On the morning of Aug. 8, 2023, a deadly fire tore through Hawaii’s Maui island, claiming more than 100 lives and destroying more than 2,000 homes. The historic town of Lahaina was ravaged beyond recognition in one of the state’s greatest crises.
The next day, Gov. Josh Green tasked the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. (HHFDC) and its 60 employees with creating a program to help those left without a home find shelter as quickly as possible. By Aug. 10, HHFDC had a blueprint for the Hawaii Fire Relief Housing Program.
“It was something that we wanted to do,” says HHFDC executive director Dean Minakami. “This was such a devastating experience. People statewide wanted to help the survivors. We were lucky that as part of our jobs we could do something to help people.”
The agency was recently recognized for special achievement by the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) as part of the association’s Annual Awards for Program Excellence.
Without additional resources, the HHFDC team created a database to connect Maui residents affected by the fire with property owners who could provide housing on Maui or statewide. People with an available apartment or other housing could submit a listing that was then verified by HHFDC staff. Wildfire survivors could then electronically search for available housing. The program was launched just five days after the fire.
In the days following the launch, nearly all of HHFDC’s staff worked into the night, contacting landowners, landlords, and management companies in an effort to secure an estimated 2,000 units and to vet both landlords and tenants.
“Every listing that came into us, we would verify,” says Minakami, explaining that the agency wanted to thwart any potential scams that sought to take advantage of the fire victims.
He notes that many people in the Lahaina region did not have internet access for months after the fire. As a result, officials worked with relief organizations to get information on available housing to the survivors.
To simplify the program, HHFDC leaders chose to impose as few restrictions for either the landlords or tenants as possible, leaving the negotiation of rental arrangements to the parties involved. The program offered no compensation to the landlords, although many were later eligible to receive assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
HHFDC notes that housing needs varied. Larger-sized displaced families sought to stay together and requested multiple bedrooms. Other survivors asked for arrangements that allowed them to keep their pets indoors. Once the public was able to submit information online using automated forms, the data entered through these forms seamlessly auto-populated a centralized database hosted on SharePoint.
The Hawaii Fire Relief Housing Program was able to place about 600 households into temporary housing, according to Minakami, who says that’s a conservative estimate.
“It was a tragedy what happened in Lahaina, and we’re happy we could help in some way,” Minakami says.
MaineHousing Boosts Housing in Rural Communities
A groundbreaking ceremony was held for a 16-unit affordable housing community in Newcastle, Maine, at the end of October.
Odds are 16 Mills Road Newcastle would not be happening without the support of MaineHousing’s Rural Affordable Rental Housing (RARH) program, an initiative that was recently honored by NCSHA for encouraging affordable rental housing construction in rural communities.
The program makes projects like 16 Mills Road possible, says developer Rob Nelson. He’s done a number of commercial projects, but this is his first housing development and his first deal with the state housing agency.
It’s often difficult for small rural projects to compete for and make the numbers work with low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs), the federal program that drives most affordable housing development.
“This project is way too small for the overhead of the tax credit program,” Nelson says. “Historically, there’s been a gap where affordable housing in a small, rural context just isn’t possible, so MaineHousing created this program to fill that gap.”
RARH is special because it can help smaller communities where a traditional LIHTC project may not be the best solution, says Mark Wiesendanger, director of development at MaineHousing.
First created in 2021 using COVID-19 relief funds, RARH has twice been refunded by the Maine Legislature, including $20 million in 2024—a testament to the program’s ongoing success and effectiveness.
It assists developers in creating rental housing developments of five to 18 units. All units must be leased to households making no more than 80% of the area median income.
The program finances the acquisition and adaptive-reuse of existing buildings, the acquisition and substantial rehabilitation of existing non-rent-restricted housing, or the creation of newly constructed buildings.
Wiesendanger says the beauty of the program is that it is far simpler and less bureaucratic than many other housing financing sources. As a result, developers don’t have to be as experienced in that regard to utilize the RARH program.
A key partner is the Genesis Community Loan Fund, which helps provide technical assistance to developers with a range of experience.
Interest in the rural program has been strong, with demand outstripping the available funding. Since its inception, RARH has led to the financing of 230 units in 13 rural locations across nine of Maine’s 16 counties and counting.
Nelson’s 16 Mills Road will utilize modular construction to create two buildings with one-bedroom units. The team hopes to welcome residents into the new apartments in the spring.
The approximately $5 million development follows a model created by the developers of a project in Madison, which is also supported by the RARH program.
Located within walking distance of Newcastle’s village center, 16 Mills Road is designed to fit into the community. It’s also going to help the area’s Lincoln County fill its need for an estimated 1,300 units in the next decade, including almost 900 affordable units.
“The bottom line is that without a program like this, this housing wouldn’t exist,” Nelson says.
Indiana Expands Housing Access for People With Intellectual Disabilities
New housing opportunities are being created for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) in Indiana.
Since 2018, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) has reserved a portion of its annual housing tax credits for developments that commit to serving individuals with IDD in an integrated setting.
“Going back to late 2016 and 2017, we as an agency took it on ourselves to look at the data,” says Matt Rayburn, deputy executive director and chief real estate development officer at IHCDA. “… We wanted to get a better idea of who’s benefiting from tax credit units in Indiana and what populations are we maybe not serving as well.”
The agency had a strong track record of boosting accessible and adaptable units for wheelchair users and others with physical disabilities. However, it recognized that more needed to be done to ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have access to affordable housing, according to Rayburn.
Housing poses a major challenge for adults with IDD. Many live with their aging parents who serve as primary caregivers. However, when those family caregivers die or can longer provide support, adults with IDD often must transition to group homes or institutional settings.
IHCDA worked with the state Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services, advocacy groups, and others to talk through options.
“We developed this model to say, ‘let’s create dedicated units, but let’s do it in an integrated way,’” Rayburn says, emphasizing that the team wanted to avoid creating segregated setting.
The result is IHCDA reserves 10% of its LIHTCs to the community integration set-aside. To be eligible for the set-aside, developments must reserve at least 20% of the total units for households in which at least one member is a person with IDD or a traumatic brain injury.
The units must be spread throughout the property and cannot be clustered into a separate designated area. Creating designated buildings or areas solely for occupancy by persons with disabilities does not qualify, and the owner may not limit occupancy to a particular type of disability, according to officials.
The program also works to connect residents with supportive services.
The community integration set-aside received an NCSHA award for program excellence in the special-needs housing.
Over the six years of the set-aside, IHCDA has seen 362 units established in 32 developments across 22 communities across the state, ranging from big cities to small towns. One recent development had about 200 people on a waiting list for 10 units.
To read about the other programs that earned NCSHA’s Awards for Program Excellence, click here.
