Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 5, 1 Mei 1992 — OHA names Stephen Morse housing officer [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA names Stephen Morse housing officer

by Christina Zarobe A native of Honolulu and graduate of Kamehameha Schools, Stephen Kaneai Morse has joined the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as the agency's new housing officer. Responsibilities of the officer of the newly created housing division will be to design housing finance plans, develop emergency and affordable housing projects, and coordinate joint housing development projects with other agencies.

Morse eame to OHA from the Institute for Affordable Housing, a non-profit organization providing technical assistance on developing low-ineome and special needs housing projects, where he worked as a community development specialist. His work background includes coordinating

sales and development projects as an independent contractor for several home construction and development firms in Hawai'i. Morse also worked as an assistant manager at WaiaholeWaikane Farms, Ltd., a 16-acre family farm in Windward O'ahu.

In 1982, he was hired as an independent eontractor at OHA, working with development of the agency's legislative programs, and planning and implementing OHA's culture plan and state tour.

Among community service activities, Morse serves as secretary/treasurer for Na Kokua Kaloko-Honokohau, ine., a non-profit organization created to assist the National Park Service in Hawai'i in developing the Kaloko-Honokohau Nahonal Historical Park.

From 1974-79, Morse was also co-founder and director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. A graduate of Beloit College in Wisconsin where he earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts with a major in sociology, Morse also earned a master's degree in social work from the University of Hawai'i. Morse, his wife and four children are in the process of developing a family-owned and operated farm and nursery in Waimanalo, O'ahu, specializing in tropical fruits, flowers, and landscape plants.

Stephen Morse