Native Hawaiians often talk about the need to create business, to build more homes and to have more agricultural lands available for use on state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands properties on Kaua‘i. Now, they may get more help and
Native Hawaiians often talk about the need to create business, to build more homes and to have more agricultural lands available for use on state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands properties on Kaua‘i.
Now, they may get more help and funds to reach those goals in the future.
Federal funds are expected to come to DHHL beneficiaries on Kaua‘i and elsewhere in the state through an unprecedented memorandum of understanding (MOU) reached between officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and DHHL.
The agreement is the first of its kind between the federal and state agencies, and involves rural-development funding from the USDA. The amount of funding was not specified.
The agreement establishes a basis for “cooperation and assistance to achieve homeownership, economic growth and agricultural sustainability for Native Hawaiians,” USDA officials said.
All DHHL lands on Kaua‘i are designated rural by USDA leaders, and qualify for the funding, according to Honolulu-based DHHL spokesman Lloyd Yonenaka.
Lorraine Shin, Hawai‘i state director of the USDA for rural development, based on the Big Island, said it was her understanding the funds will be used to put more DHHL beneficiaries into homes.
Shin said her office has been instrumental in securing 300 loans that families and individuals in Hawai‘i, including DHHL beneficiaries and other residents, have used for home-building.
“Our program is unique in that the interest rate can be as low as 1 percent,” she said. “The loans are for the very-low-income.”
To meet the demand to put more people into homes, the allocation for the loans was increased from $4 million to $8 million this year, Shin said.
Her office also offers 1-percent repair loans for very-low-income folks, and $7,500 home-repair grants to people 62 years and older for necessary repairs to keep homes safe, Shin said.
“This is significant in that it enables our department the opportunity to seek an additional source of funding for all aspects of a development, from the basic infrastructure to the completed home,” said Yonenaka.
The details of how the funds will support Kaua‘i homesteaders will be identified through DHHL plans for agency lands on each island and the prioritization of projects, Yonenaka said.
“The island plan for Kaua‘i has begun, and is expected to be completed in the next six months,” he said. “We recently had a community meeting on Kaua‘i, and there will be more community input and dialogue.”
DHHL currently administers more than 4,000 single-family homestead lots on Kaua‘i, mostly located in Anahola and in West Kaua‘i. Agricultural leases also are held by DHHL beneficiaries on Kaua‘i.
DHHL director Micah Kane said he and his staff met with Moseley on several occasions and “have given him our vision and needs over the long term. This MOU is in itself a new partnership to help put Native Hawaiians on the land, and we are looking forward to building from this foundation,” Kane said.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
