Tauranga homeless project could be replicated in Rotorua

Rotorua business couple Lara Northcroft and Wetini Mitai visit one of Tauranga's emergency housing homes to explore the possibility of replicating it in their home town. Photo / Andrew Warner

A Tauranga community-based emergency housing project could be replicated in Rotorua to combat the city's growing homeless problem.

Husband and wife Wetini Mitai and Lara Northcroft visited Te Tuinga Whanau's newly opened emergency accommodation Whare Awa on Friday to learn more about the initiative and how it could be replicated in Rotorua.

Whare Tauranga is part of a wider Whare 4 Whanau project set up in June 2016 and run by community group Te Tuinga Whanau to accommodate homeless families in the Tauranga region for a short time.

Te Tuinga Whanau opened its second and third homes this month and plans to open another two homes soon. The project's principal funders are the Ministry of Development and Te Puna Kokiri under the Maori Housing Network.

Ms Northcroft said Rotorua had the second highest number of homeless in New Zealand per capita.

"This is not good enough. I know a lot of families working and struggling," she said.

"There's a huge shortage of rentals; they can't afford to be in houses they are living in. When I think of the children and a Rotorua winter ... That's what's motivating me."

Ms Northcroft owns Velvet Stone Media television and film production company and is the founder and chairwoman of Rotorua's Maori business network Takiwai.

She is also a Chamber of Commerce board member and is chairwoman of Film Central North Island.

Mr Wetini is a Te Arawa leader, kapa haka exponent and the founder of Mitai Maori Village.

Ms Northcroft said it was early days, but she was determined to find a Rotorua-based solution.

"It's about looking at replicating this in Rotorua," she said.

The mother-of-five said her first task would be establishing a board for the project.

Te Tuinga Whanau chief executive Tommy Wilson said Te Tuinga had been involved in helping the homeless for more than 20 years.

"Knowledge is a powerful thing, and we believe this model can be shared with the rest of Aotearoa."

Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell said Whare Tauranga was a great template to follow and he planned to be involved in the Rotorua project.

"We are all responsible for how we treat our most vulnerable," Mr Flavell said.

"There is no one solution to homelessness - it needs all of us to step up to support those in their time of need and I welcome private sector input. The more people putting up their hands to help, the better."

Whare 4 Whanau

Whare Tauranga is part of a wider Whare 4 Whanau project set up in June 2016 and run by community group Te Tuinga Whanau to accommodate homeless families in the Tauranga region for a short time. Te Tuinga Whanau opened its second and third homes earlier this month and will soon have a total of five. The project's principal funders are the Ministry of Development and Te Puna Kokiri under the Maori Housing Network.

What is the Government doing to help?

The Government plans to have 37 transitional houses in Rotorua by the end of the year and 80 new social housing properties over the next three years. The Maori Housing Network is part of that wider strategy which has funded 135 projects, 42 in the Waikato-Waiariki region, and it was allocated $8m more over the next four years in this week's Budget.