Revitalizing Mayor Wright Homes could cost $1 billion
The construction timetable and cost estimate are in a draft environmental impact statement published earlier this month by the Hawaii Public Housing Authority.
Nutrition program earns award for Big Isle school
Kona Pacific Public Charter School was the first in the state to offer a universal breakfast program in 2014, with assistance from Hawaiʻi Appleseed.
State agency criticized for plan to lease rental projects
Affordable-housing advocates are decrying a state agency’s move to lease its portfolio of six low-cost rental projects, including three high-rises in Kakaʻako, to a private investor at a time when housing is in extremely short supply for low-income families.
Safety net must be strengthened
Should the ax fall hard, local and state government must be prepared to quickly and efficiently assess need and absorb some of the lost funding.
Nonprofits plan for potentially deep cuts
The Hawaiʻi Community Foundation today will bring together more than 200 island nonprofit organizations to prepare for potentially devastating cuts in federal funding under the Trump administration.
Tenants cash in on vacation rentals despite risks
Tenants who sublease their units as vacation rental properties without the owner’s permission face eviction. Those who break city rules also face penalties starting with an initial fine of $1,000 and up to $1,000 a day for continued violations.
Help for those who are elderly and poor
One in six residents in Hawaiʻi relies on Social Security benefits. But many of the elderly recipients live on the borderline of poverty and homelessness and need public assistance.
The Conversation: Increased enrollment in summer school lunch programs
It is an undeniable fact of being human: hunger never takes a holiday. For kids in summer school, being hungry doesn’t take a vacation either.
Number of Hawaiʻi students eating free summer meals increases
More students in Hawaiʻi took advantage of free summer meals last year, according to a national report released this week.
Women majority of elders in poverty, UH finds
Women being less financially secure in old age stems from lifelong pay and opportunity inequalities between the genders.
Hawaiʻi’s child well-being 17th in latest national rankings
High housing costs remain a significant challenge in our state. When families spend so much of their income on housing, they have fewer resources to meet other basic needs.
Hundreds of low-income Maui residents may face eviction
Their taxpayer-subsidized apartment building was supposed to be affordable for 50 years. But a loophole could end that arrangement far sooner.
Mayor unveiling affordable-housing strategy overhaul
After more than two years of analysis, number-crunching and talks with developers and housing advocates, the details of Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s affordable-housing strategy package is expected to go public today.
Kudos to schools for more free meals
While there’s a lot more work to be done, congratulations should be offered when deserved. This is one of those moments.
How house leaders scuttled better pay for foster parents
House Speaker Scott Saiki said attorney fees were too high in a multi-million-dollar settlement of a lawsuit challenging foster care payment rates.
Opposition to foreign condo sales raises legal questions
Did a City Council member create legal risks by suggesting the council might deny a development permit if the condos were sold to Chinese buyers?
City searches for a way to encourage affordable housing near rail stops
The council considers a bill Wednesday to give developers a break on zoning laws if they sell almost a third of their units as affordable housing.
Lawyering for Social Justice
Grassroots Institute’s Keliʻi Akina interviews Hawaiʻi Appleseed’s Gavin Thornton on the work Appleseed does to help low-income families find the legal resources needed to navigate the inequities and power imbalances of our current socioeconomic system.
Give low-income workers tax break
After years of putting it off, the legislature finally approved an important measure to help Hawaiʻi’s working poor—a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), based on the federal credit.
Affordable-housing rules are tightened
Affordable-housing advocates maintain that a city proposal for interim housing requirements for projects with zoning exemptions in transit-oriented development areas does not go far enough to meet Oʻahu’s housing shortage.