Homestead Leaders Applaud OHA for Housing Program Investment

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs awarded a 2-year grant of $484,114 to the nonprofit, Homestead Community Development Corporation also known as the Homestead Housing Authority. HCDC provides economic development and housing services, including financial literacy, foreclosure prevention, mercantile business training and tiny home technical assistance.

HCDC was founded by the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations in 2009 as a dedicated tax exempt nonprofit focused on affordable housing and job creation on or near Hawaiian Homelands as defined by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920.

“We applaud and mahalo OHA for this important investment of our trust funds in the abilities and expertise of the SCHHA and HCDC,” said Kammy Purdy, SCHHA Vice Chair. “These are subject areas that our homestead leaders and our staff are experts in. The entire SCHHA Executive Council appreciates this partnership with OHA to serve homesteads.”

The 2-year grant funding will distribute $200,000, nearly half of the total grant award, directly to families through match savings accounts to help with first and last month rent deposits, or to build additional dwelling units on their homestead residential or farm lots.

“This OHA investment will also support a much needed service to help families avoid foreclosure and lease cancellation,” said Robin Puanani Danner, SCHHA Chairman and HCDC CEO. “Sharing information with the thousands of family members living in our homestead areas, on their rights and responsibilities under the HHCA, in conjunction with family budgeting and business acumen is key to successful homesteading.”

SCHHA leaders founded HCDC 10 years ago to be 100% governed by SCHHA members, to serve the growth and well-being of families on the homesteads, and to implement solutions developed by SCHHA policy leaders around housing and economic well-being.

“Most people don’t realize that roughly 70% of the residents on homesteads are less than the 50% blood quantum required under the HHCA to obtain a homestead award,” Danner commented. “These thousands of Native Hawaiians are family members of the 10,000 lessees that are eligible for a homestead award of land. We know that success for homesteaders includes the success of entire families in better understanding the Act itself, so our housing services have a deep component teaching the brilliance and simplicity of the HHCA.”

HCDC will report its impact numbers to OHA as it does to the SCHHA and other funders for its programs. In addition to building affordable housing and building economic development projects, HCDC will add a direct loan fund to serve homestead farmers and ranchers, as well as transportation loans to help beneficiary families get to jobs or to work in micro enterprise businesses.

OHA Board of Trustees Approves $6 Million for Community Grants

OHA’s Community Grants Program is the agency’s major grants program. Community Grants Program awards are approved every two years, and the program offers larger, multi-year grant awards that require a minimum of 20 percent matching funds.

24 Awards to 24 Nonprofits Over the Fiscal Biennium 2020-2021 – Totaling $6,000,000.

• 14 or 58% are Governed by and Serving Native Hawaiians – $3,462,217 or 58%
• 2 or 9% are Governed by and Serving native Hawaiian homesteads – $564,114 or 9%
• 8 or 33% are Governed by and Serving the General Public – $1,972,669 or 33%
• Housing – $1,000,000 (2)

Hawaiian Community Assets, $515,886 (NH)

The purpose of this project is to establish the Hawaiʻi Affordable Housing Fund, which will serve Native Hawaiians with financial counseling, individual development accounts, and loans to rent or own homes, and provide Native Hawaiian communities/nonprofits with technical assistance and loans to build or preserve 1,500 units of affordable housing by 2026.

Homestead Community Development Corporation, $484,114

The purpose of the Native Hawaiian Housing Stability Project is to support the delivery of the HCDC Financial Literacy Program and Micro Enterprise Assistance Program on homesteads to assist Native Hawaiians to achieve homeownership or rental housing through knowledge and training necessary for housing stability.

Income – $1,000,000 (2)

Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture, $699,855 (NN)

The purpose of this project is to provide vocational development training and support to Native Hawaiian families in West Oʻahu through a small incubator and post-secondary supports for teacher preparation to strengthen the economic self-sufficiency of families and the economic base of the community.

Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, $300,145 (NH)

The Native Hawaiian Trades Academy is a middle-skill career institute for Native Hawaiians with low to moderate income. This program would provide successful participants with starting wages that are more than the single adult Household Survival Budget and that can exceed the statewide median family income of $79,187 within five years.

Health (Substance Abuse) – $500,000 (3)

Salvation Army-Family Treatment Services, $278,212 (NN)

The project aims to improve the health of Native Hawaiian women recovering from substance use disorders by integrating cultural practices into the treatment curriculum and by providing substance abuse treatment, education, relapse prevention, and skills to live a healthy lifestyle in response to cessation of tobacco, methamphetamine and other drugs.

ALU LIKE, Inc., $102,554 (NH)

The purpose of this project is to reduce the rate of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use among Native Hawaiians through prevention services that include education, outreach and advocacy to youth ages 9 through 20 and their families on Molokaʻi to proactively prevent substance use.

Mālama Nā Mākua A Keiki, Inc., $119,234 (NN)

The purpose of this project is to support Maui’s Native Hawaiian community by providing a combination of comprehensive women-specific substance abuse treatment services with activities that strengthen mother-child bonding and increase attentive parenting practices to improve and strengthen the entire family’s well-being.

Health (Kūpuna Care) – $500,000 (2)

Ma Ka Hana Ka ‘Ike, $202,000 (NH)

The purpose of this project is to provide youth-led services, including home modifications, produce and poi deliveries, and meaningful engagement in community-based activities to Hāna’s kūpuna and their caregivers to meet their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, while ultimately elevating their health, well-being and longevity.

I Ola Lāhui, Inc., $298,000 (NH)

I Ola Lāhui in collaboration with Lunalilo Home will provide behavioral health and cultural nutrition supports to Native Hawaiian kūpuna and caregivers in Honolulu and Waimānalo to improve their health conditions and well-being, enhance day-to-day living, and increase opportunities for cultural and physical activities and social interaction.

