Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 12, 1 December 2012 — OHA plays key role in expanding housing opportunities to Hawaiians [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA plays key role in expanding housing opportunities to Hawaiians

By Harold Nedd As the Office of Hawaiian Affairs turns its attention to creating more homeownership opportunities, self-help housing - where families spend time building their homes themselves with the help of volunteers - is gaining new prominenee in a section of North Kona.

It is a trend emerging in the Villages at La'i 'Ōpua, where an increasing number of low-ineome Hawaiian families are embracing self-help housing as an affordable way to heeome homeowners. Just ask Aloha Kekauoha, a 59-year-old hotel receptionist who was recently handed the keys to one of five homes built in 10 days by hundreds of Habitat for Humanity West Hawai'i volunteers, who were driven by an opportunity to help improve a family's stability as well as find deeper meaning for their lives. "I have a lifetime of friends from this blitz build," said Kekauoha, who was living in Nevada when she got word in August from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands that she was selected for

the three-bedroom home in Kona she now lives in with her daughter, son-in-law and four grandchildren between ages 7 and 12. "For me, it's not just about becoming a homeowner; it's speeial because I now own a home in Hawai'i," Kekauoha said. "I would have never felt this way about owning a home in Nevada." Her eyes grow wide when she talks about her $319 mortgage payment on a new \L $115,000 home in Kona,

where the average monthly rent is pegged at $1,500. "You're talking about actually being able to save as opposed to working an extra job to pay that rent," Kekauoha said. Up to 15 more self-help homes are planned on parcels in Kona owned by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Habitat for Humanity West Hawaii is hoping to begin construction on five of them in 2013. The homes would eome at a time when OHA is making it a priority to help Hawaiians achieve housing stability. An example of this is OHA's commitment to give the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands $3 million annually over 30 years to help with the cost of creating affordable housing opportunities for Hawaiians. Earlier this year,

OHA made payment No. 4 on the 30 that are due. On top of that, OHA contributed $100,000 to building the foundation for the five homes that Habitat for Humanity mobilized volunteers to complete in October in the Villages at La'i 'Ōpua as well as others in Waimea and Kawaihae. And since 2006, OHA has pumped more than $1.8 million into Habitat for Humanity's efforts statewide to help Native Hawaiian families find stable housing.

"OHA's support has been tremendous for our efforts to provide families with homeownership opportunities and bring them out of poverty," said Patrick Hurney, executive director of Habitat for Humanity West Hawai'i. "OHA is the foundation for most Hawaiian programs and we wanted OH A to literally be the foundation for this project." Kaleo Perreira, 40, owner of

Lahela Kulana Corp., a Kona-based construction eompany that specializes in excavation and foundation work, was among the 500 Habitat for Humanity West Hawai'i volunteers who helped build the five self-help homes in the Villages at La'i 'Ōpua. His personal connection to the Hawaiian community inspired him to volunteer four, nine-hour days to efforts to increase affordable housing opportunities in Kona. "I believe in helping the Hawaiian people," said Perreira, who has owned his general contracting business for six years and helped build in eight days houses that typically take two months to complete. "I felt a need to step in to help my people move forward and keep their spirits high." ■

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!■ VL Uf'n . Kaleo Perreira, owner of Lahela Kulana Corp. construction company, was among the 500 Habitat for Humanity West Hawai'i volunteers. I RIGHT: Aloha Kekauoha, her son, grandkids and P dog Snookie will be spending the holidays in their new home in the Villages at La'i 'Opua. The Kekauohas are one of five Hawaiian families that had a three-bedroom home constructed for them during the Kona Blitz Built coordinated by Habitatfor Humanity West Hawai'i. - Photos: Aliee Silbanuz