 This is St. Tech, Hawaii. Community matters here. I'm Marcia Joyner, and we are navigating the journey. Navigating the journey is dedicated to exploring the options and choices of life. And to assist people to talk about their wishes. It's time to transform our culture. So we shift from not talking about these things that are important to us to talk about the things that are important. It's time to share the way we want to live our lives. And it is time to communicate about the kind of things we want for ourselves and our neighbors. And we believe that this is the place and the time to do that. So together we can explore the various paths and lines. Together we can make these difficult conversations easier. And together we can talk about our own wishes and those of our loved ones. Then we express and respect them. So if you're ready, we ask you to navigate the journey. Join us. Today I have with me my new best friend, and you know I always have my best friend. And he is Representative Sam Kong from IAA. And he is here to talk about that subject that we pretend that doesn't exist. And that is the homeless. He is a champion of the homeless, unlike anybody else I've met. So that is the subject we pretend, oh, that's over there. We don't have to look at that. And they keep moving these people from place to place. And they say, oh, those are mentally ill or those are drug addicted. They never talk about the people that make $10 an hour and the rent is $1,800 a month. They don't talk about those people. They don't talk about the people who have to buy bus passes for children to get to school at $30 a child. They don't talk about all of those things that go into making Hawaii the number one in homelessness. Number one of 50 states in homelessness. So I asked Representative Kong to come talk to us about his plans and how he can help and how we can help him help. Thank you, Marcia. Thank you for having me on the show. I really appreciate this. So tell us about you first. Okay. Well, earlier you asked me what communities I'm on. Right. But more importantly, maybe we'll skip over that. Yeah. Okay. But how I got into this. Yes. For the past 25 years, I've actually been working with the homeless, mostly on a one-to-one basis. In fact, I owned a florist and of all things we had in our air and we had a problem within our own community. So to help out in our little old section, I actually housed the homeless in my floor shop. And I actually housed the homeless in back of my floor shop and so forth and so on. So for the past 25 years, I've been working with them just trying to help within my own community, my own little neighborhood. So for all these years, I'm trying to come up with solutions for them. And so in my own little ways, you know, try to help my own little section. That's where it started from. And then lo and behold, not even knowing, not even actually campaigning, I got elected. So I took it on as like a personal crusade to help with the homeless. And I put together this team and we came up with different projects. So this is what we came up with. Can you hold it? Yeah. Hold it. Can you read that? Can we get a shot of this? No. It's a housing first project. And basically what it states is we're trying to build temporary stable modular homes to be used as rental units. And we had a timeline approximately 15 to 20 years. And that was so by the time they say TOD and so forth comes online, we would be able to move our residents from our units to affordable housing units. But then in doing so, we would be serving families, veterans, the cofa, the chronics, all these different projects working with all these different ministries. Hino Malca, prison ministries, veterans, medical community, the whole gamut. And we wanted to do 45 to 50 projects. Wow. A lot of projects using federal, state, city properties. So depending what property it is and where it's located, it would make each property unique, serving different sections of the community. Right. So imagine this, if we were to house 75 to 150 individuals per site at doing 45 to 50 projects, we would actually house what, 3,300 to 7,000 homeless individuals. Wow. And this is for the island of Oahu only, basically. So that's what happens. So where have you been all of my life? Right. And just... How is it that we don't know about this? We've tried actually when I became a freshman just a few years ago to bring this project up. No one would listen. No one. I couldn't get this thing off the ground. So I just... Why do you mean no one would listen? They didn't like my idea. They just wouldn't...they didn't think housing. They were thinking only service, service, service to service these individuals to get their moved on, not to house them. And then, but the city of course went into the housing first programs and so forth. And now I put together my team and we started going after these properties. Good. And we started to look for them. And just so happens, I caught the ear of DOT, Department of Transportation. Yes. Right. And they, of all things, came up with the first property. They