Tauranga women's shelter Awhina House celebrates first birthday

Awhina House general manager Angela Wallace is excited about celebrating their first birthday on April 1. Photo / George Novak

Calm, encouraging, a place of peace.

That's how Awhina House general manager Angela Wallace describes this "safe haven" for Tauranga's homeless women.

As Awhina House approaches its first birthday on April 1, Wallace is reflecting on what went into making the shelter what it is today.

Awhina is "more than just a roof over your head, or a bed - it's a home," she says.

Women who stay with them each have their own room, named after one of New Zealand's native birds.

Each bedroom at Awhina House is bright and airy, with neutral colours and large windows providing plenty of natural light and a sense of privacy away from the hubbub of the common room. A small garden, which the women help look after, completes the sense of community at the shelter.

This sense of community is also shown through the care the team offers the women who stay with them.

A nurse and a dental clinic visit from time to time, and for women who may not have much confidence from living on the streets, having their teeth looked after can be "life-changing", Wallace said.

It's not just small work done, either - the dental team does everything from simple fillings to dentures.

"Something like that is really transformational."

Wallace said the Awhina House team was "proud" to be here.

Awhina House is "more than a roof over their head ... it's a home," Angela Wallace said. Photo / George Novak

While they had been planning a get-together to celebrate the anniversary, the Covid-19 lockdown had put a dampener on that, she said.

"We will still do an in-house celebration with our current residents and look to acknowledge our supporters in some other way," Wallace said.

And by their second birthday, Wallace hoped they would "have a huge, extended whānau living in the community".

"We want homelessness to decrease in Tauranga ... we're here because there's a need, but the goal is to end homelessness."