KAILUA-KONA — Two homeless veterans noticed the red, white and blue on display outside Lance Corporal Christopher Camero Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12122 at its rented location on Kaiwi Street in the Kona Old Industrial Area — typically a
KAILUA-KONA — Two homeless veterans noticed the red, white and blue on display outside Lance Corporal Christopher Camero Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12122 at its rented location on Kaiwi Street in the Kona Old Industrial Area — typically a signal that the organization is open to the public.
It’s been an uncommon sight over the last six weeks.
The two men made their way across the parking lot to the entrance, presumably to seek assistance of some kind, or maybe just to feel welcomed somewhere by fellow brothers and sisters in arms who understand their struggles — something Gaylene Hopson, a volunteer with the USO and VFW Auxiliary, said happens at least once or twice every single day.
But there was no help to be had, and the men were told they’d have to return another day, although no one could specify exactly which day that might be.
The flag flew over the Post Wednesday only as a welcome for Gov. David Ige, who visited with members for about 30 minutes on how the state might better serve its homeless veterans on Hawaii Island. Hopson and the rest of the VFW cohort in attendance, which numbered about 15 and included two Gold Star Families that have lost loved ones in foreign wars, had plenty of suggestions. Top among them — help the Kailua-Kona Post reopen.
“Our sources of income have dried up because we can’t host anything,” Hopson said. “We’re missing out on so much.”
The 3-year-old VFW chapter, which has spent the last two years in the rented space on Kaiwi Street, has been closed since Sept. 4, when a sewage pipe on the second floor of the rented structure burst. The break resulted in water damage and contamination that has halted almost all typical activity at the Post, including crucial fundraising events.
The space, which features a communal area complete with a big screen television, a bar area and a kitchen costs the VFW roughly $4,000 per month to rent and maintain.
And after a month and a half absent its $5 Friday night meals and other opportunities for veterans to congregate and donate, or separate organizations to utilize the space in return for donations, Post 12122 is flat broke.
Hopson explained the timing of the situation couldn’t be worse, as it’s wiped out the financial opportunities brought on by the concurrent return of winter vacationers to the island and the NFL to TV screens.
“Normally, everybody comes in for football, and we have potlucks and money and donations,” Hopson said. “These three months (football season) get us through the rest of the year. We get a lot of snowbirds who come in.”
The owner of the rental property and its insurance provider are clashing over the financial responsibility of repairs, which when finally completed must be cleared by the Department of Health so the VFW can resume use of its kitchen.
In the meantime, the Post’s position grows more perilous, and homeless veterans, as well as veterans struggling with other difficulties, are left without a crucial resource.
“It’s getting close to Christmas, and we need to start having fundraisers and raffles and donations and things like that so we can help families,” Hopson said. “Now, we’re the ones asking for help.”
Some relief has come from within the organization. A Post member and veteran of Vietnam, Armando Contreras, has assumed the electric bill, paying for it out of his own pocket.
He said whatever personal sacrifice it is for him to pay — about $600 a month for three months — it doesn’t compare to damage that would be done to Hawaii Island’s veteran community if the lights went out for good.
“I’m not a rich man,” Contreras said. “But this is important.”
Norma and Carlos Camero — Gold Star parents who lost a child, Christopher, to the war in Afghanistan in 2011 — also attended the meeting with Ige to relay the organization’s needs on the island.
Post 12122 is named after their son.
“We are expecting the governor to help because we really need this place,” said Norma, adding that she and her husband leaned on the services provided by the VFW in the wake of Christopher’s passing. “It’s frustrating. Veterans really need it, especially the homeless. They come and knock and ask for help.”
Hopson said while a patchwork of pocket digging from members has kept the local chapter of the VFW afloat, it won’t be able to sustain for long. It will take public money or a tremendous gesture from a private donor to keep the Post’s doors open, or better yet, help the VFW purchase a permanent location.
After securing itself, the Post can get back to doing the work it was intended to do, which has included raising money for families on the verge of homelessness, developing scholarship funds for children of veterans and helping homeless veterans secure appropriate identification and other basic services.
Homelessness among veterans is a specific target area for Ige and Scott Morishige, the governor’s state homelessness coordinator. Efforts tailored to the demographic led to a 12 percent drop in homeless veterans on Oahu from 2015-16 and a 3 percent dip across the entirety of Hawaii during that same time frame, according to the most recent Point in Time Count.
“We are committing to end homelessness among veterans,” Ige said. “So we are trying to look at the (VFW) facility, trying to understand what the needs are and trying to figure out what the priorities are and how we can provide better services.”
Hopson said the immediate solution that would yield the most significant, positive impact on Hawaii Island’s homeless community would be to open a chapter of U.S. VETS, like the one that exists on Oahu.
She said U.S. VETS offers outreach similar to that provided by the Friendly Place in the Kona Old Industrial Area, only it’s geared specifically to veterans.
Currently, when the Post gets walk-ins, much of what they can do is simply direct veterans up the road to the Friendly Place and hope there’s an open space for them.
But no one in attendance Wednesday believes that’s doing close to enough.
“It’s very hard when you’re putting a vet with post traumatic stress disorder in with a regular community,” Hopson explained. “(Nonveterans) don’t understand why vets have to sleep with a light on, or if they wake up yelling, it freaks everybody else out. Vets are just different. It’s not that they’re asking for special privileges, but you need to treat them a little differently.”
And not just differently, Hopson added, but better.
Want to contribute? Contact Post Commander Pat Pastor at 990-3841.
