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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0169.009 1998-2000 ~FH(OS(KIA TO: Councilman Curtis Tyler, Chair and Members, Committee on Human Services of„r<~a• <~rr ro„r,i~~fr, Roman (adviLc C~hurrh m and Economic Development (hc 5fdfe of Hdmai i FROM: Carol R. Ignacio, Executive Director Office for Social Ministry, Catholic Diocese RECFJVED DATE: March 15, 1999 nrt1°--------- - v----- , Date - ~~i6~~9---- SUBJECT: Testimony Relating to Comm: 169 (Bi1143) ~ Counry Council / $efore proceeding with my formal testimony, I want to thank you for the opportunity AdminiUrative Offire H,nraii Island fund Hank to provide testimony regazding Bi1143. Councilwoman Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd t ~ , ~ ~ is to be commended for her initiative to clarify the ambiguous language in the current Mobae~ca,c i r~ .drr, t~~~,~~ ~ i 1 a0-a I lolamua ti[n rt code. VJe are also very grateful that the amendment to Bill 43, as transmitted by iluo w9h7zn Councilwoman Leithead-Todd, includes language that infers the County's Phone aoa-ess-to,o Fax 808-94s-1794 commitment to funding human service providers. Toil Free t-a»~~3s-3oso - e-mall: c ruwgtene[ There was a time when I didn't know the needy. There were times when the poor Maui County Branch 95 Mahalani Street and less fortunate were those who primarily couldn't take caze of themselves. w,aok~~, HI vow3-asz ~ However, as our national and local economies worsened, we have come to know new Phone aoa-zaa-a i oh Fax SUS-Laa-N l U6 categories of those in need. People who no longer can afford housing despite having e-maa: ro5ei,,,,,,~;~,E.,r,e, household members who work. We know people who now need assistance because Oahu Branch they lost their employment due to company closures for which families worked for eao i Pali Highway Kaneohe M 9fi7aaS29a generations, or due to downsizing. Today, we know of those in need because they Ph°neaoa-ze i-aaaa, ~.r. ; w no longer can survive without help. Fax aoa-zFZ- s~zs Too Rcc i-a; 7~zr. s-sn~ss We can name friends and relatives who have filed personal and business bankruptcies r•-In.,a:.or l.,l~or„-p~xl.~ „n~ because of the difficulties of bad economic times. Ministn for Persons with Disabilities Never before has poverty ever been so close to home. Fifteen (I5%) of the people I h"~~ H'~i'"`" Kdnorho, Hl 9b~aa-i ,98 who live in Hawaii County live below the poverty level (Census, February 12, 1999), Phone• son-zr, ;-f,r;a i r~xr_ ;nz i i v r,~ r.~x ana- ~r,z-+~za the highest rate in the state. T,;; m•c, ~-a„- ~r, s-ffttss e-mill: nric r~ hAaa urh 1 No. 169. oa 131e No. HCC A D 4t'ni~rtl lll~ Vscni~ ~'q Ref. To:~OAf°d iFSEDG. ` Ref. Pate 3 - ~6- 9q As economic times worsen, the needs of the less forhmate, the number of people struggling to survive just to meet basic needs, increases. As their struggles worsen, demands put on human services also increases. The very reason that human services came into existence in the first place is because of these kinds of needs. As economic times worsen, the burden and responsibilities placed on you, our County officials, increase astronomically. In order to balance the budget, you must make tough decisions regazding how our county funds aze to be spent on meeting the physical and social needs of our community. The County has physical needs such as paving roads, maintaining pazks, and eradicating plants taking over our lands. During poor economic times the formula that is usually applied for meeting physical needs is to reduce or delay services -paving fewer roads, stretching out maintenance programs, and delaying eradication programs. However, this formula for how to address the physical needs of the County is not applicable and should not be transferred to our responsibility for how the County of Hawaii meets the social needs of the community. Unlike physical needs, the social needs of our community increase signiTcantly as the economy declines. More people need jobs, more people need food, more people need housing, more people need medical assistance. We may be able to stretch out or delay paving roads and maintaining facilities. We cannot, however, stretch out or delay how we meet the basic human needs of those in our community who struggle to get by each day of their life. I am a lifelong resident of this island. I have never experienced or personally known such grim economic or social conditions in this County. As such, there has never been such a loud cry for help for human services. For this reason, it is imperative that, at the minimum, funding is maintained at the present levels. It is even more incumbent that the County ensure that money is spent on the most essential services -services which sustain the life and dignity of our residents. The greatest v.._ challenge you face is ensuring those budget constraints do not find that "people" aze treated as 2 another problem or burden facing the County of Hawaii. A community is tested by how it treats and cares for the most vulnerable among us. One of the deliberations before you today is Bill 43 - An ordinance amending the appropriation of funds available to nonprofit groups. The amendment as written would make the maximum amount available for grants not to exceed 1 percent of the real property tax. We propose and strongly support an amendment to the existing code to clarify ambiguities, however, we request that the amendment read as follows: `7n any event, the minimum amount to be made available for grants will be $900,000 or 1 percent of the real property tax, whichever is greater. " The Office for Social Ministry administers programs on the Big Island which provides the most basic services for the poorest of the poor through the Hawaii Island Food Bank, Care-A-Van Outreach to the Unsheltered Homeless, and Mobile Caze which provides medical and dental services to the uninsured and underinsured in our communities. Our services are "no frills." They simply help keep people alive. It is my hope and dream that some day all of these programs will no longer be needed and I will no longer have to come to County Council meetings regarding human services funding because those struggling just to survive in our county will be no more and Hawaii will truly be the land of Aloha. Thank you again. 3 - y , . *t yz ~ ~ ~ ~ ~,=N ' ~ - ~ a.. 1 ~ ~ 4 ~ A ~i ~l ry 1 ~ jl p~ Fj° ~i. 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