KC3 Final Draft: Homelessness

Hawaii is known for many things. From the beaches to the hikes and it's sunsets. But not a lot of people know about the issue of homelessness on the island chain. Hawaii has one of the worst statistics of homelessness in the nation. There are 6,335 homeless people in Hawaii. This has become more of a problem over the past few years, since Hawaii's homeless percent rate has grown to 23 percent in 2014 to 2015. People from the mainland, who are about to be bankrupted fly over to Hawaii, after saving up all their money. This allows the percentage rates to grow higher. Having these numbers climb, effects Hawaii in many ways. It makes the island to have a less "paradise" feel to it. Many of the tourist are surprised that there are so many homeless on the streets. Which makes them feel like Hawaii isn't that "paradise" that they thought it would be. Hawaii has a lot of homeless visitors and the state is doing everything they can to find a solution.

Housing First is a program that Senator Brian Schatz proposed back in the beginning of October. Which allows the homeless to be able to be put into housing first. The program will then provide services to them. "Schatz acknowledged that high rents and a lack of sufficient housing are major challenges..." (paragraph 12). As stated in the quote above, Hawaii does have one of the worst rents and since it's an island there isn't a lot of homes they can chose from. This program is three times cheaper than to provide services and then putting them into high paying apartments. It allows homeless people to actually be able to pay off debts or get a job. Basically to seek a better life. "The Legislature set aside $1.5 million... to house 75 people, the City's 2 million program is seeking to house 115 households..." (paragraph 4). Since the program is about housing the homeless first. Then this is a great way to start. Just to collect all the money the state can get to start building as many new housing units they can. It may not be the best housing but as long as it can support families or individuals on every day to day living then it's better than nothing. Building these housing units will be able to jump start Senator Brian Schatz's plan to housing the homeless. This will reduce Hawaii's statistics, it might not be large at first, but at least it's getting that percentage of 23 percent to go back down. In conclusion, Housing First is a good way to solve Hawaii's homelessness.

Homeless organizations are also helping with Hawaii's homelessness. These organizations need to have the proper training and help services to help the homeless. IHS (Institute of Human Services) has all of these components to help the homeless. As stated in this quote,"We do this by offering emergency food and shelter, housing placements programs, and other supportive services and tailoring programs to special needs" (paragraph 1). This is great, because it gives the homeless essentials to help them. They need these essentials so they will be able to get on their feet and try to manage their money and turn their lives back around. Though this is the more expensive route, it's still a great way to help them. Like stated before, it's a better than nothing. We need to really help the homeless because if we don't all we'll see is people in debt or people without houses. "Case managers who serve as 'life coaches' assist clients accessing mainstream programs" (paragraph 7). These case managers or "life coaches" will be able to get the homeless back on their feet. They also will help with helping their clients managing their money properly. This also, again, will be able to give the homeless the services that they really need. The "life coaches" will be able to provide their clients to programs such as Food Stamps and other programs. In the end, The Institute for Human Services are doing everything they can to end homelessness.

The overall government of Hawaii is doing everything they can to stop homelessness. The government has been setting aside money to help the homeless, every time they can and help services to the homeless through organizations. However sometimes it's not enough. "In Kakaako, which is flush with development, 4,500 new housing units are being built" (paragraph 7). Around 4,700 people in Oahu are homeless. Which makes a great deal that the government is building 4,500 new housing units. This will help Senator's Brian Schatz's plan too. Which is great because this will help start decreasing the amount of homeless people in the state. That means if everyone cooperates there will only be 200 people left in Oahu without homes. Maybe in the future there won't be any homeless people in Hawaii and maybe that future is soon. "This is something different evidence shifting the focus to prioritizing putting homeless into housing" (paragraph 10)." As said early, prioritizing and putting homeless into housing is a big thing. It cost three times cheaper and it's a lot easier than looking for more solutions. Hawaii has figured out a solid plan to solve homelessness. This will help a lot of the homeless to get back on their feet and start over again. Everyone deserves a second chance.

The problem of homelessness is increasing fast in Hawaii. So it's important that Hawaii is doing everything they can do to solve it. The government, organizations and the Senator Brian Schatz are doing everything in their power to solve the problem. They are fixing up more homes and are providing services to the homeless or making up plans to help the homeless. Hawaii is trying to get the homeless back on their feet and a chance to restart. They will help with teaching them how to manage money properly and how they can survive in society. If they can't fix the problem, then maybe one day we'll all be living on the streets.

