#sovereign council of hawaiian homestead associations

Driven by a historic $600 million allocation and the 2023 wildfires, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is making a push to award over 2,600 leases statewide by the end of the year, including over 1,200 on Maui.

The Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations will hold a consultation session beginning at 6 p.m. today regarding successor eligibility for Hawaiian homestead property to beneficiary heirs, children and grandchildren. To join the mokupuni meeting via Zoom, click here. The question is whether eligibility of successors and heirs should be lowered from one quarter blood […]

The Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations (SCHHA) is partnering with the Association of Hawaiians for Homestead Lands (AHHL-Waitlist), both beneficiary organizations registered with the United States Department of Interior. These statewide homestead associations will work with the Hawaiʻi State Legislature in an effort to enact two administrative amendments to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920.

The nonprofit Homestead Community Development Corporation (HCDC) added eight housing units on Maui to its housing portfolio over the last six months. The rental units (located in Wailuku, Lahaina and Kīhei) are first dedicated to wildfire impacted families over the next three years; and then to permanently affordable rental units for Maui citizens.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has partnered with homestead nonprofit, Hawaiian Lending & Investments, to provide direct assistance to beneficiaries looking to construct, or purchase, a home on Hawaiian Home Lands.

Under a memorandum of agreement executed this month, Hawaiian Lending & Investments will administer Department of Hawaiian Home Lands matching down payment assistance grants of up to $5,000 to eligible DHHL beneficiaries toward the cost to build or purchase a home on Hawaiian Home Lands.  

The three-day convening is the first time since before COVID, homestead leaders will meet in person for their annual convention and election of coalition leaders.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs awarded the nonprofit Homestead Community Development Corporation $500,000 over two years for its Residential Employment Living Improvement program.

The program is dedicated to Native Hawaiian families that experienced transportation loss due to the Maui wildfires in August 2023. The program provides vehicle financing with deferred payments for 12 months and a one time grant of up to $5,000 to replace a vehicle lost in the fires.

The Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations (SCHHA) elected KipuKai Kualii, a waitlist native Hawaiian from Kauaʻi to chair the SCHHA Governing Council.  The council expressed aloha and gratitude to its departing chairperson of the last eight years, Robin Puanani Danner.

The Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations (SCHHA) hosts a regular, monthly Talk Story Zoom session with the Kalima Case lawyers tonight, Jan. 3, 2023, starting at 5 p.m.

The Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations Maui/Lānaʻi Mokupuni Council hosts a candidate forum at its monthly meeting this Thursday, July 14, 2022.

Hawaiian Lending and Investments, a nonprofit founded by the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, has joined the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development organization (CAPACD). 

At its last regular board meeting, the Association of Hawaiians for Homestead Lands added one board seat to represent the interests of Hawaiians on the waitlist for a land award but living on the US continent.  

“It’s the first time ever, that a loan prequalification has been issued to a farmer, since the Congress created HUD184a, something that our farmers and ranchers have been denied to even apply for, for more than 20 years,” said Robin Puanani Danner, chairwoman for the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations.

The Maui Centennial Puwalu (conference) at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 26 marks the 150th birthday of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole. The virtual event also salutes the centennial of the 1921 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.

Kauaʻi homesteader Robin Puanani Danner will be the featured presenter at the inaugural 2020 Centennial Puwalu, or conference on April 30.

Veteran homestead community organizer and Wailuku Councilwoman Tasha Kama will discuss housing at the puwalu, or conference, set for March 20 and 21 at Above The Wave.

Hawaiian homeland leaders were asked to identify two sites per island where they could build kauhale, or transitional group homes and affordable rentals.