The state expects to spend more than $90 million over the next two years on a range of initiatives that may begin to turn the tide on Hawai'i's severe shortage of affordable housing.

The unexpected eviction of about 200 homeless people from Ala Moana Beach Park in the middle of the last legislative session pushed the plight of the homeless into the spotlight and forced lawmakers to take immediate action.

Since then, temporary shelters in Kaka'ako and Wai'anae have helped move some of the homeless out of sight, but they were hardly out of mind as lawmakers this session boosted the budget for homeless shelters and services by $6 million and turned their attention to longer-term solutions, such as increasing the stock of affordable rentals and repairing existing public housing units.

One major step was finding $25 million in bond financing to begin the purchase of the affordable Kukui Gardens rental complex in downtown Honolulu.

Drew Astolfi, lead organizer for Faith Action for Community Equity, said that with the success of the Kukui Gardens effort, organizers will now begin looking at a "whole range of properties" in Hawai'i, including eight in a similar situation to Kukui Gardens and another 60 that could opt out of offering affordable rentals.

Among them is a 64-unit Kahuku senior housing project where the nonprofit that owns it is considering canceling its federal Section 8 contract, which would convert rents to market rates.

"I think that the vast amount of media coverage helped everyone to be more aware of this problem. There wasn't arguing over whether or not it was an important issue. There was agreement," said Connie Mitchell, executive director of the Institute for Human Services.

While last year he lobbied primarily on behalf of the homeless, this year the Rev. Bob Nakata focused his attention on saving the Kukui Gardens affordable rental complex and noted that everyone seems aware that until more affordable housing is available, the homeless problem can't be solved.

"I think the Legislature and the administration have been focusing the last two years on homeless issues in a significant way, and with the additional shelters that are coming on line, the awareness is built that the housing side is what needs attention now," Nakata said. "It's going to take several years to catch up on the housing side before we see a big impact on the homeless side."

HOMES, NOT SHELTERS

Rep. Maile Shimabukuro, chairwoman of the House Human Services and Housing Committee, agrees that building homes, not shelters, is the priority.

"All the transitional and emergency shelters are time-limited. We don't just want to have a Band-Aid where we give someone a roof over their head for three months, then they have to face the problem again," she said. "How do we get more people into a permanent situation and off the beach?"

The state will be using more than $90 million over the next two years to answer this question. Lawmakers committed $25 million toward acquiring the 857-unit Kukui Gardens and could potentially add another 340 units on the property, which is permitted for 1,200 apartments.

Another $25 million will be used to address a repair and maintenance backlog at public housing complexes, with $5 million earmarked for elevator repairs at high-rises.

The lawmakers also adopted measures to encourage developers to build more affordable housing by putting an additional $29 million into a fund that helps subsidize the development of affordable rentals, and dedicating 50 percent of the conveyance tax to this Rental Housing Trust Fund, which should increase it another $14 million.

Other money was dedicated to helping needy people own their own homes.

For instance, counties have been ordered to allow building of indigenous Hawaiian structures that could drastically reduce the cost of building a home because builders would not have to import chemically treated wood.

"To make a hale or halau, you can take what's already there, wood that we have like 'ohi'a from the Big Island," said Shima-bukuro, D-45th (Wai'anae, Makaha, Makua).

In addition, lawmakers not only lifted a $160 cap on monthly rent subsidies, but they also allotted $1 million to help those who receive rent subsidies or live in public housing start saving for a down payment on a home.

"Having your own home is the first step toward building your own assets and starting to build your own wealth and breaking the cycle of poverty," Shima-bukuro said.

Homeless advocates say the session was a success.

Mitchell, at IHS, said she was heartened by the amount the Legislature gave to homeless services in general, about $11.5 million. "I think it was a pretty well-rounded effort. There was money for the chronic homeless, families in need and affordable housing."

She said those involved in homelessness and affordable housing now need to put the money to good use so that lawmakers will feel comfortable investing more money in solutions to homelessness.

TAKING STEPS FORWARD

"If we can do a good job, using the money wisely and using it quickly and getting these units up for people to rent, I'm sure that the Legislature will be able to do more," she said.

Astolfi of FACE said that the housing crisis was so acute this session that it didn't take a lot of lobbying to make sure more money was put toward affordable housing.

Astolfi said he was glad to see lawmakers commit to steadily increasing the Rental Housing Trust Fund, which helps preserve existing affordable rentals, as well as encourage development of new ones.

"It will serve to attract new developers, entice them to do more direct construction and acquire units," he said.

Mitchell, who sees many of the chronic homeless at the IHS emergency shelter, wants to make sure that the permanently disabled don't get lost as the state tries to help families into stable living situations.

While taking a family off the street has a more visible impact, Mitchell said the chronic homeless who populate the shelters also need places to live.

"People who have chronic disabilities, who have less of a chance of getting back into a regular housing situation, those are people we need to pay attention to as well," she said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.