$10M investment enables zero-down mortgages for native Hawaiians on Hawaiian Home Lands 

Northern Trust and Hawaiʻi Community Lending today announced a historic $10 million investment in HCL’s new Kūpaʻa Hale Loan program, helping to make zero-down mortgages available to native Hawaiians on Hawaiian Home Lands. Kūpaʻa means to be steadfast, firm and loyal, and this statewide loan is intended to help ʻohana set roots and be financially stable and grounded to their homeland.

“We mahalo Northern Trust for their commitment in getting native Hawaiians into homes and on the land,” said Jeff Gilbreath, executive director of HCL. “This partnership demonstrates what is possible when we come together around community development solutions to the longstanding issues that have impacted our families, like housing affordability. This privately funded program will move forward to fill at least one void from federal funding cuts and result in both financial and social returns for us and our investors.”

HCL is a nonprofit US Treasury-certified native Community Development Financial Institution  (CDFI). CDFIs operate with a primary mission of serving low-income communities, and HCL’s role is to support Hawaiʻi’s affordable housing ecosystem, from home buyers to home builders to homeowners. 

Northern Trust and Hawaiʻi Community Lending today announced a historic $10 million investment in HCL’s new Kūpaʻa Hale Loan program, helping to make zero-down mortgages available to native Hawaiians on Hawaiian Home Lands. Kūpaʻa means to be steadfast, firm and loyal, and this statewide loan is intended to help ʻohana set roots and be financially stable and grounded to their homeland.

“We mahalo Northern Trust for their commitment in getting native Hawaiians into homes and on the land,” said Jeff Gilbreath, executive director of HCL. “This partnership demonstrates what is possible when we come together around community development solutions to the longstanding issues that have impacted our families, like housing affordability. This privately funded program will move forward to fill at least one void from federal funding cuts and result in both financial and social returns for us and our investors.”

HCL is a nonprofit US Treasury-certified native Community Development Financial Institution  (CDFI). CDFIs operate with a primary mission of serving low-income communities, and HCL’s role is to support Hawaiʻi’s affordable housing ecosystem, from home buyers to home builders to homeowners. 

In February 2025, HCL opened a $35-million private investor offering with the goal of helping 100 native Hawaiians realize homeownership and return to the land. The offering was created as a response to federal funding reductions for the USDA 502 Direct program that have taken place over the last several presidential administrations. The cuts to the USDA program have led to delays for low-income Hawaiʻi homebuyers and only a limited number of USDA 502 Direct mortgages being funded each year. 

Now, HCL is positioned to make zero-down, low-fee mortgages with competitive interest rates and no income or property restrictions, giving native Hawaiians another affordable option to finance homeownership on Hawaiian Home Lands throughout the state.

With today’s announcement, Northern Trust becomes the first investor into the Kūpaʻa Hale Loan program and brings homeownership that much closer to reality for native Hawaiian families in need of financing. Northern Trust is a preeminent global financial institution that invests with local organizations like HCL to help meet the credit needs of communities. 

Northern Trust is the banking partner for Parker Ranch, who helped to foster this partnership between the two entities. The funds Northern Trust has invested will make these zero-down mortgages available to Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) residents in Waimea and Laʻiʻōpua, neighborhoods in the North and West Hawaiʻi communities where Parker Ranch also holds land and works to support communities

With the $10-million investment from Northern Trust, HCL continues to seek the remaining $25 million from private investors so loans can start to be made to native Hawaiian families.

“We are grateful for the introduction to HCL by Parker Ranch, and we are pleased to play a role in support of affordable housing in a beautiful and inherently expensive market,” said Kimberly Evans, Northern Trust Head of Corporate Sustainability, Inclusion and Social Impact.  “We have confidence in the framework that HCL has built, and believe their innovative approach answers the call for meeting the needs of the community and allowing for safe and sound investments at a critical time.”

HCL’s goal is always to find solutions for Hawaiʻi’s housing crisis by helping families build, buy and save homes from foreclosure. In the past year alone, HCL made 394 grants and loans totaling $15.3 million, helping 241 families secure or sustain homeownership.

Hawaiian Home Lands lessees who are interested in the Kūpaʻa Hale Loan program may add their names to an interest list by calling HCL at 808-587-7656 or contacting HCL online at: https://hawaiicommunitylending.com/contact/

See article at Maui Now here.