‘When We’re Full, We’re Full’: Oahu Homeless Shelters Struggle With High Demand
“Homeless advocates also have worried about an increase of homelessness after the Supreme Court rejected the Biden administration’s most recent Covid-related ban on evictions.
Laura Thielen, executive director for Partners in Care, which coordinates with homeless services on the island, noted that homeless shelters may be filling up because of reduced capacity and fear of being infected with Covid-19 on the streets. Another challenge is the inability to provide isolation rooms for homeless people who get the virus. That problem has been exacerbated by the revival of the tourist industry, which essentially shut down last year, leaving empty hotel rooms to be used for quarantine. Those are no longer so readily available.”