Hawaii awash in an epidemic of homelessness

WAIANAE, Hawaii — The home sits on property with a million-dollar view, but its plastic roof is held down by bungee cords, its only source of lighting is a few lanterns, and its floor is covered with sand.

From here, Bert Bustamante looks out on paradise. Each evening, the sunset turns the Pacific Ocean several shades of pink and orange, turquoise and glowing blue. The dolphins come, and the whales, sometimes the seals. Bustamante's children surf and swim; his son goes out with spear and net and brings home fish, octopus and squid for dinner.

Bustamante, his wife, Roxy, and eight of the couple's 12 children have lived in a tent on this Oahu beach since the home they were renting was sold and they could not afford the deposit needed for another house. So they came to Nanakuli Beach, a haven for Hawaii's burgeoning population of homeless, with plans to stay just a few weeks.

That was more than eight months ago.

"I didn't choose this place," said Bustamante, 48. "Given my circumstances, this place kind of chose me."

Just up the coast from a major luxury resort, at least 725 homeless people — by one community group's count — are living on a 16-mile stretch of Oahu's western shore.

On Oahu, Hawaii's most populated island, more than 5,500 people may be living on beaches, according to local groups who serve the homeless. And statewide, the number of homeless may be as high as 10,000, according to some calculations.

"The problem is certainly growing," said Kaulana Park, whom Gov. Linda Lingle appointed in July to launch an effort to end homelessness in the state.

The problem is complicated.

Mild weather makes living on a beach a feasible year-round option. Drugs have been linked to the skyrocketing homeless population. The state's education system, routinely ranked among the most troubled in the nation, often doesn't prepare youths for college and the kind of jobs that can earn them a living wage.

And the cost of living in paradise seems to soar each year. Gasoline is routinely among the most expensive in the U.S. Groceries command exorbitant prices — milk prices are the highest in the nation, with a gallon going for between $5 and $6 — because most things have to be shipped in from the mainland. The median cost of a single-family home now exceeds $650,000.

Hawaii has the nation's lowest unemployment rate, but many jobs are minimum-wage ones in big resorts.

"I'm what they call 'Hawaii's working homeless,' " said Monica Sparks, 49, who lives on the beach. "I make $7 an hour, and that doesn't allow you to live in Hawaii anymore."

Roxy Bustamante works in a pizza-delivery call center, making about $2,000 a month. Rent for a home large enough for their family would eat that entire paycheck. Bustamante says he can't work because he can't afford a car to get to a job and someone must stay at the tent at all times to guard the family's possessions.

Bustamante gets teary-eyed when he talks about what life on the beach means: bathing in outdoor, public showers intended simply to get sand off beachgoers' feet; having to ask churches and family members for money to buy ice to keep what food they have cold; standing in line with the rest of the homeless each week to apply for a free camping permit so he can keep his tent up.

He gets most upset when he talks of sending his children off to school each morning. "The other kids tease them," he said. "They know they live on the beach because they show up to school with sand still on their feet."

Material from The Associated Press

is included in this report.