Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 5, 1 May 1992 — Self-help housing changes outlook on life [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Self-help housing changes outlook on life

by Christina Zarobe

Buikflng her own home on the Big Isiand provided Pattie Ioane with more than a roof over her children's heads. It changed her outlook. "You benefit so mueh more. It's not just your house. You appreciate more of life," says Ioane who is Native Hawaiian. Ioane and her husband, Mickey, are one of 22 families building a home through the SelfHelp Housing Project in Keaukaha and Pana'ewa on the island of Hawai'i.

Started m 1 the demonstranon project is a joint effort by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. About $770,000 has been provided by DHHL for interim and permanent mortgages, while OHA has contributed $70,348 for administrative costs. Technical assistance has been supplied by the Hawai'i County Eeonomie Opportunity Council. "It's terrific because a family who would otherwise not be able to get their own home ean build their own home," says Babette Galang, who is a health and human services specialist at OHA and has worked on the project. The average lot size of a self-help home is 20,000 square feet with 1,500 square feet of

living space including a lanai. The average cost is less than $35,000. Galang points out that owning a home for $35,000 is almost unimaginable in the midst of Hawaii's housing crisis where auctions and lotteries are the norm to finding reasonably priced homes.

OHA is lookmg at all kmds ot alternatives to buying a home whieh is becoming more and more unaffordable and unattainable," she says. Galang is quick to credit the Hilo Hawaiian Homebuilders Support Group with mueh of the project's success. "From the beginning they have been supporting these 22 families. In fact, they have been instrumental in getting this program going." The project began with the support group, whieh consists of 25 members, receiving a list from DHHL of those eligible to participate. Following an orientation workshop, the support group ran a credit eheek to determine who was financially capable of handling a mortgage, according to support group member Abbie Napeahi. Two supervisors from the support group, who are also licensed contractors, have provided the technical expertise and set up work schedules for eaeh family. The plumbing and electricity for eaeh home are installed by licensed workers, she savs.

Ideally, eight to 10 people are involved with construction throughout the week depending on regular work schedules. Most of the 22 families were expected to complete their homes by midApril, she says. "We see that things are running smoothly," says Napeahi, adding that advice on money management is also offered through the support group. "I feel that this is an alternative that ean help DHHL to put more people on the land," Napeahi explains during a recent interview with Ka Wai Ola O OHA. Faced with monthly rent payments of $500

and higher on the open market, the project offers participants mortgage rates of between $200 and $300, at the most $380, she says. "I worry because where will our tomorrows be if we just sit back and watch them struggle? We have to be helping one another," Napeahi says.

Pattie Ioane says her family has lived in apartments and on a month-to-month basis in homes before building their own plaee. For a four-bed-room house, they opted to pay $525 month-to-month for rent rather than signing a lease and paying $700 a month. The new Ioane residence has three bedrooms, two baths, and was recently appraised at $95,000 by Allstate Insurance Co. The monthly mortgage payment is $293, she says. The frustration of the Ioanes and many other would-be Hawai'i homeowners was in fact eonfirmed in a national study released earlier this year. Honolulu ranks as the least affordab!e housing market in the country with owners of medianpriced, single-family homes spending 49.2 percent of their after-tax ineome for mortgage payments, according to the study by Ernst & continued on pagel0

The loane home at Pana'ewa.

Self Help from page 5

Young Real Estate Advisory Services. In sharp contrast, homeowners in Salt Lake City, the most affordable market, spend 13.8 percent of their disposable ineome on housing, the study found. And for Hawaiians who decide to build a home on land they receive through DHHL, the situation ean be equally bleak, points out OHA's Galang.

"Even when Hawaiians are awarded their land, they can't afford to build a house. If they don't qualify for a conventional home loan, what alternatives are there for them?" One alternative, as the cost of living continues to skyrocket and low-ineome residents are priced out of the housing market, is too often homelessness. "If you look at the homeless populahon, a large percentage are Hawaiian families," says Galang. "A lot of these families are living in cars and vans, crowded home situations or in a rental where they are on the verge of becoming houseless. "In fact, it's been said that many families are a paycheck away from being

homeless," she notes. The Big Island project is the second sponsored by DHHL and OHA. The first was the O'ahu Self-Help Project in 1988 at Wai'anae Kai. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has requested $63,355 from the legislature in its supplemental budget to continue to develop various projects including the formation of a non-profit self-help housing group on Kaua'i. Richard Paglinawan, administrator of OHA, says that families who build their own homes through the project produce "sweat equity." "They work on the home and ownership becomes more important," he says. "They also develop skills to later maintain a home."

Pattie Ioane agrees. Her husband Mickey works as a heavy equipment operator and is also a professional music writer who composes ballads and "true to life stories that affect him. " Although he knew a little about carpentry, he learned enough about the trade during construction of their home to build a garage. "To own your own home is wonderful but to build it yourself gives you such pride," says Ioane who works as a bakery sales clerk and learned how to tape dry wall and install ceramic counter tiles. "In the beginning, with all the paperwork, that was the stressful part. Onee the frame went up, that's when our dreams eame true."

Self-help project member Napeahi believes strongly in the value of the program but not only from a technical aspect. She says the project helps to foster "self-confidence, self-respect, and self-esteem" in participants. For the loane children — Melanie, 9, Miehael, 6, and Myles, 5 — the initial reaction was surprise at the size of their new home. The youngsters, however, happily adapted to having their own rooms, says their mother. Ioane is honest though about the amount of hard work involved with such a project and the need for dedicated family and friends. Over seven months of construction on their home, she says, her in-laws and the Front Street Gang of

Puhi Bay, a group of electricians, dry wallers, roofers, and plumbers, labored on the project. Settled in her new home now, Ioane says it's difficult to explain how the experience has altered her life, changed her approach. She struggles to find the right words during an interview, stopping in mid-sentence and then plunging ahead to finish. "We used to take life for granted. I know a lot of Hawaiians who live life day-to-day. It's a weird feeling. I don't know how to explain it," Ioane says. "But I stop now and smell the roses instead of just walking by them. I appreciate things more."