WAI'ANAE — Hundreds of volunteers fanned out across the Wai'anae Coast between Poka'i Bay and Kahe Beach Park yesterday morning in a prelude to major maintenance work this month at coastal beach parks.

More than a dozen volunteer teams of up to 50 workers each grabbed rakes, rubber gloves and trash bags in response to Hono-lulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann's call to join the cleanup effort.

"They're coming from all over — from Downtown, Mo'ili'ili and 'Aiea," said Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board Chairwoman Patty Teruya. "We hope that this is not just a one-time shot."

Beaches along the Wai'anae Coast have been in the news lately because of hundreds of homeless tent encampments that line public beach parks from Nanakuli to Makaha and beyond.

Hannemann said yesterday that no homeless people would be swept from beach parks until the state could provide some-place for them to go.

Among the volunteers at yesterday's Poka'i Bay cleanup was Alice Kaholo Greenwood, 60, a pure-blooded Hawaiian who became homeless three weeks ago for the first time in her life. Since then she has lived at Ma'ili Beach Park with her 5-year-old adopted son, Makali'i.

Greenwood, a disabled widow who had resided in a rented home on Hakimo Road for the past 30 years, lost her house recently after the owner was forced to sell.

"In all this chaos, I had no place else to go," said Greenwood. "I can't help it if prices are so ridiculous that we have no choice but to live on the beach."

On Thursday, Greenwood and several others living at Ma'ili Beach Park were cited for maintaining illegal campsites.

Greenwood's plight highlights the problem of what to do when escalating housing prices squeeze an increasing number of folks from their homes.

That's the difficulty facing Hannemann and Gov. Linda Lingle, who both have pledged to do something about the area's homeless problem.

"The fact that society can't take care of an elderly Hawaiian woman and her child — that's a crime," said resident Maralyn Kurshals, referring to Greenwood.

Doris Ornellas, who lives across the street from Poka'i Bay and is the local coordinator for the Poka'i Bay Beach Park Civilian Patrol, was among those who welcomed the mayor's efforts to clean up the beach park.

"We just want our beach back," said Ornellas, who said the people of Wai'anae lost the beach to drug addicts and criminal elements about a decade ago and have waged a losing battle ever since.

"I think we got 90 percent of it back today," she said.

"We're taking back our parks, so that our parks can be accessible to families, and families can come out and enjoy what is so beautiful about Wai'anae and they can feel safe," Honolulu City Councilman Nestor Garcia told the throng of more than 300 volunteers moments before he and former councilman John DeSoto joined a crew painting the Poka'i Bay restroom facility.

Hannemann told the volunteer groups — about half of which were made up of city and county employees — that the cleanup effort was the result of a large number of residents asking the city to do for Wai'anae what it had recently done for Ala Moana Beach Park — namely, close it down and move the homeless into a shelter.

"What we're doing out here in Wai'anae is a little different, because we reached out to you in the community and you have responded overwhelmingly," said the mayor.

"Look at the numbers that are here today. You have said, 'We want to be part of the solution, and not just part of the problem.' "

Hannemann said "great things" have started to happen in Wai'anae in the past week and a half. He pointed out the canoe halau that was dedicated at Poka'i Bay last weekend, a new fire truck that arrived in Wai'anae last week, and a new area transit center slated to open soon for riders of TheBus.

"And next week we're coming back out here at Ma'ili Beach Park ... working with you in the community to have our very popular Sunset on the Beach here."

Ma'ili Beach Park has one of the largest homeless encampments on the Wai'anae Coast.

Greenwood wasn't sure what to expect as the city headed into next weekend's festival, which attracts thousands of people.

She's heard that the police will sweep out the homeless by then.

"I've also been told that they won't," she said.

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.