Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 5, 1 April 2008 — OHA grants support financial literacy [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA grants support financial literacy

Teens, adults will reap benefits By Lisa Asatū Public lnfurmatiūn Specialist April is Financial Literacy Month, and thanks to two grants from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a Native Hawaiian nonprofit organization is reviving its culture-based hnaneial literacy program for homebuyers - and will expand into offering a similar program for teens in the fall. Hawaiian Coimnunity Assets' Kahua Waiwai program ties finaneial know-how to Native Hawaiian resource management, taking the philosophy of "take what you need and save everything else for tomorrow," said Blossom Feitera, a founder of the nonprofit. "It's just a question of . . . looking at money as a resource - if managed correctly, it ean do wonderful things for you," she added. An effective comparison is how famihes sacrifice to save for

their baby's first lū'au as soon as babies are born, she said. "It's not an issue because we know it's going to benefit the baby in the future." An eight-month $23,000 grant from OHA's Heahh, Human

Services and Housing Hale is helping the nonprofit to revive Kahua Waiwai, initiated in 2000 and latei shelved due to funding and othei constraints. Kahua Waiwai translates to "Foundation for Weahh."

Hawaiian Conununity Assets, whose mission is to increase homeownership for low- and moderateineome families with a focus on the Native Hawaiian community, is also developing a hnaneial education program for teens age 14 to 18 whh the help of a $32,000 yearlong grant from OHA's Education Hale. That curriculum will also be culture-based and will include topics ranging from making a savings plan to career training and learning how to write checks, said Ieff Gilbreath, HCA's youth programs coordinator. HCA also serves as a non-

profit mortgage broker through its Hawai'i Conununity Lending ann, whieh specializes in loans for homesteads through the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. HCA is a main service provider of the Home Ownership Assistance Program, or HOAP, whieh is funded by DHHL and OHA. Hawaiian Community Assets helps Native Hawaiian achieve eeonomie self-sufficiency through homeownership by providing free homebuyer courses, one-on-one counseling in credit repair, debt reduction, budgeting, mortgage qualification and more. □

HO'ONA'AUAO • EDUCATION

Seated at left, Denise Kūūū, Howoiion Community Assets homebuyer educotion trainer, with workshop participants in Hilo. - Photo: Courtesy of Hawaiian Community Assets