Caldwell: Honolulu On Right Track In Tackling Homelessness
The mayor said that the city’s homelessness initiatives are making a real difference for hundreds of homeless people.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell says he’s proud of what the city has accomplished this year to help tackle the state’s homelessness crisis.
In a year-end address to reporters Wednesday, Caldwell announced that the city has provided permanent housing to 465 homeless people since the beginning of the year, surpassing the initial goal of helping 400 people.
“While every day we still see folks (who) do not have housing and get frustrated, we need to look at what we have accomplished,” Caldwell said. “The story here is that we’re housing people. And not just by a small number, like 10 or 20, but by the hundreds. That’s significant.”
In a state that has the highest rate of homelessness per capita in the country, Oahu was home to about 4,900 homeless people in January — about a 4 percent increase from last year, according to the latest released in April.
But Caldwell said the city’s three homelessness initiatives helped put a dent in the problem.
In its first year of implementation, the city’s Housing First program housed 173 chronically homeless people.
The Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homeless, a that Caldwell joined earlier this year, helped 275 homeless veterans find housing.
And the Hale Mauliola, the modular housing facility on Sand Island that had its “soft opening” last month, housed 17 people.
Combined with an additional 384 people who found housing through programs funded by the tourism industry, the city’s efforts helped a total to 849 homeless people, Caldwell said.
“There’s a real hope, in this Christmas season, that we’re starting to make a major difference,” Caldwell said. “We’re starting to approach our homeless challenges in a very different way, a very serious way.”
“There’s a real hope, in this Christmas season, that we’re starting to make a major difference. We’re starting to approach our homeless challenges in a very different way, a very serious way.” — Mayor Kirk Caldwell
But not every move to address homelessness has gone smoothly for the city or the Caldwell administration.
Earlier this year, for instance, Caldwell vetoed Bill 6, a measure aimed at pushing the boundary of the existing laws banning people from sitting or lying on sidewalks and in pedestrian malls.
Caldwell was concerned that the bill contained 鈥渓egally flawed language鈥 and, if signed into law, would make the city鈥檚 entire sit-lie ban vulnerable to court challenges. But the Honolulu City Council ultimately voted to override his veto.
And, in September, 15 people — who are or have been homeless — filed a federal class-action lawsuit to prevent the city from seizing and immediately destroying their property during the enforcement of the and ordinances.
Under a court-sanctioned agreement, signed as part of the case in November, the city’s maintenance crew is prohibited from throwing out any items that are considered a 鈥渟idewalk nuisance鈥 or 鈥減ersonal property鈥 during the sweeps, unless they are determined to be perishable or hazardous.
Caldwell said the ongoing lawsuit won’t hinder the city’s efforts.
“We’re going to continue the enforcement, following the laws and procedures, including those required by the courts,” Caldwell said. “I think people of this island expect that their sidewalks to be open and free, that their streets to be open and free, they expect their parks to be open and free for everyone to use.”
