The source for the writing of this history is primarily based on an interview with Utu in December 2003, and a follow up interview conducted in October 2009...a few weeks before the 5th annual "Walk the Talk" that spawned this blog. Now follows the attempt to qualify this post as a definitive presentation...telling the story of the history of H5
It will be an attempt to create a time-line of H5 growth especially including the conception and development of the "Evans Project," the "Next Step Shelter Project," the "Walk the Talk," and an event, still in the creation phase of unknown name yet, that will involve a gathering of motor cycle riders who will be riding in support of the H5 mission.
The 2004 interview story starts with explaining how I met Utu in December 2003. The writing done then is enclosed in a pink background. The 2009 interview was an attempt to fill in the rest of the blanks as more history was revealed and is the source of most of the rest of the story.
Initially, this post will be a work in progress as entries and updates will be constantly subject to correction. I expect the finalization of this history to be a long work requiring at the very least several weeks to accomplish.
1995...
1996...
1997...
1998...
1999...
2000...
2001...
2002...
2003...
2004...
Originally solicited as a writing assignment in late 2003 supposedly as content for an article to be published in "Street Beat" a locally published hard copy monthly newspaper that describes itself as "News for and by Hawaii's people without housing."
It will be an attempt to create a time-line of H5 growth especially including the conception and development of the "Evans Project," the "Next Step Shelter Project," the "Walk the Talk," and an event, still in the creation phase of unknown name yet, that will involve a gathering of motor cycle riders who will be riding in support of the H5 mission.
The 2004 interview story starts with explaining how I met Utu in December 2003. The writing done then is enclosed in a pink background. The 2009 interview was an attempt to fill in the rest of the blanks as more history was revealed and is the source of most of the rest of the story.
Initially, this post will be a work in progress as entries and updates will be constantly subject to correction. I expect the finalization of this history to be a long work requiring at the very least several weeks to accomplish.
-----*****-----
-----*****-----
1995...
The year(?) one of Utu's sons at either 4 or 5 years of age, at the time; saw the picture of a Sudanese child looking distraught with flies on his face(...detailed in the pink encased
"Feeding the Hungry" story shown in the 2004 entry...).
The picture implied the child was suffering and was used to urge the participation of church members by giving to the effort of the denomination to help the people of Sudan overcome their hardship.
"Feeding the Hungry" story shown in the 2004 entry...).
The picture implied the child was suffering and was used to urge the participation of church members by giving to the effort of the denomination to help the people of Sudan overcome their hardship.
1996...
Utu becomes convicted to return to a bus stop sleeper on Beretania Street...very late one night after a long hard day...to give up a blanket.
This was the seed that generated the creation of "H5", or "Hawai`i Helping the Hungry Have Hope" as the title for the local effort to spread the politically unpopular vision of understanding and advocacy for the homeless culture.
This was the seed that generated the creation of "H5", or "Hawai`i Helping the Hungry Have Hope" as the title for the local effort to spread the politically unpopular vision of understanding and advocacy for the homeless culture.
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Final paper work processed to recognize the non-profit status and foodbank account of H5.
Originally solicited as a writing assignment in late 2003 supposedly as content for an article to be published in "Street Beat" a locally published hard copy monthly newspaper that describes itself as "News for and by Hawaii's people without housing."
I was originally told it was going to be one of a series of articles by various writers featuring the efforts of local people reaching out to local people. The article remains in the rough form as submitted to the Street Beat Editor in 2004 even including notes by me to the editor.
While being told, "this is good," in regard to the submitted first draft, by the then editor/publisher of the paper; it was never published in any issue of the paper.
It spent the next 6 years discreetly published on my University of Hawai`i provided domain obtained during a brief student status there. The non-active student domain access was taken away in the past year or so. This article today now returns to ether access for the first time in about a year.
