By Eric Co, CEO of the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation. Photos courtesy of Olivia Wallace and Joe Wat
Though the Kona Low Floods in Windward Oʻahu occurred in March, for many recovery has continued to lag even now. Of the 800 discrete Koʻolauloa cases compiled by the Koʻolau Resilience Hub Network, led by KEY Project and administrated by Vibrant Hawaiʻi, an estimated 150-300 are from families are “quietly struggling”— they do not feel their situations are as bad as those most affected, and yet, they have sustained sufficient damage to their homes as to make them uninhabitable. These families remain displaced. Yet, according to resilience hub members serving as case managers , while these families are kept out of their homes due to conditions that are unlivable, they are not financially insurmountable. Damage in these homes vary from mold remediation to basic structural, electrical and plumbing repairs—costs typically not exceeding $15-20,000 dollars. Nevertheless, the damages require both modest aid and construction expertise that these families do not have ready access to.
Currently, there are three options for financial aid: filing an insurance claim, applying for an SBA loan, or requesting FEMA aid, generally in that order. Insurance is the first option, if they have it. An SBA loan is available, but there are restrictions. FEMA aid was available for request until June, but only after insurance claims had been denied. All of these programs require guidance for application. All of them take time. Meanwhile, these families continue to be displaced.
One near-term bridge solution that the Harold Castle Foundation is excited to launch is a recoverable grant program the likes of which does not exist for Koʻolau disaster victims (though there is a somewhat similar program being piloted for Lahaina wildfire victims). The purpose of the program would be to provide up-front contractor and repair supplies costs to get families back in their homes as soon as possible. Under contractual agreement with the program lead, whatever aid is eventually provided to the family for the same home repair needs (via claims, loans or aid), could be paid back into the fund for other families to benefit from. If the family is never awarded follow-up assistance, the recoverable grant can be released.
There are two key partners in this effort. Firstly, Hawaiʻi Community Lending (HCL) is a trusted, high-performing CDFI that provides effective home loan and recoverable grant programs for low-AMI families. HCL will lean on its established programs and expertise to recommend vetted general contractors who participate in its Kūkulu Partner Program as well as originate, monitor, and fund recoverable grants for families to cover home repair costs. The other key partners would be KEY project, who will provide their depth of relationships in the community as well as their services in case management for local families. KEY project will lead the resilience hub network in connecting eligible families to this service. The hub network is also shoring up their database—called DARCI— to make it consistent with Federal requirements to be able to define and track clear resolution to each case. Both the hub network led by KEY and Vibrant Hawaiʻi want to share lessons learned from this pilot with all relevant government and private partners for a more efficient, effective response with contractors and government partners for future crises.
We’re excited about the combination of realizing the full value of deep community relationships with the value creation potential of this emerging financial tool.
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