HCBD’ s Kali Watson and Patti Barbee’s visions in the Ka Wai Ola News.
In the December 27, 2019 article, Hawaiian Community Development Board: A New Vision for Affordable Housing, By Puanani Fernandez-Akamine, she writes about HCBD’ s Kali Watson and Patti Barbee’s visions. HCDB was founded by Kali as a continuation of his passion for providing Native Hawaiian families with affordable housing options.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Kali Watson and Patti Barbee share an extraordinary vision for getting Hawaiians into housing, and together they are making it happen. Watson and Barbee operate the Hawaiian Community Development Board (HCDB), with Watson, HCDB’s founder, serving as President and CEO, and Barbee serving as Senior Vice President.
Unlike most development firms, HCDB is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization specializing in developing projects to provide low-income families with affordable housing. Notably, HCDB is the only existing Native Hawaiian owned and operated non-profit development firm building low-income rental housing. Although some of their projects are not exclusively for Hawaiians, serving the Native Hawaiian community is their passion and focus. Incorporated in 2000, HCDB is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors, all of whom are Native Hawaiian, and the majority of whom are Department of Hawaiian Home Land beneficiaries and leaders in their respective communities.
To achieve their prime objective of providing Native Hawaiian families with affordable housing, HCDB actively partners with DHHL and Hawaiian Homes community associations to develop alternative housing solutions on DHHL land. “After leaving DHHL I had a better understanding of the challenges,” said Watson. Referring to the Hawaiian community Watson notes, “our biggest need is housing. There are 28,000 Hawaiians on the (DHHL) waiting list. And a third of the homeless in Hawaiʻi are Native Hawaiian.”
An attorney and businessman, Watson served as DHHL Director from 1995-1998. During his tenure, Watson was instrumental in the passage of Act 14, a $600 million settlement between the State and DHHL which included transfer of 16,518 acres of State lands to DHHL, as well as the transfer of over 900 acres of Federal lands under the Hawaiian Homes Recovery Act of 1995. When he left DHHL he decided to continue to focus all of his energies on the housing issue.