It spent the next 6 years discreetly published on my University of Hawai`i provided domain obtained during a brief student status there. The non-active student domain access was taken away in the past year or so. This article today now returns to ether access for the first time in about a year.
The article was so appreciated when first seen in 2004 by the webmaster of the First United Methodist Church of Honolulu's H5 page...
...that he linked to it for all these years later at it's UH domain, even now, though the url source no longer exists.
This interview of Siuea Utuloa Langi was conducted at First United Methodist Church of Honolulu on 16 December 2003.
Feeding the Hungry
One of the most ambitious outreaches to feed the homeless on O`ahu is the First United Methodist Church of Honolulu. Through a ministry entitled "H5," aka, "Hawai`i Helping the Hungry Have Hope"; they meet at 8 different times and locations...(**see listing of times and places elsewhere in this issue**)...on four days of each week to offer prepared meals to those who would approach. H5 was founded in 1997 by Siuea Utuloa Langi, known to all as "Utu", and he continues to direct this effort.
"The inspiration for the beginning of this ministry came as my two sons, age 4 and 5 then, saw a newspaper picture of a little boy appearing hungry. One asked me, 'Dad, what's wrong with that kid?'"
"I answered, 'Well, he's hungry.'"
"The picture was in profile with the young child looking off to the side. My son continued, 'Dad, who is he looking at?'"
"The question still stays with me to this day. Here I am, I have two sons. When they are hungry, they come look for me because it's time to eat. This boy in the picture, I don't know if he has anybody to look at when he is hungry. Obviously not, flies appear to be sitting on his face and around his eyes."
"The picture was of a boy in Sudan. Back in 1997 there was a famine going on in Sudan. We joined with other Methodist churches around the country collecting $1,300 from our congregation and sent it to UMCOR(United Methodist Committee On Relief) with a note that this was to be used to send food to Sudan. UMCOR is like the big 'Red Cross' of the Methodist Church."
"That's how we started. The idea of 'H5' as the title came from seeing the new, back then, H-3 connecting the south shore to the east shore of O`ahu. Like H-3, H5's mission is to create a bridge. One from those with an ability to give, to those in need."
"Our mission is to meet a physical need with the hope that we can then reach them at their spiritual need. You notice we don't preach to them at these outreaches, but we continue the work and reach out as lead by the spirit."
"The initial outreach to Sudan set the stage to continue with a local focus." The sobering experience of becoming aware of and then reaching out to the need in Sudan caused me to begin to look closer to home."
"One night, very late, sometime after this first outreach; I was coming home from work and was about to pass the Foodland on Beretania. The traffic light right there by that cross walk and bus stop turned red. I was all by myself, in the middle of the night, in my pick-up truck. I looked over to the bus stop benches and there was a guy laying there, with his knees up to his chin, trying to sleep on the bench."
"In the back of my pick-up I had a blanket I used to cover my tools with. I continued on my way to the freeway on-ramp by Pi`ikoi St. troubled by the fact that here I was confronting an opportunity to reach out and meet a physical need, do the 'Jesus' thing, but eager to get home to Makakilo from a long, hard work shift. I debated till I got to Kinau St. still heading toward the freeway to get home before I realized that I got to go do this 'thing'. I turned around, drove back to that bus stop, got out of the truck with that blanket and walked up to the guy. I kind of tapped him on the feet and said, 'Do you need a blanket?'"
"He didn't say anything but the way that he looked at me was all that I needed to see. I left him covered by the blanket and cried all the way back home. The next Sunday, I find my way back up to the front of the church asking the congregation for blankets. I got 22 that first time. So now I'm wandering around with just blankets only to find out, some of these receiving blankets are asking for food. They've been going to bed cold AND hungry. We learn as we go. So we began making food. That's how we've been doing it the past 6 years. We had soup and stuff and blankets and towards the end of the year we go cruising around to find people to give to and tell them the Lord loves them."
"Only this past year has there been an explosion in the numbers of homeless that we've been feeding."
