Saipan’s homeless situation not as dire as Guam’s but still exists
BY MARK RABAGO Saipan Correspondent
GARAPAN, Saipan — Saipan doesn’t have the same homeless problem as neighboring Guam, but to say the island doesn’t have an unhoused issue isn’t true.
Take the case of Milan Frank Fargo. The 72-year-old former citizen of the Soviet Union flew to Saipan more than 12 years ago, but saw himself homeless in 2016 and 2017, from 2019 to 2023, and from October to the present.
Milan Frank Fargo has been homeless several times. Photos by Mark Rabago
“I flew here to save my science and my life. Here, in dear-to-my-heart islands, I keep developing my mini microeconomics science, its byproduct business accuracy business and its tools. So, the CNMI is the cradle to them because here in the middle of the ocean, my findings took their today's improvement. Our CNMI has a very good chance to grow [as] the world — widely recognized hub for educational and intellectual entertainment, business, and accuracy business.”
During his periods of having no roof above his head, Fargo said he has been helped by the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. and the Commonwealth COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program for 12 months and 14 months, respectively.
He currently largely depends on the Nutrition Assistance Program to stay nourished and the ocean to keep himself presentable. “I ask for food stamp in small denominations. The sea is near for keeping clean.”
The former Aging Center Title 5 trainee said of homelessness, “[It is] very tiring, hard, and dangerous. Basically, [every day] moving from one place to another. Day is not day and night is not night—all the times [I] feel like a sleepy fly.”
He said he picked up some tricks of the trade to survive his homeless situation. “A very few friends and goodwill sometimes shoulder me. Also, the Commonwealth Health Center emergency service responds. “It is my well-kept secret to stay away from night-time’s elevated harms, hazards, etc.”
Fargo also said while government agencies have helped him, he would’ve wanted more assistance in his homeless situation. “The Northern Marianas Housing Corp. does not honor the local and federal statuses I have earned. There were times the NMHC and the CCERA office would help, but never to its full extension,” he said.
The Northern Marianas Housing Corp. is a member of the CNMI Housing Coalition. He currently lives on the streets of Gualo Rai, Garapan, and Susupe.
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios acknowledged the islands’ homeless problem during the Jan. 16Marianas Business Network event.
“Homeless issues are impacting businesses, yes. Absolutely. I personally go down to the poor areas sometimes. I go there to see what our agencies are doing. It's obviously a bigger problem than just taking them off the area. There are other underlying issues that we need to take a look at. Public health, mental health ... all these things have to come together. … What can our NMHC do? What can other non-profits do? What is the requirement? What are the required resources that we need to inject? Or are there other underlying issues that need to be addressed?”
NMHC corporate director Zenie Mafnas, corporate director of the NMHC; said, based on the waiting list, there are currently more than 400 homeless individuals on Saipan — more than 200 in the Emergency Solutions Grant Program and more than 200 in the Section 8 Program.
“The local government continues to support our work by approving the standard House joint resolutions which allows the CNMI, through the NMHC, to continue the application of block grants, one of which is the Emergency Solutions Grant Program which assists families who are literally homeless or at risk of homelessness. NMHC is 100% federally funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,” she said.
Some of the programs NMHC administers to help the homeless are the Section 8 Program and the Emergency Solutions Grant Program, Housing Choice Voucher Program, Multifamily Program, and the Emergency Housing Choice Voucher Program. The 400-plus homeless on the waiting list isn’t the true picture of Saipan’s unhoused situation, Mafnas said.
This is because the CNMI Homeless Coalition has been inactive for years.
The coalition includes the NMHC, Division of Youth Services, Micronesian Legal Services, Karidat Social Services, Department of Public Safety, Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., among others.
In 2020 when the coalition was still active, it conducted the Point in Time Homeless Count, resulting in 1,207 homeless individuals on Saipan.
Of that number, 631 were male and 576 were female, while by ethnicity an overwhelming majority identify as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (758), followed by Asian (438), while those who classified themselves as white and of multiple races numbered seven and four, respectively.
“This number is total combined substandard and homeless. I just don't want to make a mis-statement saying we have 1,000 individuals that are homeless. It's combined with substandard living such as, they're living in a tin home. Of course, tin houses are considered substandard only because of the kitchen facilities, restroom facilities, and whatever it is that would make the home standard,” said CNMI Homeless Coalition planner Jacob Muna.
He said the majority of the more than 1,200 individuals in the Point in Time Homeless Count in 2020 were caused by super typhoons Soudelor and Yutu, which were relatively recent at that time.
That’s why he’s has some optimism that when the CNMI Homeless Coalition reconvenes and conduct its next Point in Time Homeless Count — perhaps between March and May this year— the island’s homeless count will decrease.
The Salvation Army’s Saipan Corps and other non-profit organizations also help homeless individuals in the NMI. mbj
