Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 5, 1 May 1992 — Homeless: A personal story [ARTICLE]

Homeless: A personal story

by Christina Zarobe

For an idea of just who the homeless are — Laura Paikai suggests looking in a mirror. "They (the homeless) may not be you, but they may be like you. We work with you, play with you, worship with you," said Paikai, who spoke at a legislative committee hearing on homelessness earlier this year. In a soft voice barely audible at times, Paikai told state lawmakers the struggle she and her family endured as they lost their home. With her family seated in the nearby rows of chairs, Paikai said the issue was an "emohonal" one for her to discuss. "I do not tell our story from want of pity. It offers a glimpse into the lives of a homeless family," she said. Paikai was seven months pregnant with her fifth child and was working as an executive secretary when her family was forced to leave the apartment where they lived. The trauma of being homeless has forever changed her family, she explained. She described being homeless as a fragmented, precarious existence — "a cold shower in a

public beach park, or no shower. Sleep in a eanvas tent or get no sleep at all." To eradicate homelessness, however, and provide affordable housing for Hawai'i residents a comprehensive plan needs to be developed that considers how pervasive the problem has become throughout American society, Paikai pointed out. "The solution must be as diverse as the people caught up in this circumstance. The beach is not the answer and neither is housing people in abandoned warehouses," she said. "Dignity and self-esteem must flrst be restored . . Paikai said. For the Hawaiian community, even the term homeless has become an issue. Some Hawaiians argue that Hawaiians are home, on their own land and, therefore, prefer using the term "houseless." For nearly seven years, Darlene Kipi and her family were homeless, eventually settling at Sand Island Beach Park. The hardships were many, she told legislators at the same hearing, but she remembered especially the separation

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from society into a world without even the most basic amenities such as a telephone. Kipi credited the state Department of Human Services and its director, Winona Rubin, for working with the homeless on Sand Island. Initially, the 16 families who had retreated to the public park were wary of offers of help. Other groups had promised assistance but never followed through, she said. "You know the joy in our faces . . . somebody wanted to help us," Kipi said.

Although īiving at Sand Island provided a sense of stability, the stigma of being homeless was difficult, particularly when applying for a job. "Many were embarrassed and ashamed because they didn't have an address," said Kipi. Day-to-day living was arduous. When money

was tight homeless families on Sand Island were forced to wash clothes by hand rather than using a Laundromat. "It wasn't easy to see the tears of a mother to see her children unsheltered. It's a tearful moment to see. The tears of a child because he couldn't sleep because of the red ants and the rain," she said. "Maybe a wound ean be healed but not a scar," Kipi quietly said.

Until transportation was provided, the ehildren living at Sand Island Beach Park struggled to find a way to school every day. "They had to pray they had a ride to school, pray the car wouldn't break down," she recalled. Onee a school bus began regular stops at Sand Island, Kipi said youngsters would sit on the curb, dressed and ready to leave an hour before the bus arrived at 7 a.m. An articulate woman, Kipi drew a vivid picture of the years she and her family spent homeless. Poignantly, she remembered visitors at the park

who would stare at the homeless families and the tents that served as their makeshift shelter. Yet for Kipi and her family the story ended happily. Through the Shelters-Without-Walls program they left Sand Island and moved into a home in Hawai'i Kai. Kipi admitted that they were anxious about the transition. "We were scared. We were nervous," she said. "We have had the courage to get back into the mainstream of life and to be a citizen onee again. We ean onee again feel life in our bodies and we ean onee again trust people."

But the years of being homeless are a powerful memory. Back in 1982, the salary her husband earned was not enough to pay for both rent and their children's education. The family slipped into homelessness — not as deep a drop as many may believe, said Kipi. "Many of us do need the help with the eeonomy today. The standards are too high," she reminded legislators.