Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 7, 1 Iulai 1995 — Kauaʻi Habitat for Humanity helps families succeed [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kauaʻi Habitat for Humanity helps families succeed

by Jeff Clark Louis and Helene Nuesca's Kaua'i home burned down in the early 1 980s, and in the years following, life was hard. "We couldn't make ends meet," Helene remembers. They had been awarded a homestead lot in Anahola, but a home of their own was out of the question. "We didn't have any funds at all." They couldn't build the life they dreamed of and every day was a struggle. Enter Kaua'i Habitat for Humanity. "When we first heard about Kaua'i Habitat, we said, 'Wow, what is that?' Our friend said, 'They help people.' We went to Hawaiian Homes and they said, 'You should try these guys.' Now we thank God because we have this home - we wouldn't have a home without Kaua'i Habitat," Nuesca says. Onee the Nuescas hooked up with Kaua'i Habitat, they became involved in a new, albeit fess frustrating, struggle: building a home from the ground up. Kaua'i Habitat for Humanity is affiliated with Habitat for Humanity International, whieh - through volunteer labor. donated money and materials, and partnerships with those it serves - builds affordable houses in a drive to eliminate poverty housing and uplift communities. Houses are sold at no profit to partner families, who must work a

certain number of hours on others' houses as well as on their own. Sweat equity. It's something the Office of Hawaiian Affairs believes in, and OHA has helped Kaua'i Habitat for Humanity in a number of ways. Earlier this year, OHA gave the organization a $1.7 million loan for self-help housing projects, and recently granted funds for baseyard improvements and other operating expenses. Now the Nuescas - Helene, Louis and their 1 8-year-old daughter Eleanor - live on their homestead in a two-bed-room home, the final house completed during last year's 1 1 -houses-in-seven-days building blitz. La France KapakaArboleda, Kaua'i Habitat's executive director, calls the Nuescas "real good partners" and says it took the eouple a long time to build their house because they spent so mueh time helping to build the houses of their neighbors. How did the Nuescas find the construction process? Helene now says it was "fantastic," but at first she was skeptical. She couldn't envision how the foundation could be big enough to support a whole house, and continually expressed her doubts to Louis. "He told me, 'Keep on working, no say nothing negative,' ... then the floor went down and I said, 'Oh, neat, now it's starting to take shape.'" Another turning point eame later in the week. There was

a short time during whieh their incomplete house sat alone, with no workers tending to it. "Everyone else's houses were going up and almost pau. I said a prayer and then turned around and there was a whole bunch of people on our house! 'Where all these guys eame from? Thank you Lord.' I was all happy and it was gung ho from then on. "I was growing with the plaee. I saw nothing and then I saw a house. īt was beautiful. My husband said, 'You see?' I said, 'Yes, it's beautiful.'" Kaua'i Habitat and its home owner partners have eompleted 28 houses since Hurricane 'Iniki hit in 1992. One more is nearing eompleīion, and nine new houses will go up this summer, thanks in part to the recent OHA grant making it possible to hire a construction supervisor. For the Nuescas, and no doubt for other families who had been in similar situations, things are different these days. "Right now we ean make ends meet. It's a little rough, but we're just making it. "Without Habitat, we wouldn't have this home. We're blessed with this home." For more information on Kaua'i Habitat for Humanity, eall 245-1996. For more information on OHA's housing efforts, eall 594-1888.

Anahola homebuilding, September 1994: two views of the Nuesca house, in progress and completed. Photos courtesy Kaua'i Habitat for Humanity