A community group tied together by faith marched in Honolulu Hale asking the Mayor to take steps to help the problem emanating from the housing crisis. The Mayor was asked to formulate a policy and set up a department to deal with it. There were nearly 75 demonstrators clapping together wooden blocks to add emphasis to their chanting. The Faith Action for Community Equity a group operating at the ground level, involving many church and local neighbourhood organizations took part in the demonstration.
Many delivered speeches in the courtyard of the City Hall addressing the Mayor Mufi Hannemann who however was not present. He had gone on a tour to Asia. The assistant of the Mayor dealing in housing, Rae Gee, received their traditional presentation of a conventional straw broom of a yardman. Their plea regarding the housing was not to be brushed under the carpet.
The Director of FACE Drew Astolfi said that Honolulu happened to be the only American city that did not have a department for housing. He admitted, ‘We have no policy, no department, no go-to person.” He pointed out that the number of affordable houses in the island was shrinking. The homeless numbers were increasing. Foreclosures had shot up to 1,186 during the third quarter of the current year. The transit system was scheduled to be developed but it was being considered a separate matter by the administrators of the city.
Reverend John Heidel said, “Forty percent of the homeless are families; 25 percent are children. There are thousands of homeless children out there. There is a growing number of families who are squeezed out of the housing market, working people on the street. We call ourselves the land of aloha.”
One of the victims was Reslin Pinano. She said that her family was spending night after night in their car. She is employed in two part time jobs as a cashier. Her husband was unemployed desperately hunting for work. They have a baby daughter. She cried that this was not the life they wanted.
The Oahu president of the organization FACE, Reverend Bob Nakata said, “This is not a tolerable situation. We are here to speak for people who cannot speak for themselves.”
However despite the noise it is unlikely that a city housing department will be set up in the near future. Gee addressing the group said, “We don't have budget for it now. Thank you for your clear message. The mayor doesn't want to make anyone homeless. I have shared your message with him.”
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