Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 6, 1 Iune 1997 — OHA breaks ground for another Hawaiʻi self-help housing project [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
OHA breaks ground for another Hawaiʻi self-help housing project
i WBSF x
II The \ first of many WĒr Moloka'i families who onee thought home \ ^ ownership was impossible will move into a home this summer. \
Through Habitat for Humanity, the national self-help home construction program, Hawaiian families are qualifying for zero interest loans. This first home is a model funded by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) to promote the program, and to demonstrate self-help eonstruction and management theories. "Self-help projects make it possible for Hawaiian families to own homes and gain the skills to maintain them," said Stephen Morse, OHA housing officer, "Lower ineome families who onee thought home ownership was an unreachable dream are achieving their dreams through programs like this one." The model home is under construction at Moloka'i's Ho'olehua Residential Subdivision. The groundbreaking was in May. Patricia and Clayton Mims, one of eleven program applicants, will own the three-bedroom home. They will pay nearly the same in monthly mortgage payments that they currently pay in rent for substandard housing. Continued on page 4
From left to right: Claude Sutclifte, Habitat; Edmund Pedro, Habitat; Steve Morse, OHA; Kali Watson, DHHL; Patricia Mims, Clayton Mims, Greg Helm, DHHL and Billy Akutagawa, Habitat.
Self-help Moloka'i housing Continued from page 1
The cost of the Mims' home, whieh includes only materials and subcontracting, was estimated at $49,680 at the start of construction. This would mean monthly mortgage payments for the Mims would be $414. But executive director for Moloka'i Habitat for Humanity Bert Harris said that as of May 14 it looked as if the cost would eome in lower at $46,000. Families who qualify for the project benefit from "sweat equity." Participants perform a lot of the labor themselves whieh saves them thousands of dollars on the cost of their homes by lowering the amount they need to borrow, and increases their chances for qualifying for a loan. Moloka'i Habitat for Humanity is a chapter of Kaua'i Habitat for Humanity. The chapter is filing for affiliate status with the national organization whieh has 13,000 affiliates worldwide. "There were not that many obstacles to getting the program started, just skepticism," said Harris. "The people
thought this was something too good to be true. They wondered if a the program was going I to stay, or if it would be | short-lived." But last year when 1 OHA eame forward | with $10 million for the 1 revolving loans, and j administrative funding | eame from the Depart- 1 ment of Hawaiian Home j Lands, Harris said people's interest piqued. Since 1987, OHA | has funded self-help projects in Wai'anae, O'ahu; Keaukaha-Waiākea Hawai'i Island; and Anaho-
la, Kaua'i. In recent years OHA has expanded its support of self-help housing projects. "Banks and conventional lenders don't create such programs because they believe the risks are too great," Morse said, "Giving out and servicing loans to very low ineome families requires sensitivity, patience and lots of credit and budget eoun-
seling — capabilities private lenders don't have."
Ka Wai Ola o OHA
Ku'ulei Perez, Didi Kaaikamaka, Bert Harris and Kauila Reyes provide entertainment at the groundbreaking for ' the Mims' new home.