Whether you’re walking or driving in town, through a park or along the coast, the images of poverty, desperation and loneliness are everywhere.

For me, it’s impossible to unsee that family living under the bridge with all of their possessions contained within a single shopping cart; or that person in the park, huddling under the thinnest of blankets, with the rain beating down mercilessly.

I only wish our government leaders would open their eyes and see these things as well.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser should be applauded for its recent editorial (“Maui has duty to serve its homeless,” Our View, Jan. 16). The obscene and shameful truth is that every county in this state is facing a similar crisis.

Yes, Gov. Josh Green painted a message of hope and optimism during Monday’s State of the State speech. But while the plans for tomorrow’s affordable housing and kauhale units perhaps should be lauded, today’s reality is dark, bleak and unacceptable.

Thousands are living in doorways, in the bushes, at the harbor and along the coast. Existing homeless service providers, while pressing hard every day to serve those most in need, are overwhelmed and underfunded.

And contrary to urban legend, our unhoused are not mostly haole transplants sent here from the mainland. Most of them aren’t drug addicts, criminals or lunatics, either.

The truth is that most of our unhoused are local people, born and raised in Hawaii — families, women with children, kupuna, veterans — who’ve fallen on hard times and unable to pay Hawaii’s insanely high rents.

It’s certainly true that some — perhaps the most visible – struggle with addiction and mental health problems. That’s the case with many families, both housed and unhoused.

But the vast majority just need a dry, safe, legal place to lay their heads at night. And for most, there are no such places available.

I recently spent over two hours on the phone, calling homeless shelters and service providers in every county on behalf of two fictitious homeless friends.

I got absolutely nowhere.

Nearly every call I made was answered by an automated message that instructed me to call another number; when I did that, I was asked to leave a message.

My message, to service providers in every county, was a simple plea: “I’m trying to help a homeless couple find a safe place to sleep tonight; do you have beds or a room available?”

The answer was the same from everyone: Tell your friends to come down, fill out some forms and get on the list, and if or when something opens up, we’ll try to help them.

It happened again when I tried to help the fellow sleeping in the park under the pouring rain.

If a water main ruptures, I can call the Board of Water Supply hotline and someone will come out immediately to fix it.

But when the soul of a human being is broken, shivering and shaking in a park or a doorway, there’s nobody to call with help.

We can do better. We must do better.

There are competent, skilled, professional service providers on every island, but all are underresourced and over capacity. To fulfill their missions and purpose, and to provide the medical/mental health services now desperately lacking, they urgently need funding that enables them to hire capable and adequate staff and pay them living wages. The service providers also need even more funding to maintain and increase the number of emergency shelter beds.

This is where county and state budget discussions must begin.

Yes, we must build more truly affordable housing for all local residents. But we must ask our governor, our mayors and all of our elected officials to open their eyes, their hearts and any budgets they control — and help first and foremost our friends and neighbors who have no legal, dry or safe place to live at all.

Gary Hooser, former state senator and Kauai County Councilman
As published on 01/28/26 in the Honolulu StarAdvertiser
Column: Recognize and address homeless plight