Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 5, 1 May 1991 — No Hawaiian should be homeless [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

No Hawaiian should be homeless

by Louis Hao Trustce, Moloka'i

Aloha mai! Housing ranks as one of the most critical needs among the Hawaiian people today. This fact is substantiated by the recent Hui Imi report to the Legislature. Yet for more than 70 years (since 1920)

nousing nas been, ana still remains today, a cntical eoneem. We seem to be no better off today than we were as Hawaiians back then. In fact some Hawaiians would say we are worse off today, with the soaring costs of land and homes, and the fact that 28 percent of Hawaii's homeless are of Hawaiian ancestry. The fact is, many Hawaiians do not qualify to purchase homes in the open market nor ean they afford the monthly payment ranging from $500 to $2,000 per month. The only available avenue for many Hawaiians for acquiring land and a home is

the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. There are more than 19,000 applicants who are waiting and hoping to receive a homestead lease. Evenfor those Hawaiians on the waiting list, there seems to be an "uncertainty" of actually receiving a lease or for that matter if they will ever receive a lease at all. According to the Hui Imi report the present administration is planning to develop at least 14,000 homestead homes by the year 2000. Estimated cost for infrastructure is $1 billion for improvements (roads, sewers, electricity, water). The report indicates that 97 percent of the Hawaiian Home Lands are located on the neighbor islands. Yet the majority of the Hawaiian population resides on O'ahu and approximately 25 percent of those on the current waiting list prefer to live on O'ahu. There need to be available options for affordable single family and multi-family housing, and even nursing homes for older Hawaiians. With housing needs critical, there are some recommendations%Ln the report that are worth mentioning at this point: • The executive and legislative branches should assist the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

achieve its goal of developing 14,000 homes by the year 2000. • The state and federal governments should provide Hawaiians with additional lands for housing purposes throughout the state of Hawai'i. • OHA, DHHL and various Hawaiian institutions should cooperate in developing available financing resources to enable Hawaiians to obtain mortgage financing at low cost and with favorable interest rates. • Legislation should be enacted and funding provided for self-help housing. I believe OHA should begin a major housing initiative for all Hawaiians — those of more than 50 percent and less than 50 percent blood quantum. This ean be initiated with the Department of Human Services and the Hawaii Housing Authority. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has made a commitment to move forward to explore all opportunities for housing programs for all Hawaiians regardless of blood quantum, so they have an opportunity to obtain affordable housing. No Hawaiian should be homeless.