1935
The Hawai‘i Housing Authority was created by the Territorial Legislature to provide safe and sanitary housing for low-income residents of Hawai‘i. Two years later, the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 made federal construction funds available.
1941
After December 7, 1941, an unprecedented defense building program began. After the war, a civilian housing shortage loomed and affordable housing was hard to come by. The average charged in an HHA unit was $14.03 per month.
1951
The HHA was Hawai‘i’s largest rental agency. Throughout the 1950’s, O‘ahu experienced unprecedented economic growth with development spreading in the windward and leeward areas. By the end of the decade, HHA completed eight new developments which provided 1,752 new units for Hawai‘i’s families.
1959
The Governor issued an executive order implementing the Government Reorganization Act of 1959, which created a new Department, and placed the Hawai‘i Housing Authority in the Department of Social Services for administrative purposes only. By the mid-60’s, the HHA had responded to the changes in the housing market and opened housing projects designed for the special economic, social and physical needs of Hawai‘i’s senior citizens.
1970
By 1970, the State Legislature broadened HHA’s duties by enacting Act 105 which permitted the State to raise $100 million to build low and moderate income housing.
1988
By 1988, HHA had developed through Act 105, a staggering 10,132 dwelling units—single family, townhouse, duplex, apartment and house lot unit types. The State of Hawai‘i’s Housing Finance and Development Corporation was created by Act 337 as part of Governor John Waihe‘e’s initiative to create one streamlined State organization to promote and develop a continuum of affordable housing. The change allowed the HHA to refocus its energies as the statewide public housing authority.
1990
In the 1990’s, the HHA once again broadened its responsibilities adding the State’s Homeless Programs. During this time, the HHA also realized the value of a comprehensive approach and grew its programs on drugs and crime prevention, education, job training and self-sufficiency. HHA opened the Family Investment center to address the self-sufficiency needs of families in public housing. Equipped with a computer lab and classrooms, residents were able to complete GED classes and obtain valuable job training. Former Executive Director, the late Mitsuo Shito listens to a resident at an event on Moloka‘i in the 1980’s.
1998
By June 1998, the HHA must once again ride the waves of change when it is abolished. Act 350, under the Cayetano Administration, consolidated the Hawai‘i Housing Authority and Housing Finance and Development Corporation into a single housing agency known as the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai‘i (HCDCH).
2005
On July 5, 2005, Act 196 effectively bifurcated the HCDCH into two agencies, the Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority (HPHA) and the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC). Under this new structure, HPHA’s core function is to manage federal and state public housing programs, including Section 8 and senior housing. In the next year, Homeless Programs are transferred to the Department of Human Services.
2010
Pursuant to Act 89 of the 2010 Hawai‘i Session Laws, the Homeless Programs Section was transferred from HPHA to the Benefit, Employment, and Support Services Division (BESSD) of DHS.
2014
The HPHA achieved a record high occupancy of 98% in its public housing programs. The Section 8 Program is rated a high performer under the Federal Assessment System. With a combined State and Federal capital program, the HPHA is managing approximately $150M in ongoing design and construction projects for its aging inventory.
2015
The HPHA embarked on expansion and redevelopment of its property inventory by establishing public/private relationships for the redevelopment of Mayor Wright Homes, HPHA’s N. School Street Administrative Offices, and Kūhiō Park Terrace.
2016
The HPHA successfully exhausted the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher waitlist, after ten years of being closed due to the amount of applicants requesting vouchers. The HPHA is now working toward assisting new residents suffering hardship with their housing needs.
2017
For the first time, the HPHA’s independent auditors report that there are no compliance findings related to internal controls over the HPHA’s major programs and no audit findings. This is a major accomplishment for the HPHA with the steady progress made in reducing and eventually removing all audit findings since 2012.
2019
The HPHA entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the University of Hawai‘i Community Design Center to conduct multi-disciplinary efforts across departments at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa including the School of Architecture, Center on the Family, and the Department of Sociology.
