons for homelessness…some are well known as they are also happening on the mainland, but one is central here in Hawaii that contributes to not only Homelessness, but to SERIOUS DEBT for the average ohana here in Hawaii…HOUSING! from affordable housing to affordable rentals…THINGS NEED TO CHANGE! Drugs and Mental illness only compounds these issues…

So lets Break it down as I have worked in the fields of Homelessness along with the drug addictive and mentally ill…First off I have some pretty extensive background with the Mentally ill and the Homeless…First off 65% of the homeless in Hawaii are not from Hawaii! These 65% make up most of the hippy vagrants in Town and around Waikiki…Very few Hawaiians and Polynesians beg…They have PRIDE and know how to live off the land! There are many transitional or permanent housing available for the homeless! I should know because I worked at one with the Slavation Army for YEARS, it was the substance abuse and job re-education program…I re-educated the homeless to get back into society and get jobs in the food and service industry…one of the largest industries here in Hawaii along with Tourism in general which is also a big issue with visitors choosing to return or not return to Hawaii because of the Homlessness and beggers in Honolulu, I hear about it from guests everyday in Waikiki…Over my 3 year span with the re-education program I got many homeless single mother drug addicts jobs and it’s something I’m proud of! The top THREE REASONS for homelessness we learned at the Salvation Army…affordable housing, substance abuse and mental-health…We need to ATTACK these THREE MAIN issues FIRST! Jobs are and never have been the issue…we are one of the states with the lowest jobless rates in the country at 4.3% last time I looked. Many of the Hawaiians I worked with had jobs, had cars, but didn’t have homes…they lived in camping grounds and paid their weekly permits. Homelessness became a serious issue back in 2007 when we saw a HUGE influx to the program at the Salvation Army after the financial collapse…I worked with the Mentally ill as well as the homeless here and in Boston back in the day, 10 years working with these people overall…We DO have a serious problem here, but in the end you have to want to help yourself first (exception, mentally ill)…most these people begging in Waikiki don’t even want help…THERE IS HELP for these people…they choose to turn it away…WE NEED to HELP those who want help…Affordable housing for those who DO want to be a part of society are the first we MUST help…I can’t understand for the life of me why the state is doing SHIT about this…it blows my F-IN MIND, but I do know how we can make change and some of the underlying issues as to where the problems come from…The Military and their housing allowences as well as travel Nurses and other traveling workers and contractors, etc (there are many temp residents that come to Hawai yearly) are causing serious issues with affordable housing…We had meetings about it…Renters know what they can get and they know the high prices they can charge for outsiders who have an allowence…this pushes the average local OUTSIDE the going rate for...