Point-in-Time count surveyors are trained to ask how an individual spent the night of Monday, Jan. 22 this year and if they were in a shelter or on the streets.
As Hope Services surveyed Hilo, many engaged and some shared their stories.
Island News interviewed Phillip and Sonia. Sonia counted herself as “unhoused” in Hilo, though she only recently arrived in on Hawaii Island two weeks ago.
“I look at the other unfortunates and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not that unfortunate.’ And I said, ‘OK, keep going,'” Sonia said. “‘Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, you can do it.’ I’m a convicted felon since the age of 23. I can’t get a job, a decent job. So I go to Kona to take on that job. I get back here, they stole my phone, my solar charger, my charge light, my light, wiped me out.”
Despite the challenges, Sonia says she does not want to live in a shelter and is determined to keep living among the homeless community.
In 2023, Hawaii County reported an increase of 167 homeless people, sheltered and unsheltered from 2022. The numbers leapt from 837 to 1,004 – an increase of 20%.
“It gets frustrating being asked the same questions every year,” Phillip said, telling Island News he has “Some physical limitation.”
“I would be interested in talking to an employer about (that), but there’s no connectivity, there’s no pay phones, for instance. None of the pay phones work on the island. Some of the pay phones worked when I moved here,” Phillip said.
Last week’s DLNR and county sweep of Bayfront makes the count more difficult, as people scattered– especially those houseless and living in cars in parking lots.
Whereas by the end of the interview Sonia maintained she won’t live in a shelter- Philip says, after 10 years, he’s ready for a change.
“I told them absolutely. You know, I don’t care what I said in other years. Other years passed,” Phillip said, acknowledging he should figure out how to get on a wait-list for the men’s shelter.
Results for the 2024 time count will be available in the spring.
