New Hawaii homeless coordinator Mizuno saw his unhoused brother die

Dec. 26—Hawaii's incoming homeless coordinator—state Rep. John Mizuno—knows the tragedy of homeless personally.

Hawaii's incoming homeless coordinator—state Rep. John Mizuno—knows the tragedy of homeless personally.

He was at The Queen's Medical Center on Nov. 13, 2017, with state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz and House Speaker Scott Saiki learning firsthand how homeless people disproportionately use hospital resources, costing millions every year, when—five minutes into their tour—an ambulance crew arrived in the emergency room with Mizuno's younger brother.

Dean Mizuno was homeless, bipolar and suffered from addiction when he fell backward and cracked his head on a sidewalk, leaving him in a coma with massive bleeding to the brain.

Mizuno was then taken to a hospital room and held Dean's hand with one hand and a cellphone in the other so their older sister, Rayna, and he could pray for their brother and tell him how much they loved him as he died at Queen's.

Dean Mizuno was just shy of the 53-year life span of a homeless person in Honolulu.

"Yes, I know about the homeless and the people who suffer the most, " Mizuno told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in his fourth-floor office in the state Capitol. "We wouldn't see him for a week. I'd have to look for him and pick him up. I've picked him up a ton of times."

But the most stress for the Mizuno family came when Dean seemed to be doing well while living with their mom on Wilson Street in Kalihi, because Mizuno knew the good times never lasted.

"Once he started to do well, that was my biggest concern, " Mizuno said.

So getting people off the street and on their way to better lives represents a personal passion for Mizuno, who has spent his 17 years in the House looking for solutions.

Mizuno (D, Kamehameha Heights-Kalihi Valley ) also will be responsible for affordable housing when he takes over a staff of seven Jan. 2. He believes Hawaii's second-highest per capita rate of homelessness is directly related to the high cost of housing.

Gov. Josh Green, a physician, has a saying : "Housing is health care."

And Mizuno agrees that real results on homelessness will never happen without creating more affordable housing.

Green estimates that Hawaii needs 50, 000 more homes, and especially 3, 000 to house Maui wildfire survivors who continue to live in hotels.

Hawaii has plenty of company across the country in its struggle to reduce homelessness, which has increased.

According to the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development, "homelessness is the highest it's ever been since HUD began formally collecting data in 2007—and across the board all subpopulations are seeing an increase from veterans, to families with children, to youth. ... This crisis is accelerated by an insufficient social safety net and a myriad of systems that fail to appropriately divert people from the immediate risk of homelessness."

Looking ahead to 2024, HUD predicts that homelessness will play a role in local and state elections, "and affordable housing will be a much bigger issue than normal in the 2024 elections."

"We know the solution to homelessness is through housing—and the federal, state, and local governments all have roles to play to incentivize and build and preserve our affordable housing stock, " HUD said. "Unsheltered homelessness again is on the rise as is chronic homelessness. Communities are going to be faced with how to meet the needs of these individuals and combat harmful strategies such as criminalization to solve this issue."

Mizuno's track record in the House and his political and community connections have generated optimism that he and Green will make a difference.

Going back to his time at the Institute for Human Services, which operates Hawaii's largest homeless shelters, Kimo Carvalho has been talking to Mizuno about what are now known as tiny-home kauhale.

Carvalho now runs Home ­Aid Hawaii, which built the first kauhale in Kalaeloa while Green was lieutenant governor and will build more in 2024, starting next on Middle Street.

"With John I'm very hopeful, " Carvalho said. "He's been an advocate. He's a very nice guy and supportive, especially when it comes to innovative ideas. As a legislator, he was one of the most understandable and reasonable when it comes to homelessness. John sees things through a different lens."

Mizuno used his own money and teamed up with IHS and later the Hotel Lodging &Tourism Association to fly homeless people back to family on the mainland.

While segments of the public like to believe that Hawaii's homeless population is fueled by people from the mainland, Mizuno "was the only legislator who understood that 10 % of homeless are from the mainland, " but nevertheless worked to reduce their numbers as well, Carvalho said.

Mizuno said flat-out that "most of our homeless are local."

For those who wish to believe that the problem can be blamed on people from the mainland, Mizuno said, "they do have a point, though."

Connie Mitchell, IHS' executive director, said she was "quite pleased " that Green selected Mizuno.

"He's worked with us on the vulnerable population in the community, " she said. "I'm really hopeful he can move the needle on that. It's been great to count on his support. Early on, he was really instrumental in trying to help us deal with the neighborhood areas to make them safer. And he's always been very, very compassionate, which I appreciate."

At the same time, Mitchell said that Mizuno understands different perspectives about homelessness, which she called "pain points—whether you're a business or a school or anyone else impacted by homelessness. It's a problem for everybody. It's everybody's pain."

Asked how he will respond when business owners inevitably complain about homeless people sleeping in their doorways or defecating on sidewalks, Mizuno said, "Call me up. Let's work together. Let's get that person defecating in front of your business some help."

Mizuno would like to see kauhale aimed at different segments of the homeless population.

For people like his brother with mental health and substance abuse issues, Mizuno would surround them with case managers, social workers and health care support.

He also envisions kauhale for homeless military veterans to get them similar treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse while living with other vets who served, perhaps in a farm atmosphere so they could learn agricultural skills and produce sustainable food.

"It would be a great opportunity so they can be with their brothers and sisters in arms, " Mizuno said. "If you love our country, you have to love our veterans who put themselves in harm's way for us."

Mizuno, a devout Christian, particularly wants churches to be more involved and hopes to convene a statewide meeting of faith-based leaders to convince their congregations to take in a homeless family with children, a kupuna or even a kauhale.

They would not be asked to welcome any homeless people with histories of violence, mental illness or addiction, Mizuno said, but those who just lack the financial means to afford a place of their own.

"When you think of homelessness, you don't think of the husband-and-wife team who work who are living in their car, " Mizuno said.

Some churches in Hawaii have housed homeless people on their properties but not on the scale that Mizuno envisions to make a real dent in getting more people off the street.

He hopes homeless people on church property would be allowed inside to pray and get to know other worshippers.

"It's a Christian thing and a humanitarian thing to do, " Mizuno said. "For our Christian brothers and sisters out there, 'Love your neighbor as thyself.' Jesus would support it."

Former Mayor Kirk Caldwell found his own resistance from places of worship when he asked them to house homeless people on their properties, but hopes that Mizuno will have better success—both with religious organizations and overall in reducing homelessness.

They served together in the House, and Caldwell said, "Rep. Mizuno has the depth of experience and the knowledge to hit the ground running to face the challenges that not only face Oahu, but the entire state. He understands there's no one recipe by any mayor that address the issues of homelessness. ... He comes in with his eyes wide open and knows what the challenges are. It will require taking strong stances that won't be politically popular or popular in some communities."

From the perspective of taxpayers, Mizuno said his goal to get chronically homeless people off the street and into housing—especially those with mental health and substance abuse issues like his brother—crosses political and ideological lines.

"Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, " Mizuno said, "they don't want their tax dollars spent to pay millions of dollars every year on so-called frequent flyers who go to the emergency room because they're hungry or they need a shower. They can spend four or five days in a hospital if they just say they're suicidal."

When it comes to his brother, at least, Mizuno knows what he's talking about.