Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 2, 1 February 1994 — OHA's housing division conceives draft housing and community development plan [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA's housing division conceives draft housing and community development plan

bv Jeff CIark In formulating a housing and community development plan, OHA housing officer Stephen Morse has been across the state and back many times during the last year researching the

Hawanan housing problem and developing possible solutions. He and architect/planner James M. Severson, AIA, who was contracted to help develop the plan for OHA, met with public and private housing agencies, land trusts such as Bishop Estate, non-profit housing

organizations, and pnvate landowners, as well as with rank-and-file members of the

Hawaiian community. "In our interviews with Hawaiians across the state, we find that our Hawaiians still feel a strong attachment to the land," Morse says. "And the further they've been alienated from the land, the worse their prob!ems have become." lronically, claims Morse, there is no shortage of land. Between ceded lands, Bishop Estate holdings, and land becoming vacant because of sugar's phase-out, "some kind of trust land was available in almost every area where we identified potential projects," he says. Those projects may involve the

investment of "sweat equity" through self-help housing. Although not without its problems, self-help housing has proven successful in Hawaiian developments. Homeowners enjoy great savings and benefit

from increased pride and self-esteem by building houses themselves under the supervision of construction professionals. Innovative materials are another way to keep building costs down. Morse and Severson have investigated several innovative construc-

tion materials by whieh an unskilled crew ean build the walls of a sturdy, waterproof, ter-

mite-proof, hurri-cane-resistant house in less than a week. Severson emphasizes that the proposal involves more than just shelter. "There are several themes involved; eommunity organizing, putting resources back into the community, creating new eeonomie development, sup-

porting community-based initiatives. It's more than just a housing plan," he says. Housing cannot stand alone; it must be coupled with eeonomie

development opportunities, explains Morse. Hawaiians can't be "warehoused," that is, put into units they will eventually lose because they have no jobs with whieh to make rental or mortgage payments, he adds. For this reason, agricultural and aquaculture enterprises such as taro farming and fishponds are included in the plan. The projects could include OHA investment in community development activities, for example farming co-ops, that would generate ineome for the trust. The housing development plan isn't something that OHA would step in and do on its own. Rather than being imposed on eommunities, it would be brought about by partnerships between OHA and community groups. "In looking for projects, we should look at areas where there is already a

community group or organization actively pursuing projects," says Morse. One such organization is Nā Po'e Kōkua, whieh, with OHA's, help is establishing selfhelp projects on Maui. (see sidebar). The plan identifies potential pro-

jects on eaeh of the major islands. They include Kekaha and Keālia on Kaua'i, He'eia and Waimānalo on O'ahu, Ho'olehua on Moloka'i, Waiehu-Kou and

Ke'anae/Wailua on Maui, and Hōnaunau, Kalapana, KailuaKona, Pu'ukapu, and Waimea on the Big Island. The final draft report of the OHA housing and community

development plan was scheduled to be presented to the OHA trustees during a workshop on Feb. 7, and then submitted to the planning, eeonomie development and housing committee on Feb. 9.

Stephen Morse

James Severson