HOUSING FOR ALL AMERICANS:
THE BEST AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS OF 2006-2007
PROFILE OF A RESIDENT
Hawaiian Volunteer Depends on Affordable Project
BY ANDRE SHASHATY
HOUSING FOR ALL AMERICANS • DECEMBER 2007
 KANEOHE, HAWAII - When Dorothea Pale and
her husband, Isaia, were
younger and both working,
renting a house in
this town near Honolulu
was within their financial reach.
They lived happily with their two children
in a rented house. But in the last 10 to
15 years, housing prices and rents have
shot up throughout the Hawaiian Islands,
putting market-rate housing out of reach
for many people earning modest incomes.
Dorothea had two knee-replacement
surgeries and found it hard to work, making
Isaia the only breadwinner. He works
as an engineer at a major tourist hotel, and
is taking on-the-job training to try to
advance further. Their income is now
about $30,000 a year, and they depend on
the affordable three-bedroom apartment
they having been renting for the last eight
years at the Kulana Nani Apartments.
The 160-unit property was financed
with federal housing subsidies and is now
managed by EAH Housing, a nonprofit
corporation based in San Rafael, Calif.,
which develops low-income housing and
manages 67 properties in California and
Hawaii.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that there was
affordable housing, I don’t know where
we’d be,” said Pale. Currently, the family
pays $672, including utilities, per month
for an apartment that allows Chelsea, 12,
and Isaia Jr., 10, to each have their own
bedroom. At the condominium complex
next door, a two-bedroom market-rate unit
rents for $2,000 per month.
The subsidized rent is all the family
can afford, Pale said. If they had to pay
more for housing, she said they would be
forced to decide, “Do we eat this week, or
should we pay rent? Should we go to the
doctor and buy medicine for the kids, or
pay the rent?”
Pale has been a tireless volunteer and
activist working to make the apartment
complex and neighborhood better. She is
president of the tenants’ association and
helped raise the funding to install a playground
and community center at the project.
Pale was recognized for her contributions
by the Affordable Housing
Management Association of Northern
California, Nevada, and Hawaii with its
award for “Outstanding Contribution by a
Resident.”
“Dorothea exemplifies what every
individual should strive to become,” said
Mary Murtagh, president and CEO of
EAH Housing. “Her deep appreciation of
the human condition is a model for all of
us. Her commitment to her fellow residents
and the homeless shows itself in her
passion to empower those who need assistance
with their housing needs.”
David Treusch, the property manager
for Kulana Nani Apartments, pointed out
the many activities and issues Pale works
on. “Dory has worked on so many issues
important to affordable housing residents.
From self-sufficiency programs, community
advocacy, to fundraising for playgrounds
and other programs, Dory has
done it all.”
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