Disabled homeless veteran still hoping to get off the streets for good
Outreach workers say they're still trying to find a facility willing and able to care for John Roberts Jr. He needs round-the-clock help because he can no longer take care of himself.
By Kristen Consillio
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CHINATOWN, Hawaii (KITV) — Outreach workers say they’re still trying to find a facility willing and able to care for John Roberts Jr. He needs round-the-clock help because he can no longer take care of himself.
“They said they all turned me down so they said we can’t find no place for you, you gotta go,” he said.
This is not the first time the 74-year-old has been discharged from the hospital back onto the streets.
“I mean he’s been out of so many hospitals that it’s crazy. It’s ridiculous how they just keep kicking him out and not giving him the help,” said Miri Gibson, a Chinatown store operator who’s been trying to help find permanent housing for Roberts.
Gibson said she’s watched Roberts slowly deteriorate and fall through the cracks.
“The system is bad and it’s failing us,” she said. “It is very inhumane. He’s somebody’s dad, grandpa.”
Roberts said he has multiple chronic conditions that have been steadily getting worse.
“Nobody cares,” he said. “They say they’re doing something, but they ain’t doing nothing.”
After calls by KITV to the state’s homeless coordinators, the city deployed today its Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement team, known as CORE, to once again take Roberts to the hospital.
But this time, they intend to connect him with the right services to break the cycle of homelessness.
Roberts is the first patient the CORE team — comprised of paramedics and social workers — will follow even after he’s discharged to make sure he doesn’t end up in the same place.
“These are human beings we’re talking about. We have to help them,” said Dr. Jim Ireland, who heads the CORE program. “We can’t turn our cheeks for our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate than us.”
The CORE team’s working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to get Roberts into a VA care home if he accepts the help and is willing to comply with the program.
“Our VA homeless team has been committed to helping all our homeless veterans to ensure they receive all the care and support services they need to end homelessness,” said Amy Rohlfs, VA spokeswoman. “One homeless veteran is just too many.”
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