Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 29, 2022

HHC Accepts DHHL NAHASDA Reports

(Kapolei, Oʻahu) – The Hawaiian Homes Commission (HHC) has accepted the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ (DHHL) 2022 Annual Performance Report (APR) under the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant (NHHBG) and DHHL’s 2022 Abbreviated APR – NHHBG made available under the American Rescue Plan of 2021.

Title VIII of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act (NAHSDA) requires DHHL, the sole recipient of NHHBG Grant funds, to report annually on activities performed over the past year. The report was made available for a thirty-day public comment period beginning July 18, 2022.

As approved by HHC, the Department will submit a final version of the report to the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development by August 29, 2022. The APR reports on activities that were approved within DHHL’s Annual Housing Plan (AHP).

A summary of the expenditures can be reviewed below.

Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Expenditures by Annual Housing Plan activity:

AHP 1. 2021 Capital Improvement Projects: $71,031

AHP 2. Developer Financing: $0

AHP 3. Homeowner Financing: $1,405,175

AHP 4. Home Assistance Program: $561,136

AHP 5. Rental Operating Subsidy: $250,000

AHP 6. Rental Vouchers: $71,416

AHP 7. Emergency Rental and Utilities Assistance Program: $1,516,612

AHP 8. Housing Counseling: $159,849

AHP 9. Homeowner Assistance: $2,875,000

AHP 10. Existing Potable Water Infrastructure Improvements: $154,172

AHP 11: Housing Conversion: $0

AHP 12: Property Acquisition: $18,113

AHP 13: Crime Prevention: $0

Planning and Administration: $271,946

Total: $7,354,450

 

Current NAHASDA Balance: $13,936,246

Encumbered by Contract: $15,572,670

Available NAHASDA Balance: $0

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) became law on March 11, 2021, and made $5 million available to DHHL to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding sought to maintain normal operations and fund eligible affordable housing activities under NAHASDA during the period that the program was impacted by COVID-19.

DHHL deployed $5 million toward the Native Hawaiian Emergency Rental and Utilities Assistance program, providing emergency assistance to mitigate financial hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure housing stability.

The State of Hawaiʻi allocated an additional $5 million from its allocation in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 to DHHL to be disbursed.

DHHL partnered with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) to disperse these funds and assist over 800 Native Hawaiian households.

Final copies of the 2022 APR – NHHBG and the 2022 Abbreviated APR – NHHBG made available under the American Rescue Plan of 2021 are located on the DHHL website, dhhl.hawaii.gov/nahasda/nahasda-publications/.

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About the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands:
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands carries out Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole’s vision of rehabilitating native Hawaiians by returning them to the land. Established by U.S. Congress in 1921, with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the Hawaiian homesteading program run by DHHL includes the management of over 200,000 acres of land statewide with the specific purpose of developing and delivering homesteading.

Media Contact:
Cedric Duarte
Information and Community Relations Officer
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
(808) 620-9591
[email protected]