High housing costs hurt effort to aid homeless in Hawaii

FILE - In this Tuesday, June 9, 2015 file photo, Stefanie Sanchez talks about what it's like to live along the banks of a canal in Honolulu. Sanchez has lived in a tent here for several months, and the city of Honolulu sent a crew to clean up the area on Tuesday. Sanchez said she planned to return after the sweep. Hours after a city crew cleared the banks of the canal, the homeless people that had been living there moved right back to the riverside, leaving some wondering whether the expense of taxpayer money was justified. (AP Photo/Cathy Bussewitz) FILE - In this Tuesday, June 9, 2015 file photo, Stefanie Sanchez talks about what it's like to live along the banks of a canal in Honolulu. Sanchez has lived in a tent here for several months, and the city of Honolulu sent a crew to clean up the area on Tuesday. Sanchez said she planned to return after the sweep. Hours after a city crew cleared the banks of the canal, the homeless people that had been living there moved right back to the riverside, leaving some wondering whether the expense of taxpayer money was justified. (AP Photo/Cathy Bussewitz)

By Associated Press June 12, 2015 5 min read

HONOLULU (AP) – Hours after a Honolulu city crew cleared a homeless encampment from the banks of a canal, the people who had been living there in tents and other makeshift structures streamed right back in.

There was no place else for them to go on the small island of glitzy resorts and tranquil beaches where the cost of living is through the roof and there are limited services to help them get back on their feet.

Honolulu has some shelter and housing programs in place, and helped house or financially support more than 1,400 people this year.

But there are long waits for services and a shortage of low-income housing for the homeless population that the National Alliance to End Homelessness said was second per-capita in the nation last year after Washington, D.C.

Unlike expensive real estate markets on the mainland, in Hawaii, there are only so many places people can move, and clearing encampments isn’t helping, said Jenny Lee, staff attorney for Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice.