Page 5 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - June 8, 2022

CORE Team Plays Key Role In Supporting Community Health
FROM PAGE 4
JUNE 8, 2022
HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK 5
out or is laying on the sidewalk, his- torically, the police were called. The police would come to the scene, but they don’t necessarily have the same degree of medical training as the peo- ple in the ambulance. We’re asking the police to deal with medical prob- lems using police training, and that doesn’t always work well.
doors for things like bus passes, health insurance and other means of paper- work-heavy support.
“So, we really needed to find a bet- ter way to take care of the chronical- ly homeless people, particularly with mental and substance abuse issues, that wasn’t pure police and pure EMS, so that’s where CORE has a role to play in addressing this.”
“There was a gentleman who was homeless for five years on River Street who was eligible for nurs- ing home care through the Veterans Administration; he was a veteran,” says Ireland. “The team helped him, through the VA, apply so that he would get those services that he was entitled to. He’s off the streets now. Sometimes it’s just going that extra mile, working collaboratively and
(Above) EMT Julianne Fajotina reviews charts in the CORE office in Chinatown.
(Left) CORE EMTs and staff work with an injured person.
ining up the stars.”
lW
(it’s stocked with everything from
Ireland emphasizes that CORE, which dons red shirts and sometimes blue jeans as a way to deem them- selves as more approachable, is in no way replacing EMS or police when it comes to extremities. Rather, they’re filling a gap for the nonviolent and nonfatal matters, becoming yet an- other tool in a collaborative effort to combat homelessness on O‘ahu.
hile it appears that CORE drives ambu- lances similar to EMS’s
dividuals who have called 911 over 100 times a year. So, spending that extra time with somebody like that will save a hundred 911 calls for the rest of the year because they get some type of definitive service.”
ing it one step at a time.
“The populations of the people
This summer, CORE’s team
will expand to 50 personnel (it’s currently hiring) and one day may open an opportunity for volunteers to lend a hand. Soon, it will also launch a website and social media platform so the community can not only stay up to date about what it’s accom- plishing but submit concerns they have about homeless people in their neighborhood. For now, residents can call 808-768-2673, which is CORE’s official hotline.
Besides the medical component, CORE serves as a liaison of sorts, by connecting the individual with a plethora of resources including hygiene centers, health clinics, psy- chiatric services (soon, they’ll have one on staff) and, of course, shelters and permanent housing. CORE also assists with obtaining identification, a task that seems minuscule but can be life-changing and open dozens of
“EMS go to the 911 call and transports people to the ER. Once that hand-off is done, we wish the patient well, clean up the ambu- lance and go to the next call,” ex- plains Ireland. “With CORE, we don’t want them to necessarily do that. We want to set that person up for success. That’s why we tell the CORE team, if you need to spend an hour or two with somebody — do it.
In these refurbished ambulances, CORE’s team has the ability to drive its staff and supplies all around the island, as well. It recently visited the Windward side, Wai‘anae and Dia- mond Head/Kaimukī, with upcoming plans to check out Pearl City/‘Aiea, Central O‘ahu and the North Shore, too.
“The biggest thing we want the public to know is that we’re just starting and nothing visual is going to happen overnight,” he adds. “But with the engagements CORE is making on the street, the people are beginning to trust our team members, and they’re taking our suggestions of getting them to a shelter, rehab or psychiatric care. We’ve gotten people into permanent housing.”
With military experience and medical school under his belt, Ire- land confesses that CORE is with- out a doubt the hardest challenge he’s ever taken on.
life-saving equipment to adult dia- pers), a notable disparity is that it can take its passengers to places other than an emergency room.
who are on the beach in Wai‘anae are different than the people you’ll find in the downtown or airport areas, so we need to tailor our response a little bittotheareaswegoinsowecan maximize our ability to help those we encounter.
