Department of Hawaiian Home Lands secures $22M in Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant funds

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands secured $22.3 million in Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to continue helping low-income Native Hawaiian families move in to affordable housing.

“The ongoing allocation of these federal funds allows us to continue offering affordable housing options that ensure our beneficiaries’ success and stability for generations to come,” said Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Director Kali Watson in a department announcement about the grant funds.

The department has consistently throughout the past 20 years received more than two times its original allocation of just $9.6 million, averaging $22.3 million annually to advance housing initiatives for eligible Native Hawaiian families.

“Families who have frequently been excluded from the homebuying process can finally achieve their dreams of homeownership,” Watson said. “By providing safe housing opportunities at prices families can afford, our ʻohana are able to stay in Hawaiʻi — the place they call home.”

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands allocated nearly $40 million to affordable housing initiatives last fiscal year, surpassing its highest recorded expenditure from 2017 by more than double.

The department has made significant progress during the past 23 years allocating block grant funding since its inaugural award, resulting in:

• Expenditure of $194 million — or 90% of all funds awarded — in Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program funds.
• Building, acquisition or rehabilitation of 769 affordable homes using Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant funds.
• Improvement of nearly 700 lots with infrastructure development to support construction of new homeownership housing units.
• Rehabilitation of three community centers to provide housing services to affordable housing residents.
• Providing housing services, such as pre- and post-home purchase education, financial literacy training, self-help home repair training and rental assistance for 5,237 families.

The Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant is authorized under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act, enacted in 1996 by U.S. Congress.

The act facilitated enhanced partnerships with financial institutions and established a block grant program, empowering American Indians and Alaska Natives to decide how to effectively use federal funds to tackle affordable housing challenges.

Congress amended the act 4 years later, authorizing comparable funding for eligible Native Hawaiian families living on Hawaiian homelands, whose total household income is at or below 80% of the area median income in their county.