What’s going to be done about the homeless encampment at Alupang Island in Hagatna Bay that’s causing public safety concerns? And what’s being done to get the individuals living there the help they need? We sought those answers.
Parks and Rec’s Park Patrol are to lead enforcement efforts for the homeless encampment that’s taken over Alupang Island and Public Health is expected to provide outreach services, according to DPHSS director Therese Arriola. She says her department’s Division of Homelessness and Poverty Prevention only became aware of the encampment, which has been growing in the past month, through the media earlier this week.
"When Rob San Agustin heard the breaking of the news, first we need to determine jurisdiction– who had oversight of the island? In his research, we found it was the Department of Parks and Recs that has oversight of the island because its a tourist recreational area," Arriola said.
After discussion with Park Patrol, DHAPP discovered the individuals at the Alupang encampment relocated from a nearby encampment in Tamuning that was recently cleared out. She added, "We found out that these were unfortunately the homeless that were displaced when the vice mayor of Tamuning demolished an encampment across the Onward Hotel. So it seems to be the same folks."
She says DHAPP was not informed of the clean up, and was not there to provide outreach services. Arriola hopes to change that moving forward, saying, "The DHAPP team is going to find out what services they need and to really get them the services they need, whether its housing, SNAP, Medicaid, health– whatever we can do to link up services that they may need so that they can be housed if that’s their desire."
But Arriola says it will be dependent on who the individuals are and their history. "As you know, there are a lot of folks, who for example have been assisted by GHURA through their Section 8 voucher, but because of one thing or another of non-compliance, they were no longer in the program. So we just need to do some case management," Arriola said.
She adds the Guam Homeless Coalition members like Westcare, the Salvation Army's Family Services Center, Catholic Social Services and Manelu may be able to provide temporary housing assistance.
"When you clear an encampment and move the homeless away from your neighborhood, it just goes to another neighborhood," she explained. "That’s not the approach that we should take when it comes to helping our brothers and sisters who find themselves homeless and need help out in the elements. "
She says the “true compassionate” way to help those experiencing homelessness is to work with them, connect them to the resources they need, and get them access to a shelter.