Annual Report 2009

Hawaii Habitat’s
Mission:
Our mission is to support
our statewide affiliates by
facilitating efforts to secure
resources to build homes,
promote the unique Habitat
self help model, and raise
awareness that housing is a
basic human need.

Hawaii Habitat’s Vision:

All people in Hawaii

have housing in which
they can thrive.

Hawaii Habitat’s Work

As a statewide support
organization (SSO) affiliated
with Habitat for Humanity
International we support the
work of Habitat for Humanity
affiliates in Hawaii through four
programs designated by
Habitat. They are:

• Resource Development
• Advocacy
• Training
• Disaster Preparedness

Hawaii Habitat Board of Directors & Staff

 Executive Committee

President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Immediate Past

Chandler W. Richard Emery Rosemary David Enersen President
Rowe Jr. Slabaugh W. Michael
Sessions
Directors

Steve Bader
Thad Bond
Sen. Suzanne Chun-Oakland
Mike Dang
Ron Davis
Ron Federizo
Kama Hopkins
John Jaskula
Abe Lee
Bob Lindsey
Ritchie Mudd
Peter Savio
Jasmine Tso

Staff and VISTA Members

Executive Director Operations Manager Research and Green Building

Kathleen Hasegawa Mandy Jansen Training Associate Associate
Amanda Johnson Liz Bowen

Special Acknowledgements: Paul Caster, Accountant, and JoAnn Farnsworth, Strategic Planning
Consultant
Resource Development and
Management

In 2009, Hawaii Habitat has disbursed

$533,275 to affiliates to build homes with
partner families and $112,000 to fund
staffing positions for a total of $645,275
disbursed in 2009.
Federal Home Loan Bank Grants: $195,000

Office of Hawaiian Affairs Loans: $160,000

State Grant in Aid Construction Loans: $140,000

The Kaheaku family moved into their new home in
State Grant in Aid Operating Grants: $112,000 Waianae in August of 2009. About 60% of the
funding for the home, or $53,000, came from
Hawaii Habitat for Humanity.
Build-a-Thon Sponsorships: $38,275.55

The Cho family home, completed in

200, in Ocean View on the Big Total Money Distributed to
Island, received about 30% of its
funding from Hawaii Habitat for Affiliates in 2009:
Humanity.
$645,275.55

$129,336
$128,339
$121,967
$115,693 $112,458
Hawaii Habitat Continues to
Grow its Resources
$115,339
$99,457

• The Fund for Humanity Revolving Loan

Fund now totals $88,750 from repaid
construction loans to affiliates. It will
continue to grow exponentially
$21,409 $16,075 throughout the years and will be re-
loaned to affiliates to build more homes.

The Federal Home

•
Loan Bank of Seattle
selected Hawaii
Habitat for
Humanity to receive
$360,000 in its
latest Affordable
Housing Program grant cycle in December. The
funding will be disbursed to affiliates to build 30
homes at $12,000 per home. Hawaii Habitat was
one of ten applicants selected for this very
competitive grant out of a pool of 30, and received
the 3rd highest amount of funding allotted.
Volunteers help build Leeward
Habitat’s ReStore at the 2009
• Hawaii Habitat received a $2,500 sponsorship for 2009’s statewide Build-a-Thon
Build-a-Thon to lower the costs of t-shirts and hats for
volunteers statewide. Hawaii Habitat also secured a ¼ page of ad space
free of charge in the Honolulu Advertiser to thank event sponsors
throughout the state.
• In June, Hawaii Habitat was selected by the Department of Hawaiian
Home Lands to partner with them to start at least 20 homes in the next
year. DHHL will provide a total of $2 million to build homes for low
income Native Hawaiian families, mostly on large parcels of undivided
interest land. We are currently waiting for the contract to be signed.

• A cooperative application by
Habitat affiliates and Hawaii
Habitat was submitted to the
Bank of Hawaii in 2009.
While it wasn’t funded, it
received a lot of praise and
demonstrates a collaborative
funding effort which we hope
to continue in the future.

The Dudoit-Temahaga family gets ready to

begin construction on their home on a
DHHL lot in Ho’olehua on the island of
Molokai. Their home was completed in a
record 3 months!
 Training and Technical Assistance

While providing learning opportunities for affiliates is not new to Hawaii

Habitat, having it as one of the pillars of our program is and we are gearing up
to meet the opportunity.

• In 2009 we had our first series of training/networking sessions in

partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Two
affiliates, Molokai and Honolulu, participated in the sessions with their
boards of directors. The Federal Reserve Bank sponsored food and
conference space, secured speakers, and coordinated other logistical
details working together
with Hawaii Habitat and the
affiliates.

• In 2009 Hawaii Habitat

funded and put on monthly
Affiliate Committee
conference calls, and
several in-person meetings
hosted by rotating affiliates,
including Hilo and Honolulu.

• Hawaii Habitat has recently

begun planning its first
statewide conference for Habitat affiliates to be held in late spring/early
summer 2010.

• An affiliate needs assessment has been developed to help us better

understand what kind of training needs and support we can provide to
the affiliates, as well as what kinds of things affiliates would like to see
at our first annual conference.

• In order to provide a more comprehensive and accessible venue for

affiliate support, Hawaii Habitat is working to become more of a ‘hub’
that affiliates can contact for information and research needs. In
addition, we plan on implementing an up to date green building
database to provide the most current building statistics, available gifts
in kind, and green building programs for each affiliate.

