Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

The emergency financial assistance (efa) program provides financial assistance to individuals and families in need of temporary financial relief due to hardship. During the pandemic, cnha managed and disbursed over $150 million in covid-related funds on behalf of the state of Hawaii, city and county of honolulu, and the department of Hawaiian home lands. These funds helped provide financial relief to households to pay for mortgages, rental fees, and utilities. This program is funded by contracts, donations, and grants.

Through its policy center activities, cnha is an advocate of community-based organizations and provides information, networking opportunities and policy reports to assist in addressing issues and finding solutions for Native Hawaiian communities. Cnha also has a year-round civic engagement training and development program.

Capacity building services supports community capacity building through a number of efforts that include distribution of funds to small nonprofit organizations that perpetuate the Hawaiian culture; provision of leadership development programs for Native youth; provision of training and technical assistance to Native Hawaiian organizations and communities; and the coordination of events that provide opportunities for Native Hawaiian individuals and organizations to network, share information, discuss critical issues, and build consensus.

Cnha is a united states treasury certified community development financial institution that operates a community loan fund through its lending and development services program. Lending services include both consumer and business loans and the provision of technical assistance and financial education services. Cnha also provides technical assistance and capacity building services to community organizations in the development, construction, and management of community facilities. Over 200 individuals served.

During the covid-19 pandemic, many small business owners were impacted by the cancellation of events and the government imposed shut downs. The pop-up makeke was a combined effort between various nonprofit organizations, for-profit entities, and government agencies to assist hawaii-based vendors to remain in business during the pandemic.