Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 5, 1 May 2020 — Advocacy to Prevent Rental Evictions [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Advocacy to Prevent Rental Evictions

In a March 3 1 st letter to Governor David Ige, OHA CEO Hussey urged the state government to adopt additional policies to close critical gaps left by the new federal moratorium on evictions in light of the state's recent emergency orders, in an effort to ensure that all Hawai'i renters ean stay in their homes through the entire COVID-19 crisis. Hussey noted that rent is due at the beginning of the month for most of Hawai'i's renters and asked Governor Ige to provide immediate eviction protection for households that may be unable to pay their rent, but do not qualify for protection via the federal moratorium in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Eeonomie Stability Act. "While the steps already taken by our Governor and Congress go a long way towards safeguarding the people of Hawai'i, additional steps to ensure that people ean 'shelter in plaee' are needed immediately," said Hussey. "This is simply not the time for landowners to evict tenants. Evicting victims of this unexpected crisis, many of whom could be Native Hawaiian, runs counter to the aloha spirit that binds our loeal community together. It also makes no sense, from a public heahh perspective, to kiek people out of their homes and condemn them to live on the streets during a time when we are being legally required to 'shelter in plaee' to slow the spread of the disease in Hawai'i. Absolutely no good is served by evictions right now."

Shannon Lau (Volunteer), Charissa Kelekolio (Food Hub Coordinator), Dayna Teves (Kūpuna Program Coordinator) distribute meals at KEY Project's prepared meal drivethru

'Aina Hau'oli Meals, provided by Hale Kealoha.