--**Recent media reports have addressed the current explosive growth in homelessness. Since 1999, according to some government agency observations, homelessness in Hawai`i has appeared to have doubled . This rate of growth has been evident on all the islands, the largest raw numbers, of course, here on O`ahu. I can dig up and cite the dates of Honolulu Advertiser stories**--
Utu's experience confirms this observation of explosive growth amongst the culture of the homeless.
"Waikiki is our biggest outreach but all our locations show huge increases in numbers, especially at the end of the month just before many receive allotments that come at the beginning of each month. Early in the month maybe 50 or 60 will show up for a meal that we will serve but that will increase to over 200 at our servings the last week of the month."
When asked about the source for the food H5 uses for these meals, he says that the church has a food bank that is supplied both by parishoners and from the Hawai`i Food bank. "Our food bank is open 5 days a week, some days from 2-4pm, others from 9am to Noon or so."
He also says that First United Methodist has a very limited ability to provide temporary housing for some.
"If it were up to me, I would open up this church for people to come and sleep in but we don't have the resources. My ultimate goal is to get a place that I can open up to people and people can come in and get out of the rain, especially this time of the year, and get something to eat. If you show up at 12 o'clock and you are hungry, we'll be able to say 'hey, here is some food for you,' not like some places that open up at some time and shut down at some time. I understand the logic that people have to sleep. But, you know, hunger doesn't sleep, itself. So I'm looking at that and that's what I want to do. If ever one day the Lord provide me, I would have a place to do that, and a place for them to come and wash their clothes,...a place to take a shower."
The recent change in policy for the Central YMCA to double their one-day membership fees to $20 has been seen by some to be a direct attack on the homeless who would be willing to pay the $10 just for the privilege of having a warm shower and a place to change clothes. Utu agreed that "it's a shame" that a supposed christian organization would have this attitude. "Right now we don't have the ability to provide showers to those who would have this need."
Speaking of other outreach they are involved in, "Right now we have a daily devotional at 8am where we have at least 10-12, sometimes as few as 4, who are without housing who meet week days."
First United Methodist is not alone in their effort. They have enjoyed collaboration with Pastor Paul Kamanu who is leading the service that follows with one of the meals H5 provides food for each week. Another group that has been involved is Waipahu Assembly of God. "One of the guys who provided our food for several months is a muslim." But the need is great, there is room for others and other groups to become involved.
If you want to join Mr. Langi's effort, call First United Methodist Church of Honolulu at 522.9565 and leave a message for Utu.
When asked if he was ever homeless, Utu tells where his awareness came from.
"I was a troubled kid when I was 13. I left Tonga when I was 19. I was homeless most of the time from 13 to 19. Some of the kids that I befriended in Tonga were poor kids you know, they come form the neighboring islands so I used to bring them home and feed them whatever we had because I view myself and my home as having more than these kids and of course we did. My Mom and Dad didn't really like that. In a way, I was very rebellious, so I spent most of the time sleeping in abandoned buildings and fields with these kids and we kinda goofed off this way. "
Utu moved to the United States from Tonga in 1988 and lived in San Francisco for 2 years. He both married Samiana and moved to Hawai`i in 1990. She was born in Tonga, raised in Fiji and Hawai`i. They have two sons, Maika and Siuea, and a daughter Teresa.
He's been a member of First United Methodist Church of Honolulu since 1992.
"The inspiration for the beginning of this ministry came as my two sons, age 4 and 5 then, saw a newspaper picture of a little boy appearing hungry. One asked me, 'Dad, what's wrong with that kid?'"
"I answered, 'Well, he's hungry.'"
"The picture was in profile with the young child looking off to the side. My son continued, 'Dad, who is he looking at?'"
"The question still stays with me to this day. Here I am, I have two sons. When they are hungry, they come look for me because it's time to eat. This boy in the picture, I don't know if he has anybody to look at when he is hungry. Obviously not, flies appear to be sitting on his face and around his eyes."
