(9 Nov 2015) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus041827
WAIKIKI IS KNOWN FOR IT'S SURF CULTURE, LUXURY RESORTS AND BEAUTIFUL BEACHES...
...BUT ON ANOTHER PART OF THE ISLAND, ALONG A REMOTE COASTLINE, IS A PLACE FEW TOURISTS EVER SEE: A HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT WITH HUNDREDS OF OCCUPANTS.
SOUNDBITE Rose Chung-Lono, Encampment Leader:
"We're not bad people, not all of us are anyway. We just made bad choices."
HAWAII HAS THE HIGHEST PER CAPITA HOMELESS POPULATION OF ANY STATE IN THE NATION WITH AN ESTIMATED SEVEN THOUSAND PEOPLE LIVING ON THE STREETS OF THE ALOHA STATE.
SOUNDBITE Rose Chung-Lono, Encampment Leader:
"We're trespassers. Truthfully we're trespassers still. But they know we're here."
SOME OF THE HOMELESS PEOPLE IN THE CAMP USED TO LIVE IN MUCH MORE VISABLE WAIKIKI BEACH.
OFFICIALS SAID THAT WAS HURTING THE TOURIST INDUSTRY, CRUCIAL FOR THE LOCAL ECONOMY.
SOUNDBITE Barry Wallace, Outrigger Enterprises Group:
"It started to impact our guests. They would comment on it on TripAdvisor and elsewhere."
SO THE CITY BANNED SITTING OR LYING ON WAIKIKI SIDEWALKS LAST YEAR...FORCING MANY TO RELOCATE A NEARBY CAMP IN A CITY PARK.
SOUNDBITE Tracy Martin, Homeless Parent:
"Hawaii is paradise. But it's not for the locals anymore. It's for the tourists."
THIS PAST SUMMER TRACY MARTIN COOLED OFF IN A SMALL WADING POOL WITH HIS FOUR-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER THALIA...WHO'S SPENT HALF HER LIFE LIVING ON THE STREET.
THE GIRL'S MOTHER TRIES TO MAKE LIFE AS NORMAL AS POSSIBLE FOR THEIR 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER...BATHING, DRESSING AND FEEDING HER JUST LIKE ANY OTHER PARENT WOULD...BUT SHE SAYS KNOWING SHE HAS TO RAISE THALIA HERE BECAUSE THEY CAN'T AFFORD AN APARTMENT IS HEARTBREAKING.
SOUNDBITE Tabatha Martin, Homeless Parent:
"We've actually been told by some of the city crews to be invisible. How do they want us to do that?"
HAWAII LAWMAKERS SAY THE STATE FACES UNIQUE CHALLENGES IN DEALING WITH THE HOMELESSNESS PROBLEM.
SOUNDBITE Sen. Brian Schatz (D) Hawaii:
"Once you're in Hawaii, if you're in a bad way economically you are geographically isolated. We're also one of the most expensive housing markets in the country comparable to a San Francisco or New York but without the salaries of a San Francisco or New York."
ABOUT 40 PERCENT OF THE HOMELESS PEOPLE HERE DO HAVE JOBS.
DEJA-LYNN ROMBAWA-QUARLES WORKS AS A GROUP LEADER AT AN AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM.
SHE'S TRYING TO SAVE MONEY TO MOVE TO A MORE AFFORDABLE STATE.
SOUNDBITE Deja-Lynn Rombawa-Quarles, Working Homeless:
"Oh my gosh. I don't want to live here no more."
THE ISLANDS' HOMELESS SHELTERS MUST DEAL WITH A STEADY INFLUX OF HOMELESS FROM THE MAINLAND AND MICRONESIA WHO THINK LIFE WILL BE BETTER ON THE BEACHES OF HAWAII.
SOUNDBITE Kimo Carvalho, Institute for Human Services:
"A lot of people are trying to escape the winter cold to come here to a tropical paradise. But in reality when they get here they still don't understand the safety risks of being in Hawaii and being homeless."
WHILE ADVOCATES PUSH FOR MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO BE BUILT, LOCAL OFFICIALS HAVE CONDUCTED PERIODIC SWEEPS, CLEARING OUT THE CAMPS, INCLUDING THE ONE IN THE CITY PARK WHERE THE MARTINS WERE LIVING, FORCING THEM TO FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO LIVE...AGAIN.
SOUNDBITE Tabatha Martin, Homeless Parent:
"Just because you guys have a house doesn't make me any less human than you."
THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IS ALSO SUPPORTING A PROGRAM THAT HELPS FLY HOMELESS TRANSPLANTS BACK TO WHERE THEY CAME FROM...AFTER THE DREAM OF PARADISE FADES.
HAVEN DALEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS, HONOLULU, HAWAII.
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