Our moral, political and economic responsibilities do not stop at the moment of birth. Those who defend the right to life of the weakest among us must be equally visible in support of the quality of life of the powerless among us: the old and the young, the hungry and the homeless, the undocumented immigrant and the unemployed... Consistency means we cannot have it both ways. Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, 1984 The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1944
(Note: The food carton deliveries are based on canned goods and other donations, usually every 3 to 5 weeks per qualified household (see below). The monthly hot meal date and time is publicized by word-of-mouth to residents. Dates are not posted here because the meals, prepared by BILAC volunteers, are not "open" to the general public.
FOOD CARTON DELIVERIES: Deliveries of canned goods to the Fern Forest families, lower Puna, started in mid-1996 after Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church parishioner, the late Annette Felix, noted the need. At 2,000 feet elevation, the Fern Forest subdivision in Puna consists of about 2,500 three and five acre lots on the slopes of Kilauea Volcano. Approximately 400-500 of those lots are occupied. Of this an estimated 150-200 may be home to squatters living under tarps, abandoned vehicles or makeshift shacks. The area is very rainy with temperatures frequently dropping into the 50s at night. The Fern Forest and Puna crime rate - robberies, assaults and murders - is high on a per-capita basis.
Under the guidance of Marie Roberts who coordinated the Malia Pukaokalani Catholic Church food pantry at the time, usual background checks were made and deliveries soon started with the blessing of Father George DeCosta. With the retirement of Fr. DeCosta and departure of Marie Roberts from Malia, collection and deliveries have continued with the support of BILAC (Big Island Liturgy & Arts Center), a non-profit 501C3 organization headed by Fr. DeCosta in Volcano Village.
HOT MEALS INITIATED: The BILAC Board of Directors adopted the hot meal project at Fern Forest as a BILAC activity in January 2005 . Meals are served at the Fern Forest Community Center off Captain's Drive, FernForest. The small structure has a corrugated iron roof and dirt floor. It was built by the Fern Forest Hui, a small group of Fern Forest residents. The "Center" frequently serves as an emergency shelter during heavy rains for residents living under tarps. The Fern Forest hui installed wooden benches in March 2005 which serve as off-the-ground beds during these times, which are quite frequent.
RECIPIENTS of Food Carton Deliveries: All are: (a) off grid (no electric power), (b) have no phone, (c) have no city water supply (must rely on rain catchment), (d) have no vehicles (they walk, and if injured they wait for help but, on occasion, they just die if help can't reach them in time, Click Here), (e) live off of unpaved, unimproved roads, (f) live under extremely substandard conditions (under tarps, in abandoned vehicles or very makeshift shacks) and (g) do not have regular, full-time jobs. Some have prison records, mental and substance abuse problems and are not healthy. Recently, a 74 year old Hawaiian resident living alone went missing, along with her dog.
Recipients of the deliveries include Vietnam-era disabled combat vets, single mothers struggling to support their children, homeless children whose parents are currently in prison and unemployed drifters from the mainland.
Ethnic backgrounds of canned food deliveries include: Hawaiians, Caucasians, Filipinos, African-Americans and multi-ethnic folks. They are of many different religious faiths and some have no religion.
The canned food cartons average 20-30 pounds per household (not including bananas if available)(Mahalo Mike!) and 15 pounds for those living alone, although this varies depending on donations collected at the weekly BILAC ecumenical services and the annual Kamehameha Day event coordinated by Paul Neves, leader of the Order of Kamehameha. The food deliveries currently reach 30 individuals (as of mid-June 2006) including children. Specially prepared Christmas Gift Baskets, however, were distributed to about 42 families in the area during the 2006 Christmas holiday season.
The monthly hot meals project, including "take homes,'' are in the 60-90 meal range.
The BILAC food pantry monthly food deliveries and hot meals are the only known consistent outreach to this area in Puna.
Because detailed information about the project involves privacy issues and legal concerns, only donors and BILAC volunteers may have access to the data, at this time. For details, contact Father George DeCosta at (808) 967-7788.
Click here and here for recent national data on folks living in the fringe economy.
Click here for a Feb. 25, 2007 Advertiser front-page report on the homeless on Oahu.
Comments about this Web-page may be sent to Anson Chong (ansonchong@pobox.com). Last update: 2/25/07.
