Habitat for Humanity Hawaii administers federally funded COVID-19-driven assistance for rent, utilities

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Habitat for Humanity Hawaii Island family services and volunteer coordinator Adrienne Eisele. | Contributed photo

Habitat for Humanity Hawaii Island is one of seven local nonprofits partnering to provide millions of dollars in rental and utility assistance to households struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Along with six other nonprofits, we intend to disburse $21 million in rental assistance to families on the Big Island who have been affected by COVID," Habitat for Humanity Hawaii Island Executive Director Patrick Hurney told Big Island Times. "The Hawaii County Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) is funded through a federal grant from the county of Hawaii."

Under the program, once an applicant is approved for assistance, payments are made directly to the household's landlord, property manager or utility company, said Hurney, who joined Habitat for Humanity in 2009 and is a Sustainability Summit 2021 Affordable Housing panelist.

"Approved applicants will also have access to financial counseling and housing stability services," he said.

The federally funded ERAP is administered by the county of Hawaii and nonprofit partners. In addition to Habitat for Humanity Hawaii Island, these include HOPE Services Hawaii, Hawaii First Federal Credit Union, Neighborhood Place of Puna, The Salvation Army, and Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council. ERAP will provide rent or utility payment assistance through the end of this year to applicants directly impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

ERAP expects to assist about 3,400 households with qualifying incomes and who can prove pandemic-driven hardship due to COVID-19. Funding is limited to households that primarily reside on Hawaii Island. ERAP applicants must provide certain documents and meet qualifications.

ERAP in the county of Hawaii is a different model than in other counties disbursing similar funds, Hawaiian Community Assets Executive Director Jeff Gilbreath told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.

Usually only one nonprofit will handle all the funds but, under this model, "you've basically got six back offices cutting checks versus one," Gilbreath said. "The idea is you have six times the ability to get dollars out the door and [it is] not creating a bottleneck."

Habitat for Humanity's role is to act as a single access point for application processing and funding disbursement, Hurney told Big Island Times.

"Habitat's role also is to help families familiarize with Habitat's mission of affordable homeownership," he said. "In a sense it's an outreach incubator for renters to learn about homeownership with Habitat for Humanity."

The nonprofit participants historically have had commons interests and concerns, particularly helping families with affordable housing.

"Our island is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis," Hurney said. "These organizations understand the need for more affordable housing and to prevent families from homelessness. Many of the organizations also collaborated to help the survivors of the Kilauea volcano eruption in 2018."