2000 Best Practice Awards

2000-1327 Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Senior Apartments at the Lihue Theater
Lihue, Hawaii
Contact: John H. Frazier (808) 245-5937

The Lihue Theater, which had been severely damaged by Hurricane Iniki, was in danger of being torn down. In order to preserve the theater, and provide needed housing to Kauai elderly, a partnership was formed to historically restore the front lobby and facade and construct a new rear portion to house 21 one-bedroom units for the elderly. Partners included the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, State Rental Housing Trust Fund, Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, and the Kauai Housing Development Corporation.

2000-3289 Alternative Structures International dba Ohana Ola O Kahumana
Waianae, Hawaii
Contact: Kimball M. Helen (808) 696-4039

Ohana Ola O Kahumana provides a transitional housing program to homeless adults with minor children helping them to obtain permanent housing by utilizing a coordinated effort of health, housing, financing and social services. Ohana Ola O Kahumana has 14 units leased from the City and County of Honolulu arranged in a circle maximizing community interaction and providing a safe area where children can play.

2000-3118 Makawao Highlands
Wailuku, Hawaii
Contact: Mark Percell (808) 270-7805

The Makawao Highlands project involved the development of single family homes targeting low income first time homebuyers. The County of Maui developed partnerships with several public and private agencies to develop a permanent financing package that made homeownership possible for both low income and moderate income families. This partnership involved a HOME First Time Homebuyers Down Payment Assistance program, USDA Rural Development, American Savings and Loan, and Lokahi Pacific, a local non-profit, to provide financing with reduced interest rates based on family income.

This project employed specialized design and construction methods to incorporate on the job training and paid employment for as many as 60 disadvantaged, unskilled workers. The work force included 45 disabled vocational clients, a local Job Corps crew comprised of disadvantaged teenagers and several unemployed residents of the local Homeless Resource Center. Participation in the construction of this project provided meaningful job experience and work skills training for these individuals, most of whom had been previously classified by the State as unemployable.

2000-3073 Hale Makana o Waiale
Wailuku, Hawaii
Contact: Charles H. Ridings (808) 242-7600

Hale Makana o Waiale is an affordable rental project providing affordable rentals to households earning 50 percent or less of the median family income in Maui County. Written covenants have been signed that establish Hale Makana o Waiale as an affordable rental project in perpetuity. An on-site computer room with 20 computers provides educational and job training services.

2000-3233 Moloka'i Community Service Council
Kaunakakai, Hawaii
Contact: Alma M. Trinidad (808) 553-3244

The Moloka’i Community Service Council (Alma M. Trinidad, Executive Director) provides umbrella services to a broad range of community projects on Moloka’i. The Moloka’i Community Service Council cuts operating costs for these projects by providing one-stop administrative, fiscal, and programmatic services, and splitting the costs between the projects. In addition to a variety of human service projects, the organization took on the challenge of administering the Moloka’i Enterprise Community.

2000-1941 Waimanalo Homes Homeownership Opportunity
Waimanalo, Hawaii
Contact: Gregory Field (808) 259-9558

Waimanalo Homes is a 50 unit public housing project. The Waimanalo Community Development Corporation (Greg Field, Executive Director), a community based non-profit, is working with the residents and the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii to prepare a homeownership plan that will allow the residents to buy the units. In addition to arranging a financing plan for the residents, the Waimanalo Community Development Corporation created an Individual Development Account program allowing the future homebuyers to save for their downpayment in a special account with the Waimanalo Community Development Corporation matching their savings.

2000-3112 Ellis Island of the Pacific: Fair Housing Info-mmercial Outreach
Honolulu, Hawaii
Contact: Abelina Madid Shaw (808) 527-5311

This group is comprised of fair housing specialists from the Hawaii Community and Development Corporation of Hawaii, the City and County of Honolulu, Counties of Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The group developed a local "info-mmercial" utilizing humor, a custom-designed Hawaiian fair housing logo, and an authority figure to express that housing discrimination is against the law and will be investigated.

2000-3288 Kaho'okamamalu
Wailuku, Hawaii
Contact: Jo-Ann T. Ridao (808) 242-5761

The Kaho'okamamalu project is a collaborative endeavor between Lokahi Pacific, Women Helping Women, and the Maui AIDS Foundation. Women Helping Women and Maui AIDS Foundation are service-oriented agencies that have constant need for long term housing for their clients. Lokahi Pacific has been developing housing for persons with special needs since 1983. This combination provided a collaborative relationship for housing persons with special needs including persons with HIV/AIDS and battered women and children. The project consists of an office building that houses all three agencies and 20 apartment units.

2000-3277 The Community Connection
Honolulu, Hawaii
Contact: Robert Agnes (808) 550-8661

The Community Connection best practice was submitted by the Hawaii Alliance for Community Based Economic Development (Robert Agres, Jr., Executive Director). This organization provides the community connection by assisting community-based organizations with a specific focus on community-based economic development. This is done by coordinating a solid support system by utilizing existing as well as new partnerships between the community, private, and public sectors.