KC3 Essay Draft: Homelessnes

Hawaii is known for many things. From the beaches to the hikes. But not a lot of people know about the issue of homelessness on the island chain. Hawaii has the worst statistics of homelessness out of all the fifty states. 6,335 people are homeless in Hawaii. The state keeps getting more and more homeless because a lot of people are saving up all of their money and then flies over to Hawaii. so when they get here they don't have enough money to support them or their families. So they become homeless. This effects Hawaii in many ways, but the main one is that a lot of the homeless are disrupting the "paradise" perspective of Hawaii. So many tourists are surprised that there are just homeless people everywhere. Which makes them feel like Hawaii isn't that great. Hawaii has a lot of homeless visitors and the state is doing everything they can to find a solution.

Housing First is a program program that Senator Brian Schatz has proposed. The program literally houses homeless first then the homeless can get services. "Hawaii has one of the worst rates of homelessness in the nation, but U.S. Senator Brian Schatz believes the answer is staring policymakers in the face... Put homeless people into housing" (paragraph 1). Brian Schatz believes this way because he found out that it cost three times cheaper to out the homeless into housing first. They will be able to put much more people into homes and in a lot cheaper way. It's way better to use this system because it actually gives the homeless a home. Then when they get services then they will be able to get food and jobs faster, and will be able to go to a nice comfortable home. It's better than sleeping outside. "The Legislature set aside $1.5 million... to house 75 people, the City's 2 million program is seeking to house 115 households..." (paragraph 4). This obviously is going to give 190 individuals or families homes. Which is better than nothing. This is a good plan because of how many people are homeless and at least starting to give more and more people homes is great. This also will help homeless children.families to have a proper home. It will give the children a proper childhood. So they won't have to grow up on the streets. It will also encourage them to be able to get full opportunities to discover what they can and what they can't do. In conclusion, Housing First is a good way to solve Hawaii's homelessness.

Homeless organizations are also helping with Hawaii's homelessness, especially IHS (Institute for Human Services). They help with finding shelter, food, and other services to help with homelessness in Hawaii. "We do this by offering emergency food and shelter, housing placements programs, and other supportive services and tailoring programs to special needs" (paragraph 1). This is great, because it gives the homeless essentials to help them. They need these essentials so they will be able to get on their feet and try to manage their money and turn their lives back around. Though this is the more expensive route, it's still a great way to help them. Like stated before, it's a better than nothing. We need to really help the homeless because if we don't all we'll see is people in debt or people without houses. "Case managers who serve as 'life coaches' assist clients accessing mainstream programs" (paragraph 7). These case managers or "life coaches" will be able to get the homeless back on their feet. They also will help with helping their clients managing their money properly. This also, again, will be able to give the homeless the services that they really need. The "life coaches" will be able to provide their clients to programs such as Food Stamps and other programs. In the end, The Institute for Human Services are doing everything they can to end homelessness.

The overall government of Hawaii is doing everything they can to stop homelessness. The government has been setting aside money to help the homeless, every time they can. Or they have been making plans to build housing or to stop homelessness. "In Kakaako, which is flush with development, 4,500 new housing units are being built" (paragraph 7). This is great for putting the homeless in housing. So they are able to be stable when they get into society again. It's also great for the 4,700 people in Oahu who are homeless. This means 200 people would be left to find homes for in Oahu. Which is great because it would be a step closer to fixing the homeless program nation wide. "This is something different evidence shifting the focus to prioritizing putting homeless into housing" (paragraph 10). This goes along with Senator Brian Schatz's plan to put the homeless into homes. Which is great because it cost three times less to put these homeless people into houses. This also helps with getting homeless into permanent housing. Which is great because they need housing so they don't have to sleep on the streets anymore. In the end, the government is doing everything they can to take care of the homeless problem in Hawaii.

The problem of homelessness is increasing fast in Hawaii. So it's great that Hawaii is doing everything they can to find a solution. The government, organizations and the senator is doing everything in their power to solve the problem. They are fixing up more homes and are providing services to the homeless. They are also trying to provide the homeless a head start when they reunite with society. They are hopeful that they will be able to fix homelessness. If they aren't homelessness might be a problem to everyone one day.