"The picture was of a boy in Sudan. Back in 1997 there was a famine going on in Sudan. We joined with other Methodist churches around the country collecting $1,300 from our congregation and sent it to UMCOR(United Methodist Committee On Relief) with a note that this was to be used to send food to Sudan. UMCOR is like the big 'Red Cross' of the Methodist Church."
"That's how we started. The idea of 'H5' as the title came from seeing the new, back then, H-3 connecting the south shore to the east shore of O`ahu. Like H-3, H5's mission is to create a bridge. One from those with an ability to give, to those in need."
"Our mission is to meet a physical need with the hope that we can then reach them at their spiritual need. You notice we don't preach to them at these outreaches, but we continue the work and reach out as lead by the spirit."
"The initial outreach to Sudan set the stage to continue with a local focus." The sobering experience of becoming aware of and then reaching out to the need in Sudan caused me to begin to look closer to home."
"One night, very late, sometime after this first outreach; I was coming home from work and was about to pass the Foodland on Beretania. The traffic light right there by that cross walk and bus stop turned red. I was all by myself, in the middle of the night, in my pick-up truck. I looked over to the bus stop benches and there was a guy laying there, with his knees up to his chin, trying to sleep on the bench."
"In the back of my pick-up I had a blanket I used to cover my tools with. I continued on my way to the freeway on-ramp by Pi`ikoi St. troubled by the fact that here I was confronting an opportunity to reach out and meet a physical need, do the 'Jesus' thing, but eager to get home to Makakilo from a long, hard work shift. I debated till I got to Kinau St. still heading toward the freeway to get home before I realized that I got to go do this 'thing'. I turned around, drove back to that bus stop, got out of the truck with that blanket and walked up to the guy. I kind of tapped him on the feet and said, 'Do you need a blanket?'"
"He didn't say anything but the way that he looked at me was all that I needed to see. I left him covered by the blanket and cried all the way back home. The next Sunday, I find my way back up to the front of the church asking the congregation for blankets. I got 22 that first time. So now I'm wandering around with just blankets only to find out, some of these receiving blankets are asking for food. They've been going to bed cold AND hungry. We learn as we go. So we began making food. That's how we've been doing it the past 6 years. We had soup and stuff and blankets and towards the end of the year we go cruising around to find people to give to and tell them the Lord loves them."
"Only this past year has there been an explosion in the numbers of homeless that we've been feeding."
Utu's experience confirms this observation of explosive growth amongst the culture of the homeless.
"Waikiki is our biggest outreach but all our locations show huge increases in numbers, especially at the end of the month just before many receive allotments that come at the beginning of each month. Early in the month maybe 50 or 60 will show up for a meal that we will serve but that will increase to over 200 at our servings the last week of the month."
When asked about the source for the food H5 uses for these meals, he says that the church has a food bank that is supplied both by parishoners and from the Hawai`i Food bank. "Our food bank is open 5 days a week, some days from 2-4pm, others from 9am to Noon or so."
He also says that First United Methodist has a very limited ability to provide temporary housing for some.
"If it were up to me, I would open up this church for people to come and sleep in but we don't have the resources. My ultimate goal is to get a place that I can open up to people and people can come in and get out of the rain, especially this time of the year, and get something to eat. If you show up at 12 o'clock and you are hungry, we'll be able to say 'hey, here is some food for you,' not like some places that open up at some time and shut down at some time. I understand the logic that people have to sleep. But, you know, hunger doesn't sleep, itself. So I'm looking at that and that's what I want to do. If ever one day the Lord provide me, I would have a place to do that, and a place for them to come and wash their clothes,...a place to take a shower."
