Hawai’i Community Lending (HCL) kicked off 2026 with Hui Waiwai, their signature event held at Bishop Museum. Every year HCL gathers with their borrowers, investors, partners, and families to celebrate the success of the last year and look ahead to the next.
This year, HCL chose ʻŌlelo Noʻeau #2178 as our inspiration because it reflects the work HCL advanced in 2025, and the approach they are committed to carrying forward.
The Olelo Noeau #2178 reads – Mohala i ka wai ka maka o ka pua. Unfolded by the water are the faces of the flowers.
In essence, what tutu pukuʻi is telling us here is that: people thrive where living conditions are good. For HCL, this translates directly to affordability.
Affordability is about:
Partnerships that lower barriers.
Loan programs inspired and designed by our borrowers’ lived experiences.
And HCL intentionally creating systems that respond to families’ real needs—setting a new industry standard for what affordability should look like.
That understanding of affordability applies to every family we work with —and to the partners whose collaboration help make affordability outcomes possible.
Each family comes with: Different stories. Different timelines.AND Different challenges.
One family’s journey shows us what becomes possible when the right conditions come together – when affordability, partnership, and hands-on support are aligned as a community development model.
When Jona and Jason Ahuna came to HCL in 2020, they were among the first families to receive HCL’s Emergency Line of Credit during COVID. At this time, Chanel Josiah worked with them as their financial counselor, helping them organize and strengthen their housing and financial situation.
When the opportunity came up for vacant lot construction in Anahola, Kauaʻi, Josiah knew timing would matter. But more than anything, she knew, through spending time with the family and understanding their circumstances and goals, that this opportunity would be life-changing for them. And although she didn’t know it at the time, their journey would change her too.
The opportunity of homeownership represented a chance to create something different for their family—one that stems from a much larger vision that Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole had for Native Hawaiian families, which is, to “place them back on the soil.”
Jona and Jason’s journey was not simple. It was layered. It required planning, trust, and a willingness to walk a process that, by traditional standards, would have been labeled too complicated or too risky.
The Ahuna family never lacked commitment.
Over the course of their journey with HCL, the Ahuna family strengthened every part of their foundation — not just their home.
Since 2020:
• They received support across nearly every loan product HCL offers— from the emergency line of credit during COVID, to a debt consolidation loan, Hoomaka pre-construction loan, Kapili construction financing, and most recently, a Kahua Hale mortgage loan— a zero-down, low-fee loan with interest rates below 5%.
• Their combined household income has increased by over $25,000.
• Their combined credit scores increased by 201 points.
• They went from no savings to over $5,000 in savings.
• And today, they’re paying just about $100 more than they were paying in rent — to own their home.
“I thought about what you said. But God told me, if I build His house, He will build mine.”
Jona’s comment reminded Chanel that this was never just about numbers or timelines for the family. It was about having faith, upholding their values, dignity, and about walking this process together.
From that moment on, Chanel knew they weren’t just building a financial plan or budgets. We were building partnership.
Jona and Jason Ahuna were recognized at Hui Waiwai 2026 for their perseverance, their faith, their trust in this process, and for the home they have built for their family and for the seven generations that will be here long after them.
Contact HCL if you, a family member, colleague, or friend would like to work with us to get you on your land and in your home. As our motto stated, “we don’t say no, we say how”. Visit www.hawaiicommunitylending.com.
See full article at Hawai‘i News Now