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NATIVE HAWAIIAN HOUSING BLOCK GRANT FUNDS AWARDED TO DHHL FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025

July 7, 2025
Categories: 
Media Releases, Media Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 4, 2025

HONOLULU – The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) announced Friday it has secured a substantial $22.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant (NHHBG). Established under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act (NAHASDA), the NHHBG exclusively provides funding to DHHL to address the unique housing challenges faced by Native Hawaiians by offering affordable housing options for low-income Native Hawaiian families.

“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 DHHL Director Kali Watson. “The unwavering dedication of our congressional delegation deserves recognition in this award as they are the true advocates behind this source of funding for the department.”

As the designated recipient for the NHHBG administered by the HUD Office of Native American Programs (ONAP), DHHL received $9.6 million in funding in 2002 to advance housing initiations for eligible Native Hawaiian families. Over the last twenty years, the department has consistently received more than two times its original allocation, averaging $22.3 million annually.

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

In the current fiscal year starting July 1, 2024, DHHL allocated nearly $40 million, surpassing its highest recorded expenditure from 2017 by more than double. In the 23 years since its inaugural award, DHHL has made significant progress in the allocation of funding to its beneficiaries resulting in the:

  • Expenditure of $194 million in NHHBG program funds (90% of all NHHBG funds awarded);
  • Building, acquisition, or rehabilitation of 769 affordable homes using NHHBG funds;
  • Improvement of approximately 693 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; while
  • 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.

Enacted in 1996, NAHASDA transformed the way American Indians and Alaska Natives provided affordable housing on rural Indian reservations and Alaska Native villages. 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 utilize federal funds to tackle affordable housing challenges.

Four years later, Congress amended NAHASDA by adding Title VIII, 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 (AMI) for their specific counties.

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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 management of more than 200,000 acres of land statewide with the specific purpose of developing and delivering homesteading.

Media Contact:

Diamond Badajos  
Information and Community Relations Officer  
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands  
Cell: 808-342-0873  
Email: [email protected]