PUHI, Kaua'i — Construction of the second phase of an affordable housing project was launched yesterday with a blessing and groundbreaking at the site of 14 new homes.

The Self-Help Housing Corporation of Hawai'i organizes future homeowners into teams that work together and build their homes, Kaua'i County said in a news release.

About 500 Kaua'i residents applied for the 41 available lots in the Puhi project. Those selected received financial counseling, took homeownership education classes, and are required to put in about 32 hours a week of sweat equity for a year, building their own homes and helping others in the project. The third and final phase of the development is scheduled to start later this year.

"We are very happy that the dream of home ownership is coming true for more of our residents," Mayor Bryan Baptiste said in the release. "There is a tremendous need for affordable housing on Kaua'i. The county is pleased to partner with organizations like Self-Help Corporation and assist them with moving their projects forward."

Affordable housing provides benefits to the community with the establishment of well-maintained homes and a broadening of the tax base, as well as helping the occupants, Claudia Shay, executive director of Self-Help Housing Corporation of Hawai'i, said in the release.

Since it was established in 1984, the Self-Help Housing Corporation has developed more than 100 homes in five other affordable housing projects on Kaua'i.