HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-23 County Expands Resiliency Loan Program -- press release js
Diane L. Ley
Harry Kim
Director
Mayor
Riley Saito
Deputy Director
County of Hawai‘i
DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
25 Aupuni Street, Room 1301 Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720-4252
(808) 961-8366 Fax (808) 935-1205
E-mail: chresdev@hawaiicounty.gov
June 23, 2020
NEWS RELEASE
County Expands Emergency Resiliency Loan Program
Hawai'i County announced the expansion of its Emergency Resilience Loan Program. In
addition to offering financial counseling and zero-interest loans to ALICE (asset limited,
income constrained, employed) residents who reside on Hawai'i Island and have lost
income due to COVID-19, the program is now open to those with incomes below ALICE
levels (see table below):
# Household Members Maximum Annual Each Additional
Household Income Household Member
1
$33,296
2
$49,548
3
$65,800
Add $13,215
4
$82,052
for Each Household
5
$95,267
Member above 8
6
$108,482
persons
7
$121,697
8
$134,911
So far, over $123,000 in emergency zero-interest loans have been approved for workers
and entrepreneurs. Maximum loans amounts are $2,500 for individual workers and
$5,000 for self-employed persons. Funding is provided by the County of Hawai'i and the
Hawai'i Community Foundation.
Local community development nonprofits Hawaiian Community Assets (HCA) and Hawai'i
Community Lending (HCL) are administering the program on behalf of the County. HCL
provides the loans, while HCA delivers financial counseling to every borrower.
“The County is pleased to expand this program to help even more working families and
self-employed during this difficult time,” said Mayor Kim. “Working with the community,
and our partners at the State and Federal government and non-profits, we will get
through this and thrive again.”
“The Resilience Loan Program saw a steady stream of applicants from day one because
the financial impact of this pandemic has been extraordinary,” said Council Member
Ashley Kierkiewicz, who introduced measures to establish and fund the program. “We
reviewed the data and pivoted the program’s approach so we can help more families and
Hawai`i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
entrepreneurs get access to important capital and financial empowerment to weather this
crisis.”
For more information or to see if you qualify, call 808-934-0801. To apply for a Hawai'i
County Emergency Resilience Loan, visit www.HawaiianCommunity.net. Persons
without Internet access or a computer are encouraged to call 808-934-0801 to complete
an application over the phone.