Please click on "comments" to view two comments received regarding this article.
Highlights:
- 80 unit transitional housing will be for families currently residing in our emergency shelters in Waianae and Kalaeloa. Anticipated occupancy is approximately 250 people.
- Building slabs are being poured and some walls are being erected. Offsite sewer line work will begin shortly and last through April.
- Deed transfer processing activities continue between State and federal government agencies.
- Contract discussions continue with various on-site Providers that include overall management, children’s facilities, kitchen, and children’s receiving home.
- GSA is still pending federal funding for remediation work identified on the environmental study report on far corner of former Voice of America parcel that is not part of the Villages of Maili property. Clean up is expected to take 4-5 weeks once efforts begin.
Other Projects:
Kahikolu Ohana Hale O Waianae (part of Uluwehi subdivision)
- 72 unit emergency transitional shelter under non-profit Hawaii Coalition of Christian Churches. Anticipated occupancy is approximately 250 people.
- Construction is approximately 60% complete as of 2/29/08. Pastor Boo continues tours for community leaders and officials. Estimated time to open is July 2008. This project is primarily financed by the State and is under the Governor’s proclamation.
Bldg 36 (Kalaeloa)
- Former military enlisted quarters, three story building with 71 units (65 singles, 6 doubles). Anticipated occupancy is approximately 200 people. The facility will house primarily homeless singles and couples from the Leeward Coast.
- State continues to work with Navy BRAC on the deed transfer. We expect renovation work to begin in mid-April pending contractor acceptance any State concessions on bid terms affected by the delays in deed transfer. Target completion date is June 2008.
- Honolulu Community Action Program (HCAP) has been identified as the Service Provider.
Report submitted by Comptroller Russ K Saito, HEART Team Leader.
Phone: 586-0400
Email: dags@hawaii.gov
3 comments:
Thank you for the updates. I have a few questions with this process of identifying the projects and providing the services.
a. Why has the State provided funding and support to Pastor Boo's project when he informed the community as he was going through the planning process that he and his group had the required funding for their project and that they were not going to compete with existing providers but was going to add to the housing inventory. Now it appears his project is going to be another provider that seeks support for on-going funding from the State, making the existing funding even more limited to the providers that already has been providing services over the years.
b. Why has the State identified catholic charities as the provider for the shelter at maili villages? Catholic Charities does not have a relationship with the homeless people, their shelter is more of a private housing than a transitional shelter for the homeless. Catholic Charities is good with changing rules and qualifications, good with choosing who they want to bring into their shelter rather than helping the most in need.
c. Why has the State identified HCAP as the provider to the shelter in Kalaeloa? What relationship they have with the homeless? Do they have a relationship with the homeless? Their experience is job training and education, they are better at providing skills training and services, not managing a homeless shelter.
The HEART team with Mr. Saito as the lead need to reevaluate the decisions that are being made. How will these decisions affect the current providers and the services already extended. There are a number of concerns as to why these people are not moving through the system fast enough or successful enough. To many hands in the stew can spoil it. How many providers are in this Kalaeloa area? What experiences do they have in addressing the needs of this population? What sets them apart from each other that seperates the shelters focus and priorities? Consider this:
Steadfast Housing is mental health focused and long term supportive.
USVets Housing is focused on Veterans that are single and long term supportive.
Onemalu is family focused and transitional with life-skills training.
Onelau'ena is multi focused and emergency with intensive life-skills services in various levels of care. They accept singles/couples, disabled and families. They have a relationship with the homeless prior to entering in the shelter because they have homeless outreach services. They have the relationship with the clients that will enter into the homeless shelters.
Maybe Mr. Saito needs to have a meeting with these providers before he and his team decide on getting new providers to manage shelters that will be part of the housing process. I think if all these providers come together and put their expertise on the table, there might be a true value and cost effective way to moving people out of homelessness and into sustainble, affordable and premanent housing.
The comment above has a fair amount of truth to it - the process of "assigning" providers to operate these shelters has been a very exclusionary process that gives reason to limit the "emergency powers" of the Governor. Surely, with the opening of the recent shelters there is time for due process and an RFP. And with the provider actually being selected based on the RFP score - and not some sort of arbitrary process that leads to long-term mediocrity in our system.
