Homeless in Hawaii

[oink]

I too was unintentionally "homeless" for brief periods in my youth. Once when I was by myself. I slept “wherever” (a culvert once) and got a job(busboy) in a resort, where I could eat "employee chow" and use the locker room for my other needs. Another time, when married (no kids), we had to live in a van (not a converted van, just a van) until we could find a place we could afford on our near minimum wage jobs. Two other times, during this period of meager income, we had to stay with relatives. It never occurred to me(us)that we were homeless, but I don't think the term was in vogue then. I have had occasion to interact with "homeless" many times. A few times I thought the they merited assistance and some of those times I made some efforts to assist in obtaining assistance. I don't claim to have done all I should have, as a caring citizen, or as demanded of me as a Christian. Point being, based on my experience, relatively few of the "homeless" are people in which large expenditures of money or effort would provide any lasting benefit for society or even to them, the “homeless”. However, I do believe a problem does exist, with deserving families and some individuals, being in situations that demand remedy. I don’t doubt, as a consequence of the Real Estate market, the problem may be particularly acute on Oahu. I hope to devote some of my retirement time (a few years yet) to this and other social problems. Currently, my reason for insufficient action on these issues is my very busy life. Yes, I'm a sorry bastard, as that is not an excuse for my failings in this regard. Hopefully, I will live long enough that I redress these shortcomings. If you know of any legitimate verifiable charities that address these issues for “homeless” families in Hawaii, please post some links and I will consider some limited contributions.

S. FL Islander to be