“Some of the people that CORE is dealing with call 911 every day,” he adds. “We have a handful of in-
“We know no part of O‘ahu is spared as far as people being home- less in the communities,” says Ireland. “We want to really help the whole is- land, but since we’re new, we’re tak-
“It’s a process but we’re counting our victories, one person at a time.”
# hawaiianrealty.com • hawaiianrealty.com • hawaiianrealty.com • hawaiianrealty.com • hawaiianrealty.com • hawaiianrealty.com #
hawaiianrealty.com 800-667-5028 ext. 8122
Denise S. Nakanishi
RB-17031, ABR, CRS, GRI, SRS
“Major Mom is a Major Difference”
Time was a real estate office looked for “location, location, location”. None was more visible than the old Tracy Lewis office near the airport. Without fail, each year at tax sale time, a steady stream of hopeful bidders stopped by lookingforfreevalueadviceand,ofcourse,free maps. They always promised they’d be back to re-list any property they “won”. I didn’t hold my breath.Mostdidn’tknowtheareaandmostdidn’t
owner can redeem the property for up to a year. Simple, right? You bid, you win, you wait the year and do what you wish...NOT SO FAST!!! Before you bid, you should determine the state of title. This requires a CURRENT preliminary (prelim) titlereport.Astheproudnewowner,youcould be responsible for clearing any IRS or State tax liens, child support liens, mortgages, past due associationduesandinsomecasesdealingwith heirs/additionalowners(bewareof“exceptions”; this innocuous word could refer to hundreds of potential unknown heirs). The County requests a prelim on each property. This means you will need to determine which property you are bidding on in advance. But wait...there’s more. You should know that when it’s time for you to convey (sell) the property, it’s very difficult to get title insurance. Some title companies will not provide it at all and some want to wait 10 oreven20yearsbeforetheywillissueatitle policy.It’simpossibleforyourbuyertogetaloan
without title insurance. Even cash buyers want title insurance. Title companies generally want to be sure that the delinquent taxpayer received actual notice (not just notice in the paper) of the upcoming sale. An over-payment by a bidder and acashedcheckcouldsufficebutit’sreallyupto the title company. There is no requirement for any title company to issue a policy. Remember as well,thatthecountyallowsanyonetopaytaxes. Inotherwords,theactualtitleholdermaynotbe paying the taxes. Agreements of Sale are a bit moretricky.Withthose,thenote/mortgageholder retains actual title while the owner of record has equitable title. Again, it would be up to the title company to determine if the person who received service is sufficient. Without sufficient service, even heirs of a deceased owner could step in to re-assert ownership. And, by the way, you should probably look at the property...but that’s a story foranotherday.HappyBiddingandGoodLuck! Blogforwardatwww.hawaiianrealtyhomes.com
LOOKING FOR A “DEAL”...CAUTIONS ABOUT THE TAX AUCTION??
r
r
eallyasktherightquestions.Then
e
0 majormom@ilhawaii.net
a
as now, the newspaper publication
c
clearly stated that properties were
conveyed “AS IS AND WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTIES AS TO TITLE OR PHYSICAL CONDITION”. Even though it’s in bold letters bidders are so excited about getting “a deal” they
didn’t think past the auction. A tax deed is like a quit claim deed (you get whatever the County has)withthecaveatthatthepropertyhasa1year rightofredemption.Thismeanstheforeclosed
c
c
e
el
ll
l9
9
3
3
6
6-5
5
1
10
0
0
3 Acre Hawaiian Acres Lot
NEW LISTING
Nicely treed property close to Road 1, Zone A-3A
MLS #661749 $35,485
FIND MY COLUMN EVERY SUNDAY OF THE MONTH. Watch “HAWAII LIFE” on HGTV!
h h a a w wa i a i a i n i a r e n a r l e t y a . c l o t y m . c • o h m a w • a i h i a a n w r e a a i l i t a y . n c o r e m a l t y . c o m
OFFER ACCEPTED!
hawaiianrealty.com • hawaiianrealty.com