Homelessness in Hawaii: Living with It

Tents along Kapiolani Boulevard, a block from my parents' home

We first posted about homelessness in Hawaii ten years ago. Since then the tents have gotten closer. Two years ago they were seven blocks away. Now they're just across the street.

Some official sources say that the homeless population is going down: [bold added]

Overall, there were 6,458 people experiencing homelessness in Hawaii on one night and about 57% of those individuals were unsheltered. The statewide homelessness rate for 2020 was about the same as 2019, but has decreased since 2016.

Others say the count is much higher:

Hawaii’s Homeless: Estimated to be around 15,000 homeless individuals in Hawaii

Perhaps the disparity can be explained by analysis (date of sampling, self-reporting vs. outside observation, etc.), but from a personal perspective it doesn't much matter. The problem is getting closer to home, so we will continue to subscribe to the monitored security system that my father had the foresight to install in 2012.

As with many problems, history has shown that we cannot rely on the government to solve homelessness, it's fruitless to get angry, and we have to do the best we can to find a way to live with it.