Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 1996 — OHA self-help housing project gets underway [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA self-help housing project gets underway

by Patrick Johnston They're at it again. A year and a half after a housing blitz helped homesteaders build 11 homes on Kaua'i, OHA's housing team is coordinating another self-help housing project, this time statewide.

With a $500,000 OHA board appropriation, and a $200,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle now officially approved, the stage is set for this ambitious housing project. "This is a really big move for OHA in its efforts to provide affordable housing for Hawaiians," says OHA housing specialist Patti Tancayo. Over the next year and a half OHA hopes to help build 90 homes for rural, largely homestead Hawaiians, across the state. Beginning on Moloka'i, the Big Island, and 0'ahu's Kahana Valley, and later including Maunalaha Valley in Honolulu, the project will educate Hawaiians about self-help

housing, determine who is willing and able to undertake such a project, then get the houses built. OHA's funding will pay for informational workshops, providing technical assistance, and project management. The target group is homesteaders and other rural Hawaiians who own land but

have not been able to afford building their own homes: Building a self-help house ean save as mueh as $50,000 compared to the cost of building with hired labor. Beginning next month, OHA's housing division, in cooperation with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), Habitat for Humanity, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and various lenders, will be holding a number of workshops to lay the groundwork for the planned selfhelp housing project. (See schedule this page.) The first of these will be an informational session whieh will allow participants to learn about self-help housing and help them determine whether it is the road they want and ean take. The workshop will also explain some of the financing altematives. Those interested will meet individually with a housing fmancial counselor who will determine the financial qualifications of the individual. Both individuals who qualify for the program and those that don't will receive assistance. "Our management counseling components will provide qualified applicants with guidanee on how to handle their new mortgage," Tancayo explains, adding that those who are unable to pre-qualify, will be instmcted on how they ean be better prepared the next time a self-help housing project starts up.

Tancayo points out that a eomplaint with past housing projects has been that people have been told they don't qualify but have not been given any guidance on how they might in the future. OHA's project tries to remedy this problem. Those that pre-qualify will then be required to get loans. A number of different financing options are available depending on the credit and ineome level and of the applicant. These include loans from Rural Eeonomie Community Development (RECD), DHHL, or DHHL/-

RECD participation loans. OHA is working with lenders to make Federal Home Administration, Veterans Administration and RECD guaranteed loans available. After securing a loan, apphcants will then attend a plans and designs workshop where they will get an overview of the construction options available to them with the financing they received. Later, participants will meet individually with an architect to discuss design alternatives. The future home-owners will be assisted by computer-

generated plans in r the design of their j houses. With the financ- j ing and design in ; plaee, OHA will bring in project management teams that will coordinate the permitting process, help gather j materials, hire site 1 supervisors and get the participants building. Self-help housing projects require that homeowners put in 90 man-hours a week of building time or "sweat equity." Site supervisors will ensure that homeowners follow correct construction methods and subcontractors will be hired to install septic systems and cesspools, electrical wiring, and plumbing. Tancayo anticipates the first phase of houses should be comp!eted early

next year. "We have a lot of work ahead of us but I am confident that we will be able to carry out our objectives." Tancayo hopes uccessful implementation of the project will lead to other self-help homes being built in the future. "The project will allow us to help construct homes and identify the barriers that impede the development of self-help housing. This will enable us to build more for Hawaiians in the future. The demand is definitely there." For more information eall 594-1904.

SELF-HELP PROGRAM WORKSHOP SCHEDULE Self-Help Housing Informational Workshops Waimea/Kawaihae, Hawai'i - February 17, 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Waimea Civic Center Kahana Valley, O'ahu - February 10, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Kahana State Park Orientation Room Ho'olehua, Moloka'i - March 2, 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m Ho'olehua Recreational Center Pre-qualification and Pinaneial Counseling Sessions Waimea/Kawaihae, Hawai'i - March 5, 6, and 7, 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. OHA Kona Office Conference Rm-107A Ho'olehua, Moloka'i - March 19, 20, and 21, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Ho'olehua Recreational Center Plans & Design Overview Workshops Waimea/Kawaihae, Hawai'i - March 8, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. OHA Kona Office Conference Rm 107A Ho'olehua, Moloka'i - March 22, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. Ho'olehua Recreational Center Plans & Design Selection Sessions Waimea/Kawaihae, Hawai'i - March 9, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. OHA Kona Office Conference Rm 107A Ho'olehua, Moloka'i - March 23, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Ho'olehua Recreational Center Kahana Valley, O'ahu - March 16, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Kahana Valley Community Hall

Above and right: Self-help home builders working at OHA's 1994 housing blitz on Kaua'i. Photos by Jeff Clark

A Maunalaha home in need of help.