Staffers at the Catholic Charities Hawaii rental assistance temporary headquarters at the Hawaii Convention Center. (Photo courtesy of Catholic Charities Hawaii)
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
During the 2020 holidays, while many were taking time off to enjoy the season, a team at Catholic Charities Hawaii worked long days, seven days a week to make sure that Hawaii renters got the assistance they needed during the pandemic.
Led by Stella Wong, vice president for programs, and Jillian Okamoto, division administrator for housing assistance and referral programs, a group of CCH staffers and even more temporary staffing agency hires, set up headquarters at the Hawaii Convention Center. Manning computers and phones, they hurried to process the last of the 12,000 applications they received for rental assistance in Hawaii.
In August, CCH had been picked by the state of Hawaii to be the primary agency handling the distribution of $60 million in CARES funding by the end of the year.
Aloha United Way, the other nonprofit administering the program, handled part of the CARES funding in the state as well.
Almost anyone that needed help with rent could apply as the requirements were for people making up to 100% of the average median income in Hawaii.
CCH made sure to reach out to groups with members that might need rental assistance the most to encourage them to apply, for example, the Local 5 labor union representing hospitality, food service and healthcare workers, and Family Promise and the Susannah Wesley Community Center, both of which are nonprofits working with those in need, and the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii.
Around 1,600 applications came in on the first day alone, showing just how much the program was needed. More than 12,000 applications total came through when taking out duplicate applications, Wong said.
Catholic Charities staff created a new computer program to handle the large volume of applicants, something that took a tremendous amount of time, Okamoto said. There were some hiccups, but all the kinks were worked out.
The backend payment system allowed CCH to directly pay landlords and track not only the payment but all the tax-related items so 1099 tax forms could be sent out directly as well.
They also redid their main phone line so that it included an option to specifically help people with rental assistance rather than having to be funneled through a general line.
At one point, 42 staffers were working at the Convention Center to process all the applications.
“I’ve had state contracts before but not this big,” Wong said. “We were really overwhelmed, but it was something we knew we had to help the state because there were so many people who are desperate for rent and rent relief.”
“We were working 10-hour work days for five months straight including weekends,” Okamoto added. “But we knew it was for the state of Hawaii, ensuring that people remained housed and landlords get paid. It was for the greater good.”
In the end $43 million of $60 million made its way out to landlords.
The non-profit agency, an affiliate of the Diocese of Honolulu, also managed an additional $6 million in state rental funds in a second wave of applications and is anticipating how they’d handle an 18-month, $200 million CARES Act contract for the state.
Luckily the computer program used for rental assistance should be able to work with other CCH programs in the future.
A January contributor post to Forbes’s website by Roger Valdez, the director of Seattle For Growth, highlighted CCH as a case study to imitate, saying, “While having to start up their program quickly, Hawaii found a way to overcome bureaucratic hurdles to get help to where it is needed the most.”
“I don’t think it could have been done if we weren’t surrounded by flexible parties: funders, staff, recipients,” Okamoto said. “Patience, understanding and flexibility on everybody’s part was needed.”
Rob Van Tassell, CCH’s president and CEO, said, “I think that the church should be proud that Catholic Charities was able to do this and be such an example.”
