Homeless like me: Kona dentist takes to the street to illustrate plight

Most of the time, Cliff Kopp is a Kailua-Kona dentist. But come Christmas, he’ll be homeless, at least temporarily.

Kopp, who’s pushing 60, plans to walk the perimeter of Hawaii Island, carrying his bedroll on his back and sleeping in out-of-the-way places, sheltered as much as possible from the elements as he recreates the homeless experience. He’ll carry water and protein powder, but otherwise eat where he can.

“There’s no fun in this,” Kopp said. “It’s as close as I can be to be homeless.”

Kopp started his 240-mile trek from Kailua-Kona in the wee morning hours of Christmas Eve. He plans to walk about 30 miles a day, north along the Hamakua Coast, into Hilo, up the road to Mountain View and Volcano, onward to Pahala, Naalehu and Ocean View and finishing back in Kailua-Kona sometime between Jan. 1-3.

Kopp, who has drawn up plans for homeless camps on the island, insists the story isn’t about him.

Instead, he says, it’s about the burgeoning homeless problem on the Big Island and the apparent indifference of the county and state to his ideas — or any ideas at all — for fixing it.

“The problem takes on many different aspects. This problem is like opening a box of 20,000 puzzle pieces and putting your hands in the box and trying to work the puzzle,” Kopp said. “At some point, you put the lid on the box and put it back on the shelf.”

Support for the cause

Mayor Billy Kenoi and officials with the Food Basket praised Kopp’s community involvement and dedication.

“Dr. Kopp’s done a lot of wonderful things for our community,” Kenoi said Wednesday, adding that Kopp is scheduled to address the island’s homeless coalition next month.

“I’m cheering him on,” Kenoi added. “I wouldn’t count out Dr. Kopp or his vision.”

While the task of helping the homeless seems overwhelming, the best way to approach the problem is shelter, Kopp said. Once people are in shelter, the various social services can be brought to them to help work through the problems. Those who need counseling and treatment can get it. Children can go back to school. Families can be reunited.

Homelessness is a bigger problem on Hawaii Island than most people realize, Kopp said. Instead of collecting alongside streets and in downtown areas, many homeless residents live out of sight of most people, in the bushes, in the woods, at remote shorelines and beaches.

“Albeit they have minimal effect on the economy given that they are mostly hidden away, there is a humanitarian crisis,” he said.

A look at the numbers

The most recent point in time study of homelessness in the state, conducted Jan. 25, showed a trend that’s disturbing to many who try to provide services to homeless people.

The state Department of Human Services logged 1,021 homeless individuals without shelter on the Big Island, and an additional 220 who were being housed either through emergency shelters or transitional housing programs. Local service providers estimate the street homeless at 1,300, or 0.6 percent of the total population of 190,000.

The island’s total homeless count of 1,241 individuals for 2015 represents a nearly 43 percent increase compared to last year alone, and a 123 percent increase from 2013, when the island total was 557 homeless.

Hawaii County’s numbers are all the more striking when compared to the rest of the state. While Hawaii County added 372 new homeless in 2015, Oahu, which has a total population almost five times bigger than the Big Island’s, added only 191.

Kopp is most concerned about shelter because he sees that as a necessary first step. Getting the government to act, though, is rather akin to, well, pulling teeth.

Gov. David Ige signed a proclamation Oct. 16, declaring a statewide homeless emergency, identifying $1.3 million to immediately address homelessness. A second proclamation signed Thursday lists specific projects, including a micro-unit housing project in West Hawaii anticipated to provide permanent housing for up to 32 individuals. Social services will be coordinated by an on-site facility manager.

“We are continuing to work closely with the counties to focus on specific services that we know will move people toward permanent housing,” Ige said in a statement. “Whether it is emergency shelter or wrap-around social services, the programs supported by this action are needed to ensure that our community members who are without homes can get the help they need.”

Big Island’s focus

Most of the money and effort to date, however, has concentrated on the more visible homeless population on Oahu.

“Frankly, there is no discernible push on this island to break through the inertia of the county and the state when it comes to street homelessness, or the unsheltered population,” Kopp said.

He said the county’s 220 homeless beds are the same number in service five years ago, despite dramatic increases in the number of homeless individuals. Kailua-Kona’s Friendly Place, he noted as an example, took 16 years to build at a cost of $1.6 million, and it contains only 30 beds.

Kenoi said the county has redoubled its effort to create more homeless shelters. He said Kopp’s idea is good, but the location in Kealakehe the dentist is proposing is state land and would probably require a lot of time for the county to get permission.

Instead, Kenoi said, his administration is currently working on micro-units, basically dressed-out shipping containers, that will be added to the Friendly Place grounds within a year. In addition, the county is partnering with HOPE Services Hawaii to try to double capacity in East Hawaii, he said.

“That’s one of the things we’re going to get done now,” Kenoi said.

Managing Director Wally Lau agrees that the county should make best use of what it has now, rather than starting too many new projects. Still, Lau said, the private sector is welcome to do anything that will help.

“Let’s maximize the use of what we have,” Lau said.

Kopp’s plan

Kopp proposes a village of no-frills cabins for homeless individuals, featuring dorm-style rooms for individuals and families.

Segregated men’s and women’s restrooms, clothes washing facilities and showers would be separate buildings in the compound, and there would be no kitchens. The cabins would have no electricity or door or window coverings, but there would be lockers.

These buildings could be erected quickly and cheaply, Kopp said.

A copy of Kopp’s conceptual plans was shown to a Hilo homeless man Wednesday. Scott Reimer, 56, said he’s disabled and has been living on the streets for about two years. He’d taken shelter from Wednesday morning’s drizzle under the overhang of the town’s bowling alley, which was shut down earlier this year.

The buildings might be no-frills, but they beat living on the street, he said.

“Yeah, I’d live there,” said Reimer.

The slender man, weathered from living outside and with clean white gauze wrapped around one leg, said it’s a challenge finding a place to live where he’s not harassed by other homeless individuals, some of whom he said are violent and abusive. The bowling alley area is less crowded, but it’s a longer walk to services than the park where he used to stay, he said.

Kopp, an active community volunteer who has led coordinated efforts including the construction of the Hooko Street playground in Waikoloa, as well as renovations of Higashihara Park, the Boys Safe House in Captain Cook, and the Domestic Abuse Shelter in Keauhou Mauka, said he’s spent hours perfecting the design of his project.

He’s dubbed it the Kukuiola Homeless Shelter, which he said could start as a 274-bed complex on 6.4 acres of land across from the Kealakehe Police Station.

But food is admittedly important as well, and in that vein, Kopp’s journey will be chronicled on a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/hawaiiislandwalkagainsthomelessnessandhunger) where he’s soliciting donations for the island’s Food Basket.

The nonprofit food pantry feeds some 12,000 individuals monthly. Last year, 3.3 million pounds of food was given to residents, said Kristin Frost Albrecht, Food Basket events director. People can donate online at www.hawaiifoodbasket.org/donate .

“The cool thing for us, we depend a lot on those who do individual actions,” Albrecht said. “Dr. Kopp, he’s pretty amazing in that he’s willing to do that.”

Food Basket Director En Young also praised Kopp’s can-do attitude. He said Kopp’s persistence and dedication helped him turn the lens on himself and inspired him to also try harder.

“It’s pretty apparent how he feels about what’s getting done and what’s not getting done,” Young said. “This story is really about Dr. Kopp. One person can make a difference. To get it done, it’s going to be one person at a time.”

Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.