Now that the 43-day shutdown is over, what happens to the emergency programs that were put in place to help furloughed workers? And what happens to those who worked without a paycheck? Or those who are on the federal food assistance program?
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs began accepting applications on Monday for $6 million in aid that the board set aside to help Native Hawaiians who qualify. OHA Chair Kaialʻi Kahele spoke to HPR on Thursday morning about what happens next.
Interview highlights
On the OHA Emergency Relief Aid continuing
KAI KAHELE: It continues because we know that even though the government is starting to reopen, that reopening is going to take some time. The government has been shutdown for 41 days, and you just don't turn the lights back on, and everything goes back to normal, where it was on Sept. 30. So we know our OHA Native Hawaiian beneficiaries are going to continue to hurt from the government shutdown, especially those who had to go to work for 41 days as exempted or essential employees, and were not given the opportunity to stay home. They had to go to work, and they never got paid for two-and-a-half paychecks. And so there's a lot of catching up to do there. And for those who had stopped receiving SNAP benefits, we know that they need help as well. So our program is continuing, and we plan to disburse all $6.1 million as soon as we can. We're doing that through the Hawaiian Council right now.
On dispersed funds
KAHELE: Right now, we have total dispersed funds, a little over $100,000 that have gone out. Total applications received, just under 2,000. We've awarded almost $100,000 to federal workers who received $1,200 checks in the mail that were of Native Hawaiian ancestry and were furloughed. And our SNAP applications are about 900, and we've awarded little under $10,000 [in] $350 gift cards for our beneficiaries at three different vendor locations: Foodland, Times Supermarket, and KTA on the different islands, and then on those islands that are a little bit more rural, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi, we are just sending them $350 cash payments.
On how to qualify for the OHA Emergency Relief Fund
KAHELE: You need to be qualified as a Native Hawaiian beneficiary under the Office of Hawaiian Affairs through our Hawaiian Registry Program. So you go to oha.org, you apply, you can literally do it on your phone. You can upload your documents, sign everything, and submit. The OHA team will verify your eligibility. What we are seeing is people submitting applications without the proper documentation. And so that's really important. [If] your birth certificate says that you have Native Hawaiian ancestry, or one of your parents does, submit that. That's probably the best document to submit. You will get a Hawaiian registry card and a Hawaiian registry card number, and with that number, you apply through the Hawaiian Council's website for the emergency relief aid, and it's pretty black and white. If you're a verified OHA beneficiary, you are single, with no dependents, kūpuna, age 60 or over, you're going to qualify for the program. And so we wanted to fill the gap where other government agencies were not able to fill, especially as it relates to the Native Hawaiian community.
On OHA being involved in conversations relating to military land leases
KAHELE: We are, and have asked the governor for the opportunity to serve in a couple different capacities on the governor's team as it relates to the military land leases. The governor sent a letter on Oct. 29 to the Secretary of the Army. And what he described was, within 10 days, the creation of a joint negotiation team and a technical working group that would be co-chaired by a designated state agency. And so the letter we sent to the governor was to make sure that we had a formal request, that the Native Hawaiian community, as represented by OHA, had a formal request in the process that the governor has articulated, and that OHA, or a Native Hawaiian voice, has a seat and a role on that joint negotiation team. And then our suggestion was that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs would co-chair this joint or this technical working group with the Board of Land and Natural Resources, with the Department of Land and Natural Resources. … It sounds like the governor is going to do something, and it'll be announced soon, but we haven't got anything definitive yet.
This story aired on The Conversation on Nov. 13, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
