Homeownership in the Hawaiian Home Lands

Hawaiian Community Assets, Inc. (HCA), Honolulu, HI, is providing necessary tools and education through financial literacy and homebuyer education programs in the Kapolei area on Oahu to encourage homeownership in the "homesteads", i.e., the Hawaiian Home Lands, a trust established by Congress in 1920.  Last year, HCA ambitiously opted to expand its Sustainable Communities service area to include all the Home Lands on all the islands.  Realizing that transformational development was not possible on such a large scale, HCA reduced its scope to include only Kapolei and Anahola on Kauai.

HCA’s most important recent achievement was their participation in their first self-help housing projects being developed in partnership with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA).  Participation in self-help housing has been one of the original visions by HCA’s board of directors.  In addition, the development methodology provides a housing solution to the need for affordable units to their target community.  The development of the Homestead Self-Help Housing program is significant because Hawaii needs nonprofit CDCs to actively engage in affordable housing solutions.