The rental market has long been tight on Kauai. Anyone who has lived here a long time or recently moved here is aware the most significant cost they faced was trying to find affordable housing. Whether it be a house,
The rental market has long been tight on Kauai. Anyone who has lived here a long time or recently moved here is aware the most significant cost they faced was trying to find affordable housing. Whether it be a house, an apartment, a room, studio, costs have risen over the years and will likely continue to rise.
One longtime resident stopped by The Garden Island to share her story of facing homelessness in hopes that, perhaps, someone could help. She didn’t want her name published, but we agreed to do what we could to help. The problem this family of four was dealing with was not unique. Many have dealt with the struggles to find a place to live they can afford. Many have ended up living on the streets, with friends or sleeping in cars as they searched for place to call home. It is sad and unfortunate and part of the reality of living on an island like Kauai were expenses are high. While there are always those who will say, “If you can’t afford to live here, move to somewhere less expensive,” this resident grew up here and Kauai has been her home since her youth.
Here is her story.
This family of four has been in their Wailua Houselots home for about two and a half years. They received an unexpected notice from their landlord they would have to move out not long ago. With nowhere to go, the family was not able to move out by the deadline and is now in the process of being evicted. Soon, they will have to leave and don’t know what to do.
The mother of two is almost to the point of desperation and wants to keep a roof over the head of her two children. Despite repeated inquires and searches, nothing in their price range has come up and she worries it won’t. She wonders what will happen to them. And worse, she says, no one really seems to care.
“It seems no one out (there can) hear or see what my family is going through,” she wrote.
Which is what led her to TGI and a request to share her story because “my family of four would like everyone around islands/world hear this matter,” she wrote.
“My family is pleading for everyone’s attention out there. Landlord wants out of current rental and and got eviction letters. About to be homeless with children. Housing agency understands how hard to find a place to live because rental on Kauai is high market value prices (that we cannot afford).”
The family has a HUD voucher, but the amount it qualified for is not enough to cover the amount required by rental agencies or private landlords.
“We’re about to be homeless with kids, there is nowhere to go. It seems no one cares or understands my family’s situation,” she wrote.
So, why are we publishing this? Are we going to start asking for help for everyone family or person on Kauai who needs a place to live? Is that what this has come down to? People turning to the local paper in hopes someone might know of a place they could rent?
Certainly, it was hard for this person to walk into the newspaper and ask if it could do anything for her family so they would not become homeless. The best we can do, that any of us can do, is to treat others with courtesy, respect and a helping hand.We all know it’s easy to criticize and dismay others. So let’s not. Let’s show them the aloha spirit that inhabits this island and see just what kind of difference we can make.
And, by the way, if you know of a rental that might be affordable for this family of four, give us a call and we’ll pass the information on. It would, at the least, let them know that people do care.
