“I think we expected that the program would have success, but I think we were surprised with how much success it had,” said Ray Kong, legal director for Lawyers for Equal Justice, a project of Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice.

The Act 57 program ended in August 2022. Kong said Hawaiʻi Appleseed will be advocating for a permanent rental relief program that includes mediation to stabilize affordable housing.

“Our overall goal is to advocate for a continuation of some form of rent relief program and really start changing the mindset and thinking—that rent relief was just for COVID,” Kong said. “But instead, understanding that some type of relief and assistance should be a permanent part of stabilizing affordable housing.”