Michelle Kauhane
Executive Director

P.O. Box 3006
Wailuku, Maui, HI 96793

When Hawaiian Community Assets, Inc. (HCA) began to serve its first clients in the summer of 2001, the organization eagerly tackled the frustratingly slow progress of settling the island's Hawaiian Home Lands. Although Maui has 31,000 acres set aside as Home Lands, only 225 families actually had settled on homesteads during the program's 80-year history, using less than 150 acres.

Meanwhile, more than 3,000 families, many of whom had been waiting for decades, were still on the waiting list for a Maui homestead. Another 300 families, granted homestead leases 16 years earlier at Waiohuli, high on the slopes of Haleakala, were still waiting to begin building their homes. Continuing disputes between the state and county governments and a developer kept the gates locked and families out. Another 70 families, who had received homestead leases for farming, also 16 years earlier, were even further behind. There were no roads, electricity, or water. Incredibly, the families were told to just keep waiting.

"It was not a good time," says HCA Executive Director Jim Wagele. "Problems with the program were much more visible than any successes. We now realize that the Hawaiians whom the Home Lands were most intended to help, are the ones most likely to be excluded. We were asking native Hawaiians to be financially fit before they can access the program that is supposed to help them. That's a tall order for many native Hawaiian families."

The 300 families at Waiohuli, for example, did not have an effective advocate, especially since the homestead association had dissolved years before. HCA stepped in, helping the families re-establish the organization and training the new officers to interact more effectively with public officials. The revived homestead association proved successful in resolving the issues quickly, and in February 2002, the gates were finally unlocked. "It was a huge event, and the families had made it happen!" exclaimed Wagele.

HCA is also working with nearly 100 families at Waiohuli through the process of deciding on a house they can afford, picking house plans, engaging a contractor, and working through the complex permit and financing procedures. It helped many get their financial affairs in order so they could qualify for a permanent loan and a construction loan to build a house.

At Waiehu Kou, where a developer-built project is underway, the challenges differ. HCA was selected to be the primary mortgage lender for the 113-lot development, called Phase 3. In Phase 2, there were difficulties finding buyers because conventional procedures were used. In fact, the mortgage lender had to go through the entire waiting list of 3,000 to identify 99 qualified buyers. Native Hawaiians are supposed to access the program according to how long they've been waiting, not how well qualified they are. For Phase 3, HCA's goal was to make the system work the way it's supposed to.

First, HCA set out to find those on the list with whom the State had lost contact. HCA found 107 people for whom the Department did not have an address. Most were elderly, many were low income, and a third had been on the list for 40 years. HCA advised these individuals of the upcoming opportunity, worked with them to prepare for it, and provided encouragement.

Simultaneously, HCA partnered with Hui Kako`o Aina ho`o Pulapula, the association representing the 20,000 people on the waiting list. Hui successfully advocated before the Hawaiian Homes Commission for one third of the leases to be awarded as vacant lots to people who could not afford or immediately qualify for a mortgage.

In addition, HCA partnered with two other nonprofits that provide down-payment assistance and Individual Development Accounts (IDA's). As a result, approved applicants were able to stand in line on lot-selection day and pick a lot.

All in all, HCA processed 329 applicants for Phase 3, pre-qualifying 259 of them. On lot selection day, the hall was standing room only. The 76 developer-built homes sold in a record-setting time of only 3 hours. The 37 vacant lots went even more quickly. During Phase 2 only 7% of the new homesteaders came from the top 200 on the list. This time the figure was 43%.

This time everyone had a chance. "The key to our success in helping families," says Wagele, "was our understanding of the system and our ability to fill the gaps."