WARD HOMELESS AT STATE CAPITOL TONIGHT

Ward joins other CEOs sleeping in Capitol Rotunda Friday Night and seeks insights for his newly formed Hawaii Kai Homeless Task Force Rep.

News Release from Office of Rep Gene Ward, September 16, 2016

Gene Ward (R-Hawaii Kai-Kalama Valley) this morning announced he will be homeless tonight at the State Capitol sleeping on the cement floor of the Rotunda to get a better understanding of homelessness in Hawaii.

Ward is joining other community leaders participating in the “CEO Sleepout” scheduled to begin at 6pm Friday, September 16, 2016 and ending on Saturday morning at 8 am.

The Sleepout is sponsored by the Salvation Army, a leading provider of homeless services in Hawaii and will lead discussions with the CEOs on such topics as “The Homeless Mentality,” “How to Treat Homeless Individuals or Groups,” and “Why are They Still Homeless.” The event is co-chaired by Rick Blangiardi, GM of Hawaii News Now, and Dennis Francis, President and Publisher of the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

“I hope to learn from the experience of homeless providers on the front lines of this increasingly serious and so far unsolvable social and economic problem facing us in Hawaii. The problem has become so out of control that we have had to form our own Hawaii Kai Homeless Task Force to deal with the dispersement of the homeless migrating from Waikiki to our community. Our efforts will be to inventory, monitor, and provide outreach and relocation of the homeless in Hawaii Kai to the appropriate shelters and social services. So far, state, federal and city solutions have not worked, and every community at the grass roots level needs to be part of the homeless solution,” Ward concluded.

Ward looks forward to sleeping with his clothes on exposed to the elements something he hasn’t done since Peace Corps training in Waipio Valley on the Big Island.

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KHON: Business, community leaders become ‘homeless’ for a night to raise awareness