offered me six acres in Pro City. So this is my first pilot project. And we're working on it now. It's under the bridge? It's under the freeway, yes. Under the freeway? Off of Hughes Street in Pro City. Wow. It's a, they're offering it for a 30-year lease. And I got the city... A dollar? Basically, yes. And actually free. And they authorized it for a 100-bed project. So we went through the process and, you know, for the sewage capacity. Right. So they authorized it for a 100-bed project. And we are going through the development and the sites surveys and everything and the design. So there will be individual modules. Yes. Yes. So it's not just a, not a whole thing where you dump people in, but there will be their own. Correct. Oh, wonderful. And two units. Yes. Similar to what the city's been doing out in Y&I, like the Holona Project. Yes. And they actually have other projects on board. But this is our way. And these units will be section eight qualified, so forth, so we can actually house people. People. Homeless, yes. Yes. And they're like one to two-bedroom units, so forth, for the section eight. So the people that I keep talking about those that are working but can't pay $1,800 a month rent. Correct. Yes. This is the one. This is the one. This is it. And because, like I said, each project is unique, this one will not address the chronics. Right. So the ones that you see on the roads, this is not exactly for them. Right. But we have. You have one for them too? Other projects coming up for them. Correct. Right. But on the third page is a map of where it would be. Yeah, but I think that's too light to show. There's a map here, but I think it's awfully light. I don't know. Can you see this? I'm not sure. But this just gives you an idea of where we're headed. Take a look at this and see. It's awfully light, but maybe. Right here in this corner, right here. Tell us what we're looking at. So this is Lehu Avenue going towards, this is the bike path. Heading towards the peninsula, Cam Highway. This is the urban garden center up here, Lehu Elementary. So we're trying to actually, we have a sliding scale to where we design it. So we're going to take it to the community. And this still has to be approved by the Federal Highway Administration. Right. So that's where we're coming with all these plans to present to them for their approval. And that's where we're at now. So with the gardens, they can grow things. Well, if you're living here, you can. Well, actually, we can actually work with them. So if you're a florist, you know how to do that. And they have a security problem there now with the homeless going in and stealing their crops, stealing their tools. Oh dear. So hopefully we can work with them and work something out there. But this is our first pilot project. But we have other projects online. I'm not sure if you've seen this. This was in the paper 2012 on the Cedar Church property that they bought in Y and I. In Y and I, yes. Can you see this? So they have four acres, but it's ag property. Ag is very interesting. It has very, well, a lot of limitations, but a lot of potential. So we are working right now as we speak on this. So this is six acres. This is four acres. So I already have 10 acres that I'm working with. Well, the rest of the state is, you know, they have nothing so far. Right. So I really have 10 acres under my belt. So this is the second project we're working on to help with the homeless. And this is just to show you the DPP map and everything. Then on another note, just because of time, this is a another project that's happening in Y and I. This is a thousand acre, but this is very specific for the chronic. This is the ones that are mentally ill. Yes. Yes. So we are trying to help. And this is her priority list that we're actually trying to help out with that. And this is the one that, this is a veterans project that we want to do. This is on federal property. So we actually went out and designed it for them. Where is this? This is in, of all things, in IAEA. Oh, in IAEA? Yes. The property belongs to the Navy. So this is going to be very interesting. I'm not even sure if I can get this one off the ground or even if IAEA people will. But you remember. No, that was Pearl. Pearl City. Yes. Where all the quonset huts and all those buildings were. As you go up from the peninsula. Oh, yes. Yes. You go all the way up. Yes. Right. Yeah. All of that was Navy land. Right. So this is Navy property also. So I actually approached the VA and I've actually spoke to the US vets because what happens is all these programs that we have now, the question is at the end of the day, where are they going to send their people? They have nowhere to send their people. It's interesting. You know, they go through the programs and yet they end up nowhere to go after they complete the programs. Yes. So this one is specifically for the veterans. So this is a project kind of near and dear to my heart being a veteran myself. So I'm not sure if I can get, you know, I'm not sure how the IAEA people will feel or anything or how the Navy, you