From the beginning of the Emergency Declaration there has been an amazing lack of integrating provider experience into the process with the state just going its own path uninformed by research and thereby increasing homelessness.
There is no systematic real evaluation of homeless services - and since the money has quadrupled from $5 to $20 - this lack of real oversight from the Leg has lead to a lot of wasted money and efforts.
In general, homeless services is still focused on the old ways that merely increase homelessness and do not stem the root of the problem. And the agencies are too caught up in the money game to offer solutions that involve reduction of dependency-oriented services and foster the creation of more community social capital.
Three simple solutions will reduce homelessness by 50% in 2 years:
1) Convert all transitional shelters to permanent housing.
Redefines more accurately those
in transitional as NOT HOMELESS
and cuts off the perverse pipeline to public housing.
2) Stop building anything but permanent housing - aparts, shared living (1 to 4 in a room), SRO. If you build it they will come, so don't build free shelters.
And especially Close down NEXT STEP and LIGHTHOUSE - they have been miserable failure that have just created more family homelessness.
And don't build facilities that don't let family cook for themeselves thereby infantilizing them further and wasting tax payer money for no good reason.
4) Fully implement procedures to allow those doubled-up or unsheltered to maintain priority for public housing - not those already in housing, like transitional - which should be eliminated.
To eliminate the rest of homelessness, we need to change the federal laws that prevent low-income people in subsidized housing to use this precious resource to help their family and friends.
And to allow subsidies like Shelter Plus Care to be used more creatively so the subsidies can be stretched further and house 2 to 3times the amount of people. Currently policies ensure that subsidies will only reach a small portion needlessly.
For the Family and People left on the beach, why do they not have a chance at the new housing being built - cause they didn't play by some bureaucrat rules - that is very cultural incompetent - since the state built shelters that do not provide what they need - they should have an equal shot - not just those at Onelauena and WCC.
Stop trying to fix and parent these families and just offer reasonable options for them and leave them alone.
Aloha Maile and community. My name is Kanani Kaaiawahia Bulawan, retired executive director for Waianae Community Outreach. Before I make my citizen's comment, I'd like to say Thank You Maile for the many years you have served our community and the care in which you place for our people. I'm very concerned about the direction our State has taken in understanding the housing needs of our people. Years ago it may have been as simple as finding another home to rent that was within your financial means. This changed when other factors affected the life-style we once new as humble. Today the factors that keep us in depression and in most cases poverty is not only the lack of fair and just income but social deprivation. It appears that once we were a people who cared enough for each other that doubling up in a home was not a burden. However, today that issue becomes a major factor because securing housing is the issue. Another major factor for not caring about each other is the cost of property taxes, utilities, and insurance. I've had experiences in the past that landlords would reduce the rental cost only to cover the mortgage and rental taxes. Today the cost of rental property tax is almost as high as the mortgage payments. I can continue to list factor after factor, I think those of us that have been in this field long enough know what I'm speaking of. So, I offer this. First the person that made the last comment, thank you for your sharing and I do agree to your suggestions; however, I believe deeply that shelters or providers need to be more "cultural" competent in addressing the needs of their clients. This means the conditions of management need to be firm yet compassionate and definitely not free. This is NOT A FREE SOCIETY. Everyone has a value the issue is in what form? We as providers need to hold the clients to what they say and what they want. To do this is simply understand their position, what they are willing to do and what you (the provider) are willing to offer. Shelter Plus Care is an excellent means to subsidizing over a period of time while people are on the track of recovery, recovery does not merely mean from substance but recovery from the ills of social dysfunction. The more providers that come together to provide services the more confusion and ineffective directions take place. All these providers would serve better if they can agree to their strengths and support the process of knowing the strengths of the other providers. In other words every provider as a strength that they can offer then pass the task on to the next. Stop trying to be all to everyone and focus on being the best to a few, that is what makes the difference. The person who made the first comment I also want to say thank you too, their experience and knowledge is something we should consider. That person laid some of the foundations in which we need to look at, know what you are good at, do that and build partnerships with the others who can do the rest. I'm available for any form of discussion that will bring solutions to this issue, we have been working on this far too long and I'm afraid if we really don't do it RIGHT now, it will only get WORSE, after all the Legislators know we are now in a bind with funding, jobs, and human basic needs. God Bless you Maile, your ohana and all that you do for the least of HIS people!
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