Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sending homeless back to their home state

Representatives Rida Cabanilla and John Mizuno yesterday held a press conference with local reporters at the Hawaii State Capitol to talk about the benefits of a return-to-home program in Hawaii. A similar program in New York City issues plane, bus and train tickets to homeless people from other states and countries who want to return home where they will have a place to live.

Rep. Mizuno introduced Gregory Reese, a 39-year-old man who became homeless after two job offers fell through upon arriving to Hawaii. He wants to return to Seattle where his father lives, but has no money to purchase a ticket. He's been on Oahu for about a month. Rep. Mizuno donated $100 of his own money towards the purchase of a one-way ticket for Reese.

In these excerpts from the press conference, Rep. Cabanilla talks about the return-to-home program she proposed in previous sessions and how it could save the state lots of money, and Rep. Mizuno explains Reese's situation and how he and others like him could benefit from a return-to-home program similar to that of New York City.




1 comment:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.