• Hawaii Habitat has been working to develop information

sharing/networking sessions for construction site supervisors and family
selection/services staff statewide, which will be carried out in 2010.

Green Building
 Since adding a Green Building Associate VISTA member in 2009, our technical
assistance in that area has grown significantly. Several important partnerships
are currently in development.

• AIA: On November 4, 2009, Hawaii

Hawaii Habitat - helping to make
greener homes for Hawaii’s keiki!
Habitat presented at the American
Institute of Architect’s 10th Annual Pacific
Building Trade Expo in Honolulu on a
panel that included 3 affiliates for over
75 attendees. The exhibitor tradeshow
was attended by over 2,000 building
industry representatives, hundreds of
whom learned about Hawaii Habitat
through our booth with case studies and
general organizational information.

• Hawaii Sunshine Nursery: Because of a generous

donation from Hawaii Sunshine Nursery, Hawaii Habitat was able to
distribute hundreds of ferns for no cost to affiliates on several islands
to help homeowners landscape their new yards. These ferns will help
to stabilize the soil and to cool the air immediately around the home.

• Green Collar Technologies: We are

developing a partnership with Big
Island based non-profit Green Collar
Technologies to provide skilled green
building volunteers to interested
affiliates. Attendees of a GCT green building class would gain hands-on
experience learning on a Habitat job site to help them gain their
certification. We hope to grow a new generation (any age!) of Habitat for
Humanity affordable green housing advocates with the training of the
green collar jobs workforce in Hawaii.

• BIA & DBEDT: We are currently in the development stages of an

internal green building training program for Habitat construction
managers and site supervisors using the state supported Hawaii
BuiltGreen rating system. The rating system is a joint project by the
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and
Building Industry Association of Hawaii, but its
development included many stakeholders from the
community. It is the only rating system that is specific to
the state of Hawaii and has a focus on natural ventilation,
termite details, erosion control, and water conservation. There is also
an emphasis on small home size and solar hot water heating, which
are both standard operating procedures for Habitat for Humanity
homes in Hawaii.
Advocacy
Hawaii Habitat is involved in advocacy on both the local and the national
level.
• In 2009 we brought self help housing organizations across the islands
together as a coalition to fight for a Self Help Housing Trust Fund.
Hawaii Habitat, Habitat affiliates and staff of other self help housing
programs testified at the
legislature, wrote letters, and
went door to door to solicit All of our words and actions are for
support for our cause. Investing putting shelter in the hearts and
in self help housing results in minds of people so that poverty
families moving from poverty to
personal and financial security
and homelessness become
using their own hands and unacceptable in our nations and
working hand in hand with the world.
others. For the second year in a
row this was a very popular idea
-Habitat’s ultimate goal
at the legislature. Unfortunately,
the impending realities of the state economy eventually resulted in
legislators deciding not to fund the project. Our efforts broadened the
support for self help housing in the legislature and, we believe the
foundation has been laid to help fund these critical programs, when the
economy improves.

• Other local advocacy efforts focused on supporting

legislation to increase the Rental Housing Trust Fund,
save existing state housing funds and programs and
increase funds for other housing and shelter solutions.

• As a part of Habitat for Humanity’s Build Louder Campaign, Hawaii

Habitat supported
successful efforts to
create a national
Neighborhood
Stabilization Program
of $150 million for
Habitat affiliates to
reclaim abandoned
and foreclosed
properties and for the
establishment of a
National Housing Trust
Fund.
 The Hawaii State Capitol building in downtown Honolulu
Disaster
Preparedness
As recommended by HFHI, Hawaii Habitat is
also expanding its role as a provider of
disaster preparedness services for affiliates.
In 2009, we ramped up those efforts by
becoming involved in local meetings of the
Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.
VOAD is the forum where organizations
share knowledge and resources throughout
the disaster cycle – preparation, response,
and recovery – to help disaster survivors and
their communities. Members of VOAD form a A house destroyed after Hurricane Iniki
hit the island of Kauai in 1992.
coalition of nonprofit organizations that respond
to disasters as part of their overall mission. We have also put together a file
of important disaster preparedness contacts and information. Future efforts
include assessing the needs of affiliates and helping to create disaster
preparedness plans and share other necessary information.

Other Areas of Growth

Strategic Planning

2009 saw the initiation of a strategic planning process for Hawaii Habitat. A
new mission and vision statement were drafted and adopted. Key informant
interviews were conducted with affiliate executive directors, strategic
directions were defined, goals were prioritized for each direction and teams
were set up to begin work on action plans.

Public Relations/Technology

In Fall of 2009, Hawaii Habitat set up and has been maintaining a

multipurpose website/blog and Facebook and Twitter accounts, to connect to
the community and share up to date information on SSO and affiliate events,
accomplishments, volunteer opportunities and more. This has been a great
way to connect with Hawaii and mainland affiliates and share real-time
information with them as well as to reach hundreds of community members
who support our efforts.

National Service
From
In 2009, Hawaii Habitat became approved as a host site for www.americorps.gov
the Americorps VISTA program. This allows us to hire members to
make one year commitments to serve full time with our organization in
various areas. For our ‘pilot’ year, we hired a Research and Training Associate
and a Green Building Associate.
 “Discussions about low-income homeownership
can be extremely complex, or they can be as
simple as imagining a family either continuing to
live in a cycle of poverty or having the opportunity
to break free, make changes and discover a world
of hope and promise.”

Johnathan Reckford, CEO

Habitat for Humanity International