Family awarded home, thanks to HOAP

By Joan Conrow
KAUA‘I ISLAND NEWS

After years of singing the lyrics, “You’ve got to give some land to the Hawaiian people,” Shilo Pa has been awarded a homestead in Anahola, where he was born and raised. Within a year or two, Pa, his wife, Bernie, and their three children — Brianne, 17, Makoa, 13, and Kuili, 10 — will finally have a home of their own.

“Getting on the land is one thing, but in the real world today, we’ve gotta be able to keep up with our mortgage,” Pa says. “It’s not like the old days.” To keep up with a mortgage — or even qualify for a homestead award — most beneficiaries need to strengthen their finances. Now the Department of Hawaiian Homes is helping them do that by offering hope — in the form of Home Ownership Assistance Program (HOAP) classes.

Initially, Pa resisted attending the eight-hour HOAP class. “I was stubborn at first, thinking I could have been surfing that whole day. I’m so glad I didn’t go surfing. It was so educational. Helen (Wai) made it easy for us to get through the class. She made us have hope.”

The Pas first learned about the class in 2004, when Wai contacted Bernie, a childhood friend from Nanakuli. Although Pa had signed up on the Hawai-ian Homes waiting list when he was 18, then re-registered in 2001 after learning something had gone wrong with his paperwork, the couple felt a timely award was unlikely. They began looking for a house on the open market, but couldn’t swing the $3,000 monthly mortgage payments for even the lowest-priced Kaua‘i home. They couldn’t see paying high rent to pay off someone else’s mortgage, either. So, like many local families, they lived with ohana —in this case, Bernie’s parents in Kapahi.

“We love the family and thank the in-laws for letting us live there, but I thought, I’m gonna end up living here for the rest of my life,” Pa says.

But through the HOAP class, the Pas learned they did have a shot at a Homestead award — if they were willing to pay off their debts and save money for a down payment, closing costs and other expenses.

“It was about learning how to budget, getting rid of all our toys and nailing it down to the basic essentials of what we need,” says Pa, who sold two boats, a street motorcycle, two dirt bikes, a surfboard, an extra guitar and fishing gear.

It wasn’t easy selling some of his favorite things, but no worries, Pa says. “I’d rather give up all that stuff so my wife and my kids have a home,”he asserts. “This is our home town, our roots. My dream is to get back to my roots.” That dream began to come true last year, when Pa attended a meeting where Hawaiian Homes planned to award 160 lots in Anahola. The tension began building when the 150th award was made, and his name still had not been called.

Pa got up to go, saying “we outta here because what’s the chances of us getting an award now?” But Bernie urged her husband to be patient. “I told him, have faith, we’re going to get a house. The family was crying and watching from the side, too. It was very emotional.” Sure enough, they did get a lease — award number 158. The family hopes to get a home in the project’s first phase, “so we’re really pushing to save the money and pay off the bills,” Bernie says. In less than a year, they paid off debts totaling $16,000.

The fiscal discipline was hard at first, Pa says, “but now it’s just like normal. We don’t need too much stuffs.” And rather than working for cash and paying his own taxes, Pa got a regular job. Bernie works, too, and so does Bri-anne, a high school senior. “You’ve gotta have legal jobs,” he says. “If no more legal jobs, it’s not gonna happen. You need pay stubs.” That’s just one piece of advice he has to offer. “I’m trying to push a lot of the younger Hawaiian brothers to sign up and get their piece. We started going around and telling all the younger generation, the nieces and nephews, to stop spending money and get ready for the next award, “ Pa says.

“Don’t give up, just wake up,” he adds. “That’s what I had to do, wake up.”