know, if we can do it. But this is just my dream list. Like I say, I have 50 projects I want to do. But I went ahead and I had a friend draw an architect just draw me a picture, you know, just to see what it could look like and see where we can go from there. So this is just part of the projects that we're all looking at. And we've actually identified a lot of properties. Okay. We need to take a break. We will come back in one minute. Oh, this is so quick. We'll look. Yes. We'll look at some of your other projects. Okay. And yes. And our difficulties. Okay. This is Think Tech Hawaii raising public awareness. This is Prince Dykes, your host of The Prince of Investing coming to you guys each and every Tuesday at 11 a.m. Right here on Think Tech Hawaii. Don't forget to come by and check out some of the great information on stocks, investing, your money, all the other great stuff. And I'll be your host. See you soon. Okay. The difficulties. Aloha. And we're back. And we are talking with my new best friend, Representative Sam Kong. Now, for those of you that are political junkies like me and you watch every election, this is the gentleman that went to bed thinking he had lost. Only to wake up and find the paper said he was. And thank goodness he won because he has got these marvelous programs for the homeless, for that people that we pretend like they're over there someplace. And here is somebody that's devoted his life 25 years to this. So I am honored to have you. And I am so thrilled with these projects. So tell us what else are you doing? Real quickly, can I say something about that? Yes. Did you know that the first time I actually won, I did not campaign. I did not collect any money. I didn't do any, no flyers or nothing. I was sick in the hospital, laid up and just happens I won. I don't know why. And this past time re-election, I feel ill again. So just so happens, no campaign, no nothing. I just, am I, I lifted up to God. Yes. Yeah, it worked. I almost lost. Thank God. It's really strange. It is. It is. Hopefully this all... There's a reason for that and this is the reason. Hopefully, yes. I don't know why. But anyway, I digressed. Sorry. But interestingly enough, working on these projects, we had to find out what are the goals of the state of the city and so forth. And why... Do they have goals? Good question. Oh, you know what? I wrote them down. I actually asked the goals of the state. I don't know what this means, but anyway, I'll just read them out. Functional zero to reach functional zero. Okay. Go ahead. Affordable housing. Yes. Outreach. Okay. Housing first, transition to permanent. Okay. And putting out the fires. Where? Those are the state's goals. Now... Have they met any of those? Well, they are doing the outreach. Yes, most definitely. They are doing the outreach. By just moving people from street to street. Is that outreach? Yes, they are outreaching too. And each time they move them, they outreach to those people. And well, out of 100 or 200, they housed 18. Right, to shelter, right, I think. 18. Right. Correct. And we can put 18 people in here. So that's nothing. But... That is 18. I don't know, but that is the goal. That's the goal. And I actually wrote them down and I was kind of interesting. But I mean, regardless, this is the facts. And this is what they stated. So I am pushing so much for housing. Yes. And not, in a sense, housing first. When they say housing first, it's like they have to pre-qualify in order to be put into housing. I'm kind of more in the terms of, we house them first. And as the services are needed, they will be provided. Not necessarily pre-qualifying each individual for the housing. But again, that begs the question. They're presuming that these people have an issue other than, I just don't make enough money to pay the rent. Correct. That just forgets those people. Correct. Yes. The hidden homeless community. Yes. I walked, of course, being an old-time Democrat. I walked the district, you know, every year for a campaign for somebody. And Pico, you know where Pico is? Yes. Yeah. It was one house with 11 surnames on the mailbox. Can you imagine 11 different surnames on the mailbox? Who knows how many people were in that house? Right, correct. You know, that's what we're dealing with. Generations. Generations after generations, four generations. In this, well, that house had 11, but so many houses had three and four generations. Correct. And we need to help them. Well, my own son can't even move out of the house. So I don't know what to say about that, you know. I know. I want to kick him out, but it's not happening. Where are you going? Where are you going? We can't afford it. But we are trying so hard to not necessarily, it costs so much to service them. It does. In a sense. And in a sense to house them would actually be cheaper in a sense. Even on the medical side, if you look at what's happened to Queens Hospital. Oh, unbelievable, isn't it? The emergency room reports that you see in the newspapers, how they go in. And Queens, of course, has, except federal funds. And when you