The Biggest Problem with Hawaii's Homeless Problem (a local's perspective)

Is Hawaii's homeless situation improving? It's hard to say. In Hawaii, homelessness is often hard to ignore. We see it in the streets, along the beach, and under freeways. We often talk about affordable housing and cost of living as major contributors to homelessness in Hawaii. And while these two factors play a role in homelessness, it seems like substance abuse addition is what is keeping many of these individuals in their present situation. I'm not sure why we don't talk about that more. So in this video, I wanted to talk about what I see going on in Hawaii and offer one local's perspective on the situation.

Below are links to the Oahu 2023 Point-in-Time Count report and "Seattle is Dying" documentary I mentioned.

Filmed using the Canon M200.

#hellofromhawaii
#hawaiihomeless
#hawaii

[HelloFromHawaii]

Having just read through the first bunch of comments, I really appreciate the active discussion. Even if we can't all agree on the methodology, I'm glad we can acknowledge that something more needs to be done. 🤙

[LoveVanillaRose]

To answer this problem you have to do an investigation into who makes money on bringing the drugs to the island, and who makes money by pretending to want to fix the homeless problem.
Corruption pays; There's a lot of corruption in high places in Hawaii. Those who are benefiting from the condition of the poor and addicted, don't live or work around it and they don't care.

[mabo]

Homelessness is getting worse everywhere.😕

[blackmarketarmy]

My friend works at a homeless shelter and she tells me how a lot of homeless people brag about how much money they made from begging and how it almost always goes to drugs. I know its sad to see a fellow human deteriorate before your eyes but giving them money is only making things worse. Mahalo for the video, substance abuse is a huge problem, I hope more people continue the conversation.

[andrewgoss]

As someome who has spent a lot of time talking to the homeless on Oahu, i can confirm that nost homeless dont want homes, they want drugs.

[kmcsteelers]

It is everywhere, even to the point the working class are living in vans or SUV. My son just moved from the island of Kauai He stated that the homeless there have the best weather, he met a black guy there homeless, who moved there 7yrs ago, and was just stuck there. It's sad ! Many people are stuck in addiction, no direction. My son said he was truly a nice man just lost, the guy was like somewhere from California. Stuck and lost for that long😢

[gracianogrown]

Have you ever thought about running for office in your local area? Your perspective I think is very beneficial and something the locals would appreciate because it comes from the heart of someone they trust.
Aloha from San Diego 🤙🏽
God bless 🙏🏽

[TheRiverYeti]

100% the drug problem on Hawaii needs attention. Isn't it strange how one of the worlds most remote islands (where almost everything goes through customs/ports/inspections) still has a HUGE illegal drug trade? Makes you wonder who is allowing the drugs to flow in (and how much money they must be making off the backs of the people they're killing). Government must be involved at some level; no doubt about it.

That said, affordable housing for all is definitely a noble goal, and something we should strive for. In order to achieve that, though, these deeper issues with society must be resolved. Or else we're just shufling the problem areas around. Instead of parks being slums, we'll have slummy apartments, unsafe to live in. Which is better? Or worse?

In the end, we must first treat the corruption or our people; curb/control the flow of drugs (which shouldn't be that hard; it's an island after all), remove corrupted officials, restore some element of order to our society, and the scale of the problem will lessen with time.

There will always be some homeless people (and drug abusers at that), sure, but not at the scale we're seeing on Oahu. Hopefully we'll be able to come together and solve this once and for all!

[michaeljordan]

As a citzen of Washington i can agree that the homelessness crises is worse because of subatance abuse. The state is dealing with a fentanyl crisis and its has affected how people behave. I was planning to take a trip to Seattle during spring break but had to retracted after hearing that someone at the hotel we wanted to stay got stabbed all for a cellphone.

[vorpal]

Another thing to note is that the US tends to have far higher rates of substance abuse per capita than most western countries. We should also be asking ourselves why substance abuse levels are so high in the US compared to other locations.

[chaka]

Are we wrong to assume, that there are current laws in place that make it illegal to be "living" on a sidewalk, a grass strip, on the hillside of the freeway, at the beach, etc? And, if so, why do the police drive by and allow this illegal activity to continue? Has law enforcement changed to the point that you "wait" for someone to make a formal complaint? (i.e. how long did it take for the row of tents across from the Convention Center to be cleared?) It's ridiculous that the city/state requires you to get a camping permit, yet we have a lot of homeless "camping" for free. How come? Don't laws apply to everyone? Regardless if you are homeless or not, if you don't want to comply with existing laws, then you are choosing to be arrested and/or cited.