Education – $1,000,000 (4)

Educational Services Hawaiʻi Foundation, $160,868 (NN)

This project utilizes culture-based pedagogy to provide comprehensive differentiated instruction along with a variety of educationally-enriching activities, designed to increase the number of Native Hawaiian students in foster, kith and kinship care, to meet and exceed reading and math standards to achieve yearly grade promotion and graduation.

Kaʻala Farms, Inc, $526,568 (NH)

The purpose of this project is to provide culturally-relevant learning experiences for Nānākuli Intermediate and High School students to increase academic and social growth. Students will engage in authentic projects that are connected to their community and to their own lives, and support their kuleana of community stewardship.

Molokaʻi Community Service Council, $108,824 (NN)

Hoʻomana Hou School’s purpose is to graduate students who can think critically, who actively support their community, and who are academically, environmentally, ethically and culturally competent. The school’s philosophy is that students learn best from hands-on instruction that is place-based and grounded in culture.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui, Inc., $203,740 (NN)

The purpose of this project, Power Hour – Papa Hana Haʻawina, is to provide homework assistance to all members of Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui, including Native Hawaiian members who attend Hawaiian language immersion schools, to improve their grades in school and in standardized testing.

Culture – $1,000,000 (6)

Waimānalo Health Center, $141,936 (NN)

The Waimānalo Health Center is proposing to expand its cultural healing program to increase the number of patients and community members who practice lomilomi (traditional massage) and lāʻau lapaʻau (traditional medicine) by providing individualized instruction through its primary care setting and cultural healing classes to the community.

Ulu Aʻe Learning Center, $291,982 (NH)

The Ulu Aʻe Project is an afterschool/intersession program that will provide cultural, place-based learning to at least 361 Native Hawaiian keiki in schools within ʻEwa. In these sessions, learners receive lessons in cultural practices, such as hana hei (string figures), oli, hula, ulana lauhala (weaving), kuku kapa (kapa making), kālai ohe (bamboo carving), kanu (planting), kuʻi kalo (poi pounding), kui lei (lei making), moʻolelo (traditional stories), kākāʻōlelo (oration), haku mele (poetry), paʻani makahiki (makahiki games)and more.

Hui Mālama O Ke Kai Foundation, $78,340 (NH)

The Papahana Kālai Papa Me Pōhaku Kuʻi ʻAi project is a workshop series that teaches participants to carve their own board and stone for pounding poi. Through the series at least 50 Native Hawaiians will create their own board and stone, connect with their culture, learn traditional skills, and strengthen the bonds between ʻohana and community.
KUPA Friends of Hoʻokena Beach Park, $99,920 (NH)
The purpose of this project is to perpetuate Hawaiian cultural practice of ʻōpelu (mackerel scad) fishing as handed down to fishers in Hoʻokena and South Kona. The project will build on current OHA support to revitalize seasonal closures, train a new generation ofʻōpelu fishers and increase demand for traditionally-harvested ʻōpelu so these cultural practices continue.

Hui Mālama Ola Nā ʻŌiwi, $307,822 (NH)

The purpose of Hui Mālama Ola Nā ʻŌiwi is to uplift the health of the Hawaiian nation. Hui Mālama’s indigenous knowledge programming aims to create a deeper understanding and practice of cultural methods by Native Hawaiians for their health and wellness via ho‘oponopono, lā‘au lapa‘au, lomilomi, and healthy hāpai (pregnancy).

Puʻuhonua Society, $80,000 (NH)

The purpose of the Keanahala: A Place for Hala project is to perpetuate the Native Hawaiian practice of ulana lauhala (weaving) and help bring Hawaiian lauhala mats back to the home. Keanahala honors the process from ‘āina to moena (bedding), including harvesting, proper preparation of the leaves, weaving, and repairing moena. The project brings community together to weave, share stories and heal.

Land – $1,000,000 (5)

Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili, $120,480 (NH)

The purpose of the Hoʻonohopapa Koholālele Project is to engage Native Hawaiian stewards of the ahupuaʻa of Koholālele in ʻāina restoration, Native Hawaiian research, and cultural regeneration to cultivate abundance, renew ancestral responsibilities, and empower ‘ohana with the capacity to live and thrive in Hāmākua for generations.

Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi, $358,320 (NH)

The purpose of this project is to restore and effectively manage ecologically- and geographically- linked kīpuka within Heʻeia uli, increasing the capacity and resilience of ecological and food- producing systems in our ahupuaʻa for the benefit of Hawaiians and other community members on Oʻahu.

The Kohala Center, Inc, $260,000 (NN)

This project will re-establish native forest and stabilize two riparian restoration corridors in the ahupua‘a of Kawaihae. Our watershed restoration efforts with DHHL’s Kailapa Community will increase access to fresh water, provide habitat for native flora and fauna species and build Native Hawaiian stewardship capacity as aloha ‘āina practitioners.

Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation, $180,200 (NH)

The purpose of this project is to mālama the waters of Keaukaha surrounding the only remaining loko iʻa kuapā (fishpond) on the east side of Hawaiʻi Island through community engagement, education, research, social media and community events. This is a collaboration between Haleolono fishpond and Kaiaulu Hanakahi to mālama its coastal areas and to revive and sustain the local ecosystem.

Ahupuaʻa O Molokaʻi, $81,000 (nH)

The purpose of this project is to provide direct support and education to Native Hawaiians of Molokaʻi to grow significant native crops (of both land and sea) to further economic sustainability, while requiring ahupuaʻa stewardship through restoration efforts and service learning.