Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 2, 1 February 1995 — Morse named Hawaiʻi rep for housing council [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Morse named Hawaiʻi rep for housing council

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle has named OHA housing officer Stephen Morse as one of the Hawai'i representatives on its affordable housing advisory eouneil.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle is one of several Home Loan banks spread across the country and serves an area whieh includes

Hawai'i, Guam, and six western states. Its primary function is to oversee the operations of the nation's savings and loans associations, but it also has a number of affordable housing loan programs. The eouneil provides the bank's board of directors with information and expertise about how to build more affordable housing. "I think my ehoiee is recogni-

tion of what we're doing here in OHA's housing division," Morse says, adding, "I'm honored personally but I see it more as eonfirmation of what we are doing as a group." Morse is a long-time Hawaiian advocate. He began his career as a community development specialist with the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center in the late 1960s. In the 1980s he began to specialize in housing, first getting a real estate license then working with small developers and contractors to build affordable housing on Hawaiian home lands. In the late 1980s he began working as a community development specialist with the Institute for Affordable Housing, helping church groups and other organizations develop lowineome housing projects. In 1992, OHA created a housing division and Morse was hired as housing officer. The division works closely with the eommuni-

ty and other agencies around ihe slate helping to develop new affordable housing units, and assisting others with special housing needs. It acts as the chief housing advocate for Hawaiians. Morse hopes his knowledge and expertise will help the Seattle Home Loan Bank's operations but he also hopes to leam from other members of the eouneil and use that knowledge to aid in the work he is doing in Hawai'i. "I want to contribute," he says, "but it will also give me the opportunity to expand OHA's network and leam about different housing opportunities around the region." In the past the advisory eouneil has dealt with such issues as elderly housing and low-ineome rentals. This year, the priority will be home ownership projects in rural communities. The eouneil will have four meetings a year — three in Seattle and one in another area in the region.

Stephen Morse