01-29-2008, 07:10 AM
The homeless situation here on the Big Island is DIRE, and getting worse as our economy tanks
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There is NO homeless shelter in all of East Hawaii, not just Puna.[!] And there's a long wait list for the Kawaihae/Waikoloa shelter. That's just part of the justification for officials to turn a blind eye to the families squatting in sites around King's Landing, MacKenzie Park, and other parks. And it seems that community associations are hamstrung when it comes to trying to enforce CC&Rs against residents living in tents and other substandard dwellings within Puna's subdivisions, going months, even years sometimes without even rudimentary toilet facilities.
Since someone asked how the Puna Community Development Plan was addressing this issue, here is what I found in the Predraft Report that is currently being considered by those involved in this process:
Action items under Social Services and Housing:
-Seek additional locations for treatment and preventative social and health services in lower and upper Puna;
-Provide transitional shelter and programs to assist homeless residents move toward self-sufficiency;
-Increase the availability of accessible and affordable housing through self-help programs, government assistance and such innovative housing tenure arrangements as co-housing, limited equity cooperatives, and community land trusts that would facilitate home ownership for lower income residents;
-Support DHHL initiatives in developing housing and job opportunity projects for Puna's Native Hawaiians;
-Seek State enabling legislation to help lower self-help housing construction costs;
-Offer educational programs to develop financial skills of renters and rental strategies for owners and tenants;
-Promote multi-family and special needs housing in village/town centers;
-Amend building code to allow occupancy of residential dwelling before final inspection;
-Provide low-interest, sliding-scale loans for housing repair and renovations.
There is more support embedded in other sections of the Puna draft plan that speaks to lower-income population needs as well as to the need for overall growth management and planning. The Predraft plan is available online and in the public libraries. Two steering committee meetings at Keaau Community Center are scheduled for Feb. 7 and 28, beginning at 5:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. respectively, and the public is invited.
Don't forget, folks, we have elections on every level coming up this fall, including the mayoral race, council, (both of whom would have to accept and implement the Puna plan currently being worked on) and state legislators as well as nationally. And, believe me, your votes DO COUNT, especially locally! There is a voter registration form right in your phone book. And the local Democratic precinct meetings are coming up next month, I believe.
Remember, you ARE voting when you don't bother to vote. [8D] Malama pono, Frankie
]There is NO homeless shelter in all of East Hawaii, not just Puna.[
!] And there's a long wait list for the Kawaihae/Waikoloa shelter. That's just part of the justification for officials to turn a blind eye to the families squatting in sites around King's Landing, MacKenzie Park, and other parks. And it seems that community associations are hamstrung when it comes to trying to enforce CC&Rs against residents living in tents and other substandard dwellings within Puna's subdivisions, going months, even years sometimes without even rudimentary toilet facilities.Since someone asked how the Puna Community Development Plan was addressing this issue, here is what I found in the Predraft Report that is currently being considered by those involved in this process:
Action items under Social Services and Housing:
-Seek additional locations for treatment and preventative social and health services in lower and upper Puna;
-Provide transitional shelter and programs to assist homeless residents move toward self-sufficiency;
-Increase the availability of accessible and affordable housing through self-help programs, government assistance and such innovative housing tenure arrangements as co-housing, limited equity cooperatives, and community land trusts that would facilitate home ownership for lower income residents;
-Support DHHL initiatives in developing housing and job opportunity projects for Puna's Native Hawaiians;
-Seek State enabling legislation to help lower self-help housing construction costs;
-Offer educational programs to develop financial skills of renters and rental strategies for owners and tenants;
-Promote multi-family and special needs housing in village/town centers;
-Amend building code to allow occupancy of residential dwelling before final inspection;
-Provide low-interest, sliding-scale loans for housing repair and renovations.
There is more support embedded in other sections of the Puna draft plan that speaks to lower-income population needs as well as to the need for overall growth management and planning. The Predraft plan is available online and in the public libraries. Two steering committee meetings at Keaau Community Center are scheduled for Feb. 7 and 28, beginning at 5:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. respectively, and the public is invited.
Don't forget, folks, we have elections on every level coming up this fall, including the mayoral race, council, (both of whom would have to accept and implement the Puna plan currently being worked on) and state legislators as well as nationally. And, believe me, your votes DO COUNT, especially locally! There is a voter registration form right in your phone book. And the local Democratic precinct meetings are coming up next month, I believe.
Remember, you ARE voting when you don't bother to vote. [8D] Malama pono, Frankie