Last week’s column, “No Room At The Inn,” discussing the clear, hard, ugly truth of our unsheltered – struck a nerve.

People in general were surprised to learn that for the vast majority of our houseless – there are no beds available at emergency shelters. There’s not even a legal place for houseless people to park a car and sleep overnight, let alone a campground with bathrooms and perhaps a shower.

The immediate, ongoing, and overwhelming response from readers has been alarm, shock and sadness.

So, Hawai‘i: What are we going to do about it? What CAN we do about it?

A healthy diverse economy with living wage jobs and permanent affordable housing for local residents is of course key to long term success.

However the almost complete lack of adequate emergency shelters with the related essential services, requires immediate action.

There are many paths forward and all of us, policy makers, service providers, business owners, and the general public must join together on this one.

Our collective starting point is of course, personally and individually helping our friends and neighbors in need. Then we expand to donating and volunteering at nonprofits that provide food, shelter, and services.

We must quickly however shift gears towards a much needed immediate and emergency expansion of basic shelter capacity and of core services – ALL of which requires funding.

We must actively encourage our government leaders to aggressively support expanding emergency shelters, AND to implement safe zones (safe, legal places to park your car and sleep overnight and/or perhaps pitch a tent).

The Mayor and the Governor are responsible for administering government programs and writing checks to private non-profit service providers. Council-members and legislators pass laws/ordinances and budgets to support and sometimes push the administration to take action.

Unsheltered people have ZERO political power, and so those of us with roofs over our heads and empathy for our neighbors must step up to help in that area.

The Council and the Legislature can and must pass policy initiatives that defacto REQUIRE the expansion of emergency shelters, safe zones, and related services.

A simple ordinance such as the following could greatly motivate ALL sectors of our community, public and private – to treat the matter with the urgency it deserves:

“No person shall be prevented from standing, sitting, lying, or parking on public property, if they do not have legal access to private property and/or if there is no safe, accessible, public property designated for them to legally occupy. This ordinance shall take effect 180 days from approval and shall not apply to public buildings, nor prevent trespassing laws from being enforced on private property.”

In other words, before the unsheltered can be told to “move along,” there must be somewhere safe and accessible for them to move along TO.

It is essential, of course, for non-profit program providers to also proactively seek expansion of their existing programs. These organizations must aggressively seek additional funding (both public and private) — to add beds, increase staffing, improve facilities, and adopt safe zones as well.

Safe zones come in all shapes and sizes. One might consist of clean, flat ground for temporary camping, or a parking lot for those who live in their cars. Safe zones could be open from 6pm until 8am for sleeping only, or be a proper camp/community open to residents 24/7.

All must be provided with security, toilets, and, at minimum, an outdoor shower.

Or, a safe zone could be MORE. It could be a community of the formerly houseless in partnership with a local agricultural nonprofit, based on principles of land stewardship and self-sufficiency.

Imagine THAT.

Imagine a land stewardship organization providing living-wage jobs to our community — centered around restoring the land and providing locally grown food.

We know where we need to go — and we mustn’t stop until we get there.

Gary Hooser