2000-1938 Housing Support Legal Project of Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Contact: Judy M. Sobin (808) 528-7051

The Housing Support Legal Project of Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii provides pro bono civil legal services and advice to homeless individuals, families, and nonprofit homeless service providers in the City and County of Honolulu. The project’s services are delivered by volunteer attorneys on-site at emergency and transitional shelters and other locations in order to assist the homeless deal with their civil legal problems, achieve greater self-determination, increase their income, and eventually obtain permanent housing.

2000-572 Retail Training Program
Honolulu, Hawaii
Contact: David Butts (808) 842-7093

Many employable people on public assistance do not have the skills or the experience to get retail jobs. The Defense Commissary Agency agreed to give on-the-job training to low-income, unskilled workers. Program participants were selected by Parents and Children Together (PACT), a non-profit service organization. Participants received 30 hours of basic job skill training from PACT and then were assigned to a Commissary for two months of on-the-job and classroom training.

2000-3235 Community Reinvestment Program
Honolulu, Hawaii
Contact: Ernest Y. Martin (808) 527-6264

The Office of Special Projects, part of the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Community Services has been able to start new projects or expand existing ones with minimal investment of public resources. The Community Reinvestment Program is a strategy that builds on the existing infrastructure by partnering with community members. Projects implemented through the Community Reinvestment Program are in response to needs identified by targeted communities.

2000-3285 Lanakila Learning Center
Hilo, Hawaii
Contact: Harmane (808) 933-0621

The Lanakila Learning Center assists students who are identified as "at-risk" of dropping out of school or who fall under Act 90 which allows schools to remove students from the campus due to serious disciplinary infractions. The goal of the Lanakila Learning Center is to provide a transitional period for students in a supportive, success-oriented atmosphere. After school and weekend projects are offered to provide additional opportunities for students to earn extra credit towards graduation. Since many students are Native Hawaiians, the Hawaiian culture is used as a connecting thread throughout the curriculum.

247 Preservation of Section 8 Projects Collaboration
Honolulu, Hawaii
Contact: Dorothy Shigemura (808) 532-3110

This is a collaborative effort on the part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, the Hawaii Community Reinvestment Corporation, the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, and an affordable housing advocate (Jeanne Hamilton), to take a proactive approach to preserve Section 8 project-based rental projects. This group tackled the issue of Section 8 project owners ending their Section 8 contacts which would force many assisted families to find to new homes. Since this group was formed in May, 1999, no owner of a Section 8 project in Hawaii has canceled their Section 8 contract.

2000-293 Homebuyer Education for Native Hawaiians (Hawaii CRA Forum)
Nanakuli, Hawaii
Contact: Paige Barber (808) 261-5333

Community Reinvestment Act representatives from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve, and Office of Thrift Supervision held meetings in Hawaii to explore housing and economic development delivery. As part of these meetings the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands proposed a homeownership initiative for native Hawaiian lessees. HomeOwnership Hawaii (Paige Barber, Executive Director) volunteered to provide the training. Workshops have been held on Oahu, Hawaii, and Maui.

2000-3128 Hawaii Drug Court/Weed and Seed Enhancement Project
Waipahu, Hawaii
Contact: Nelson Higa (808) 671-1739

The Hawaii Drug Court is a comprehensive, multi-agency strategy to address and prevent drug-related crime in the Kalihi-Palama Weed and Seed site. The Drug Court coordinates and links existing as well as new federal, state, local, and private sector initiatives and criminal justice efforts and involve community residents in the Weed and Seed neighborhood.

2000-895 County of Kauai Home-Buyer Loan Program
Lihue, Hawaii
Contact: Matilda A. Yoshioka (808) 241-6449

The program, administered by the County of Kauai, provides a down payment assistance program by holding a second mortgage. Payment on this second mortgage is deferred for seven years allowing a family to use all of their available purchasing power to obtain a mortgage for the purchase of the house. Participants complete a Homeownership Opportunity Class. If participants are not yet ready to purchase a home they are invited to join the County’s Home-Buyers Club.

2000-3286 Mailia II Modernization Project
Honolulu, Hawaii
Contact: Sharon Miyashiro (808) 587-0597

The Maili II project was built in 1969 and was in serious need of repair and modernization. The Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii made a priority of considering energy efficiency when reconstructing the units. The challenge was to keep the units cool in an extremely hot and humid environment without the use of air conditioning. In addition to building materials chosen to provide insulation, solar panels were constructed to heat water and reduce utility expenses. The Hawaiian Electric Company awarded the project a $30,000 rebate for its use of the energy efficient panels.

Content Archived: April 20, 2011