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Hawai‘i Community Lending Receives $5M Investment to House Native Hawaiians

Hawaii Community Lending Receives $5M Investment to House Native Hawaiians

Hawaiʻi Community Lending received a $5 million investment from the Stupski Foundation to expand the nonprofit’s affordable housing fund focused on servicing native Hawaiians. HCL will pool the investment with other public and private capital to grow its revolving loan fund to $20 million.

HCL is a nonprofit community development financial institution founded in 2014 that funds the affordable housing ecosystem in Hawaiʻi from the homebuyer to the home builder to the homeowner. The organization plans to use the Stupski investment to finance construction loans for native Hawaiians to build on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. With this investment, HCL aims to house 200 beneficiary families over the next five years directly with the funds.

“This partnership will allow us to meet the demand we see growing on Hawaiian Home Lands under the leadership of Department of Hawaiian Home Lands current chair Kali Wilson,” said Jeff Gilbreath, executive director, Hawaiʻi Community Lending. “We extend a huge mahalo to the Stupski Foundation for showing leadership in the field with this investment.”

The historic investment from the Stupski Foundation will be made to HCL at 0% interest but with a requirement, show return by the number of Hawaiians housed after the five-year term.

Native Hawaiian beneficiaries of Hawaiian Home Lands in need of construction loans are encouraged to contact Hawai’i Community Lending at HawaiiCommunitylending.com or by calling 808-587-7656.

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About HCL: Hawai‘i Community Lending is the premier nonprofit mortgage lender navigating local and Hawaiian families on their path to homeownership. Started in 2002 as a mortgage broker under Hawaiian Community Assets and founded as a subsidiary nonprofit in 2014, HCL is a trusted community partner with the expertise to identify ready homebuyers and provide them with down payment assistance, construction financing, and affordable mortgages. As a community development financial institution, HCL uplifts the entire affordable housing ecosystem by providing financial education, affordable loans and grants to homebuyers, homebuilders, and homeowners. For more information, visit www.HawaiiCommunityLending.com.

About Stupski Foundation: Stupski Foundation is a private foundation returning all its assets to the communities it calls home in Hawaiʻi and the San Francisco Bay Area by 2029 to support just and resilient food, health, and higher education systems for all. Learn more at stupski.org

About Aikū’ē Kalima

Aikū’ē Kalima, former Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund Manager for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, joins Hawaiʻi Community Lending as its lending director.
Kalima comes to HCL with more than 25 years of experience in community development and mortgage lending. In his new position, Kalima will direct HCL’s consumer, construction, mortgage and small business lending.
“As a native Hawaiian and Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiary, I understand the financial needs for economic development and quality housing for kānaka is great,” said Kalima, who led OHA’s deployment of $9.8 million in loans to 286 native Hawaiians statewide over the last five years. “For over 25 years, I have worked tirelessly at the grassroots level, educating kānaka on the skills necessary to achieve the dream of homeownership and providing resources to achieve financial sustainability. I plan to continue serving the lāhui empowering ‘ohana and communities as the lending director for Hawai‘i Community Lending.”
Kalima takes the reins of HCL’s $16-million revolving loan fund and will oversee a team of seven staff members statewide. “HCL is honored to have Aikū’ē join us in our mission to help tackle our housing crisis by funding native Hawaiian and local families to build, buy and save homes from foreclosure,” said HCL Executive Director Jeff Gilbreath. “He has proven leadership in both the public and private sectors and has the passion to get families on the land through homeownership.”

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About Nikki

Nikki Hollern is a mother of five, born and raised in Upcountry Maui, but she spent the last 15 years in the beautiful town of Lahaina. Lahaina stole her heart, with the people and the town being unlike any other. After the fire, her family had to relocate to Kahului.

Her heart remains in Lahaina, and her goal is to help this amazing community get back to where they belong. She feels blessed to have the opportunity to be part of the HCL ‘ohana, helping navigate this incredibly hard time and hopefully serving as a guiding light to assist the community in returning home and coming back even stronger.

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