[ciaralong]

Me and my family have a ministry that we do on the island of Kauai. Two times a month we go and set up 3 tents to give away free clothing, toiletries, bedding, prayer, and a hot meal. For me it hurts to hear the label of "These people" many of our brothers and sisters have their stories of how they ended up on the street and or started using alcohol or substances. There is a big community that we have that are in their 60's, 70's, even 80's and the only reason they got into alcohol or substances was because they had a server situation they went through and are just wanting to not wake up the next day. When we were able to get some of our brothers and sisters to open up and share their story it was heartbreaking to hear they were never alcoholics or substance users. But after being heard and re-directed helping them feel that they are not doing this journey alone we have seen many come off the street and get the help they truly need. So my say is stop labeling as "THESE PEOPLE" and take the time to "HEAR THEM OUT"

[bigkanak]

I remember pre 911 there was a large homeless community that lived at the airport. You would’ve never known these people were homeless. Most of them worked. Some with good jobs. But they were down on their luck and the airport provided safety and clean bathrooms. After all these years I still think about and wonder where all those airport homeless went after 911.

[stellamarina]

In a book I read, written by the daughter of homeless parents living on the street in tried to get them off the street, but they said it was so easy to be homeless with all the free handouts and empty buildings to sleep in etc., so that they did not want to give up their easy life.

[jrteruya]

Aloha Chris, thank you for an amazing channel. As a local born and raised in Mo'ili'ili, who moved away but witnessed homelessness and rising cost-of-living, which is not unique to Hawaii and exists in other states, other countries, I applaud you for the thoughtful discussion. Examining and analyzing the statistics, whether economic, social or civil will not provide the magic algorithm to fix homelessness, substance abuse or cost-of-living, that has been overdone, with the same to similar outcomes; miniscule temporary changes. It is not easy to write this because I no longer live there, but seeing and reading the comments here, shows the support of most of these individuals towards these problems. This is a start for change. Please continue with the mindful content Chris. Mahalo

[garyo]

Aloha Chris! Once again, you've nailed it while being compassionate and not commenting out of emotion alone like most people do. I know it's not simple, but I feel there's two basic categories we can start with. 1. Want help? - let's do what we can to help you. 2. Don't want help and don't want to be told what to do? Go directly to jail/tent city. You don't get to set up camp wherever you want. Yes, we need more prison space but can we stop building billion dollar prison hotels? Sorry, save that for another discussion...

[testtube]

I work in the substance abuse field. I think you did a great job of nailing the problem. Treatment in general doesn't work for most people and it certainly doesn't work for most people the first time around. It's an overpriced one size fits all solution that is a fair offering but not very good overall. Maintenance therapies can be helpful but if people want to continue to use drugs and use them on the street and laws aren't enforced it makes the problem worse. Remember too that the opposite of addiction isn't sobriety, the opposite of addiction is connection. We have disconnected people out there which the addiction only exacerbates. I'm not sure what to tell you being that there's plenty of jobs available and other things to get off the street but if it's just easier to stay high live on the sidewalk destroy property rummage to garbage cans and throw the litter all over the place without any caring for one's fellow human, all the treatment housing or other things in the world won't make a difference. People should be housed, that said laws should also be enforced. Letting people live on the street only makes the problem worse.

[hosfarfarhos]

It all starts with your family and family values. When I walk the parks almost every day I can watch and listen how people interact especially adults/ parents with kids as small as 2-3 year old. I watch and can hear what language is used
" f... this f... that " to communicate right in front of their kids. This is how you grow up ? Is this your guideline for your adult life? That's how you going to talk and work later at your job? You think you have a real shot at your future ? Homeless, you become one for many reasons one definitiv is how you grew up in your house as a child that marks who will become. Family values is the foundation for the rest of your life, just listen next how people interact with children around.

[RT-xjel]

You would be crazy to try to model a solution after what Seattle is doing. And Portland is even worse. I haven't seen a major city on the West coast that is managing this well. It's clear that mental health and drug abuse are major factors. It's hard to tell if the homelessness drove them to these other problems or if its the other way around.

[Impozalla]

I believe some people want to remain homeless because they feel it's a "lifestyle." I have spoken to a few homeless people in Oahu and they all said it's a "lifestyle." They enjoy being in the outdoors, living in the jungle, living in this communal outdoor setting. Here in Los Angeles what I have been seeing and noticing are young people purposely choosing to be homeless instead of either finding job or permanent housing. Yes, homelessness is a multifaceted issue. It's a very difficult problem to deal with.