The recent change in policy for the Central YMCA to double their one-day membership fees to $20 has been seen by some to be a direct attack on the homeless who would be willing to pay the $10 just for the privilege of having a warm shower and a place to change clothes. Utu agreed that "it's a shame" that a supposed christian organization would have this attitude. "Right now we don't have the ability to provide showers to those who would have this need."
Speaking of other outreach they are involved in, "Right now we have a daily devotional at 8am where we have at least 10-12, sometimes as few as 4, who are without housing who meet week days."
First United Methodist is not alone in their effort. They have enjoyed collaboration with Pastor Paul Kamanu who is leading the service that follows with one of the meals H5 provides food for each week. Another group that has been involved is Waipahu Assembly of God. "One of the guys who provided our food for several months is a muslim." But the need is great, there is room for others and other groups to become involved.
If you want to join Mr. Langi's effort, call First United Methodist Church of Honolulu at 522.9565 and leave a message for Utu.
When asked if he was ever homeless, Utu tells where his awareness came from.
"I was a troubled kid when I was 13. I left Tonga when I was 19. I was homeless most of the time from 13 to 19. Some of the kids that I befriended in Tonga were poor kids you know, they come form the neighboring islands so I used to bring them home and feed them whatever we had because I view myself and my home as having more than these kids and of course we did. My Mom and Dad didn't really like that. In a way, I was very rebellious, so I spent most of the time sleeping in abandoned buildings and fields with these kids and we kinda goofed off this way. "
Utu moved to the United States from Tonga in 1988 and lived in San Francisco for 2 years. He both married Samiana and moved to Hawai`i in 1990. She was born in Tonga, raised in Fiji and Hawai`i. They have two sons, Maika and Siuea, and a daughter Teresa.
He's been a member of First United Methodist Church of Honolulu since 1992.
2005...
2006...
...2nd annual "Walk the Talk"
...1st "Walk the Talk"
2006...
...2nd annual "Walk the Talk"
In a blatant attempt to harass the homeless but pathetic failure to address the problem of homelessness, the then Mayor of Honolulu, Mufi Hannemann, has Utu and 3 others arrested for attempting to use their US Constitution granted rights to publicly protest this injustice.
The resultant ACLU law suit against the City and County of Honolulu and "un-named individuals" did justify the rights of the protesters violated by Honolulu C&C government action but fell way short in the penalty amount assessed to be paid to these violated citizens.
Governor Linda Lingle, on the other hand, has to this day been the only leader in any government move at any level to address the problem and not continue to harass those who suffer because of the problem of homelessness. She approached the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, talked them into providing access to their property in the makai area of Kaka`ako....and knowing the background of Utu and his efforts through H5 in the decade of it's existence on O`ahu....hired him to be it's Executive Director....and for him to even name it. Thus the genesis of the "Next Step Shelter Project."
As a result of the ongoing success of the "Next Step Shelter Project," the die was cast for the creation of 5 other shelters on this island....all continuing to make some inroad into the explosion of homelessness on the island.
The resultant ACLU law suit against the City and County of Honolulu and "un-named individuals" did justify the rights of the protesters violated by Honolulu C&C government action but fell way short in the penalty amount assessed to be paid to these violated citizens.
Governor Linda Lingle, on the other hand, has to this day been the only leader in any government move at any level to address the problem and not continue to harass those who suffer because of the problem of homelessness. She approached the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, talked them into providing access to their property in the makai area of Kaka`ako....and knowing the background of Utu and his efforts through H5 in the decade of it's existence on O`ahu....hired him to be it's Executive Director....and for him to even name it. Thus the genesis of the "Next Step Shelter Project."
As a result of the ongoing success of the "Next Step Shelter Project," the die was cast for the creation of 5 other shelters on this island....all continuing to make some inroad into the explosion of homelessness on the island.
...3th annual "Walk the Talk"
2008...
...4th annual "Walk the Talk"
2009...
...5th annual "Walk the Talk"
2010...
...6th annual "Walk the Talk"
2011...
...7th annual "Walk the Talk"
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