accept federal funds, you have to take everybody. Correct. So they don't even get to choose, you know, and they're overrun with people. And of course, if you're living on the street and one person has an ailment, hepatitis, we leave the nation in hepatitis. And there's a reason for that. It's called Aloha. We share. So if one person has, have A or B, and they share a razor or a comb and brush, any of those simple things of sharing, you pass it on. Right, yeah. So that's the first thing we need to deal with is to get these people a place to be so they don't have to share. They don't have to do those things. Unfortunately, right. The situation we put them in, especially in the shelters, just so happens. I went to visit a friend yesterday at IHS. Interesting thing, but they're ill there now. They are. I guess because of the weather. I don't know. Maybe in fact, even in the offices now, a lot of people are just sick with colds, but they cannot shake their colds. They're finding out they're just ill. Well, that's because they're sharing. They keep moving the cold on. Right. And it may be that that building is thick. The people, they're coming right. Right. And they're living conditions. Yeah, their condition, mold, all kinds of. Or being just out on the street all the time. Yeah. They don't have a place to heal. No. That's why I really want these projects to move, because at least give them a stable environment. Giving them a stable environment will actually help them. Well, I think just succeed in so many ways. Getting them physically better. I think even mentally better. Of course. You know, if you, now we are mammals, people don't like to admit it, but we are. We were designed to walk on the grass and on the soil and what have you. So even walking on concrete can be hard on your feet, your back, your knees. Can you imagine sleeping on concrete? What ailment you would get? If you weren't sick before you got out there, you're sick now. Correct. Yeah. So we, you're right. We have to have a place for them to heal. Oh yes. So important, I think, but we shall take each step. Okay. What I want you to do, I want you to look right in the camera. Okay. Yes. I want you to look in the camera and you tell people how they can call you, how they can support you on this issue. I want you to tell them your office number, how they can reach you, email, whatever. But we want, want people to support you. So tell them what they can do to support you. The best thing to do, call my cell, 699-0222. Say that again. 699-0222. Anytime, 24-7. Later, the better. At night, I mean, I don't care if it's 10, 11, midnight, two o'clock in the morning, give me a call, do not be afraid to use that number. Last night, 1.30 in the morning, I got a call. It's okay. I don't mind. But we want people to support your project. We need people to support you. So whatever you want them to do, again, tell us what can we do to support you? Actually, just your voice is so important. Letting other people know your other representatives, anybody who has a heart. Oh, warning. This is not an easy subject. Of course it isn't. If working with the homeless, you will become disappointed. You might get ripped off. You might get a lot of bad things may happen to you when you work with the homeless. I can tell you now. But if you have a heart for it, it's worth it. Well, even if I can't go out in the street, but how can I support you in the legislature? What can I do? There's this little book of all your listing of representatives. Right. Give them a call and let them know, hey, I heard Sam on Marcia's program. And then he's working on this homeless project. You should give him a call. Come visit his office. My office is lined with pictures of properties and all of this paperwork. I got all these studies of homelessness and everything. So we need to have a cadre of people to support you to get this through the legislature. Is that what we're talking about? Get them to know what you're doing. What's happening. Just let them know and let the word out. I don't know about monies or anything. We won't go there. But at least the people know. We need people to support this project. Exactly. Yes. Exactly. We need people to, because that's all we have. That's all I have is my voice. That's all we have. Have your voice then. And add your voice to this. Exactly. And it's okay to move the link. We'll be on YouTube at the end of the day. Move this link around. Tell your friends. Join him. Join Representative Kong. Thank you. And we just need people. We need to get behind this. And this is the richest nation ever in the history of the world. And we have people living on the street. Children going to bed hungry. This has got to stop. And we, you, our audience has a voice. And we need to get started. So it's been a real pleasure spending this time with you. You will come back. This is the shortest half an hour. I tell you what, Marsha, we have so much to say on this project. You will come back and keep us updated on how we're moving along. Thank you very much. Aloha. And we will see you next time.