Roof raisers

As the housing crisis continues, families looking for homes have swamped Habitat for Humanity, writes Rebecca Blithe.
The Fakavai family home is adorned with pictures of the four Fakavai children, grinning under hard hats.
As the recent recipients of a newly built Habitat for Humanity house, the family count themselves lucky when they consider the numbers they were up against to get into a home.
Fakaola Fakavai says they were overwhelmed by the mass of people at the initial Habitat meeting they attended last year.
"We went to a meeting and I said, 'Look at this. Man, we should just go home'. There must have been about 300 other people there," she says.
For the mother of four children aged under 6 and her husband, who is on a sickness benefit, home was not a happy place.
"We were renting. It was hard there. The house was very cold. It wasn't safe. The deck was rotten. The warmer [water heater] was leaking, the landlord wouldn't fix it and we didn't have the money to. We were thinking maybe we'd look for another rental," she says. "We never thought we'd be able to own our own home."
But, after filling out an application and receiving a call to begin the assessment and interview process, the Fakavais realised they had a chance.
"I kept telling the kids we were moving to a better house, even when I wasn't sure we were."
By January, the family had moved into their new three-bedroom home in Clarrie Wills Way, a street named after one of Habitat Auckland's founding members.
Family coordinator Jane Meads says demand has grown steadily since she began working with Habitat five years ago.
"For this development, we've probably given out 300 applications, which is huge. There's a lot more people with overcrowding, with very high rents."
She says families are selected based on their need and willingness to partner with Habitat.
"We look at the conditions they're living in, the rent, their willingness to partner with us. The first stage is to interview people at their current home and decide whether they really are living in difficult conditions."
From there, another round of interviews with the committee, then the Habitat board meets before deciding on a family for a home.
The families chosen are able to eventually own the home through a not-for-profit loan and must also agree to put in 500 hours helping to build their home or working at the Habitat Restore shop, which sells donated goods.
Mrs Fakavai says being involved in the building process has been particularly rewarding.
"It was good for us to come here and work. We know how the house works. I cooked once or twice a week for all the staff. Now my husband still goes and helps," she says, pointing out the remaining four houses in their street, to be completed by September.
'This place is great. We love it."
House calls
For more information on Habitat for Humanity, call Jane Mead on 271 3357.