Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 3, 1 March 2017 — Habitat helps Hawaiian homesteader [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Habitat helps Hawaiian homesteader

ByTreenaShapiro Beverly Gagnon has been spending her Saturdays at a construction site where she's helping build the first home she and her children will be able to eall their own. Right now, the 37-year-old and her three children live with Gagnon's parents in a two bedroom, 1.5 bathroom home in Kailua. It's beautiful, she says, just too small for six people. "My two little ones eomplain

because they have to share a room with me. They don't have their own beds. We all sleep on a California king," she shares. In another eouple months, however, all three kids will have their own beds - in their own rooms - in a brand new house walking distance from Blanche Pope Elementary. Their new residence will have four bedrooms, two full baths and a breezy porch with views both mauka and makai. Gagnon, a support specialist at Goodwill with a GED and some community college

coursework under her belt, onee thought homeownership was out of herreach. Her

5-year-old daughter's father had the lease to a Department of Hawaiian Home Lands lot in Waimānalo but the eouple couldn't afford to build a house on it. After he transferred his homestead lease to Gagnon, however, things began to change. DHHL required Gagnon to complete a homebuyer education program offered by Hawaiian Community Assets, an Office of Hawaiian Affairs grantee. There she learned more about Honolulu Habitat for Humanity. Although Habitat had helped her cousin build a house, until the HCA class, Gagnon didn't realize she might be eligible for a Habitat home of her own. Honolulu Habitat for Humanity wants to get the word out to people in similar situations to Gagnon's. The nonprofit's overarching vision is "A world where everyone has a decent plaee to live" but that's a particular challenge in Hawai'i, where land is at a premium. Elsewhere, the cost of the land ean be wrapped into the mortgage but "that would be astronomical pricing" here, says Rozie Breslin, Honolulu Habitat's Family Services Coordinator, explaining why applicants need to own land or hold land leases. "DHHL is probably who we work with the

most," says Breslin, who also teaches Hawaiian Community Assets' homebuyers' course. In December, they'll be building on five more Waimānalo homestead lots. DHHL also gave 10 'ohana $100,000 eaeh for home restoration and Honolulu Habitat

has been selected to help preserve five homes in Papakōlea. Altogether, Honolulu Habitat for

Humanity plans to build about a dozen homes in 2017, including the Gagnon's. Depending on their size, Habitat homes cost roughly $180,000

to $260,000, whieh ean be paid for with one of the nonprofit's 20-year, 0-percent interest loans. A $1,000 down payment is also required. Gagnon doesn't know the total cost of her own home yet, but says her cousin who worked with Habitat pays about $525 a month. "That's unbelievable," Gagnon points out. "Living in Hawai'i, you'd never be able to live in a home like that otherwise." The cost covers building materials, since the labor is done by volunteers. The adults moving into the new home are required to put in 275 hours of sweat equity, including 50 hours before eonstruction on their own home starts, and another 25 hours after they've moved in. It takes an average of nine months from groundbreaking until the house is blessed and the new owners receive theirkeys.

Gagnon picked out the model for her home last May and groundbreaking followed in July. "It was really very exciting," she said. For her kids, ages 5 to 17, it's been a long wait, but she knows they'll be "totally stoked" to move in this April.

Habitat offers a few basic home models to choose from, then the owners piek things like colors, flooring, cabinets, countertops, lighting and ceiling fans. "I was so thrilled," Gagnon says. Now she's eager to see the finished product, whieh will happen a little quicker thanks to a group of Habitat's Global Village volunteers who llew

over from South Carolina to spend a week working on Gagnon's home alongside loeal volunteers and Habitat staff. Seeing all these people eome out week after week to help build her family a home amazes Gagnon. "It's really touching because these people don't even know me. I'm so grateful that they eome out and give their time," she says. Gagnon recommends Hawaiian Community Assets and Honolulu Habitat for Humanity for those who have land to build on but can't afford a private contractor. After being in that boat herself, she wants others to realize there are altematives. "People like me ean afford something else," she says. Through grant funding from OHA, Hawaiian Community Assets has helped more than 770 'ohana statewide on their journey to securing stable housing. ■

RESOURCES > Honolulu Habitat for Humanity: www.honoluluhabitat.org > Leeward Habitat for Humanity: www.leewardhabitat.org > Hawaiian Community Assets: www.hawaiiancommunity.net. > Learn more about how the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is helping more Hawaiians become homeowners at www.oha.org/economic-self-sufficiency.

EC0N0MIC SELFSUFFIGIENGY

Beverly Gagnon, with her children, īemahana, 17, Tauhereiti, 5 and īoanua o te Atua, 7. - Photo: Courtesy of Honolulu Habitat for Humanity

Rozie Breslin (standing center) and her crew of volunteers pause for a photo while working on the Gagnon home in Waimānalo. - Photo: Francine Murray