[ FIRST HOME ]

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Liane Kahapea stands in the doorway of her family's new Habitat for Humanity home in Waimanalo. As part of the criteria for qualifying for a Habitat home, Kahapea has volunteered 500 hours building other people's houses for the last 2 1/2 years. This is the fifth house she has helped build.

Foundation of hope

The nonprofit Habitat for Humanity
helps low-income families act on their
dreams of owning their own homes

At first the furnishings will be sparse. For just a little while, until she can afford to do more, the house won't have much more than beds and appliances. But it will be hers. And all because Liane Kahapea, a widow with three kids, mounting bills and a modest income, dared to imagine herself owning a home.

"Before, it was a wish and then it became a need," Kahapea said. "I can do without furniture. ... I wanted to at least give my kids something when I pass away."

As an educational specialist at Kalani High School, Kahapea brings in just more than $16,000 a year.

She says she could never afford to buy a house on her earnings alone. But with help from nonprofit Habitat for Humanity, she is able to join the hundreds of (mostly middle-class) Hawaii residents who will acquire the deed to their first home this year.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Piulu Kahapea, 11, helps paint the baseboards for his family's new Habitat for Humanity home in Waimanalo.

"It's hard being Hawaiian and not being able to afford living in Hawaii," Kahapea said. "I just think this is the greatest opportunity."

Habitat for Humanity guaranteed Kahapea a $65,000 loan for the gross construction costs of her house. She will pay it back in about 14 years in $400 monthly increments.

Anne Marie Beck, the organization's executive director in the islands, said Habitat for Humanity is looking to complete 11 houses in Hawaii this year. The nonprofit helps families that own at least a patch of land and make 50 percent or less of the state's median income.

Beck said home prices in the islands are discouraging even middle-class families from buying homes. Low-income residents, she added, often do not have a chance.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Liane Kahapea followed Chandler Rowe's instructions on how to lay tile.

"Prices are very high, and it does make it very difficult for the average person," she said. "In other ways, you need to believe in yourself that you can do it. So there's that whole motivational thing."

Kahapea said the road to owning a home has been bumpy, but the trek has been worth it. "It's not an easy thing but the benefits are immeasurable," she said. "It's exciting and scary, all jumbled into one."

Habitat for Humanity also provided Kahapea with free labor. Every Saturday since early March, about 20 volunteers have gathered on a small plot in Waimanalo to build her home.

Kahapea works alongside the crew, building friendships, too.

"They dedicate their time to work on my house," she said. "That's a service you can't repay. ... It's humbling."

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Habitat for Humanity is looking to build 11 houses in Hawaii this year. "Prices are very high, and it does make it very difficult for the average person," said Anne Marie Beck, the organization's executive director in Hawaii.

By midmonth, Kahapea and her children will have moved from a relative's house in Kaimuki to their newly built "almost oceanfront" home.

Kahapea says her children -- 15, 14 and 11 -- are looking forward to moving into their new home and joining the neighborhood.

So is Kahapea, who hopes the change will bring some much-needed stability and a place to concentrate on her studies -- she is getting her bachelor's degree in education at Chaminade University in Honolulu and hopes to start student-teaching next spring.

Things are really looking up, she says -- especially now that there is a place she can really call home.