Visions of a Helping Hand: Trust revenue tripled to $12m in one year

Visions of a Helping Hand charitable trust supported 1588 families in the year ending March 31, 2021. Photo / Maryana Garcia

A Rotorua trust contracted by the Government to provide wrap-around services to emergency housing clients more than tripled its revenue in one year, according to its annual report.

Visions of a Helping Hand Charitable Trust’s annual performance report for the year to March 2022 was submitted to Charities Services in December and published online this month. It shows a surplus almost seven times that of the year to March 2021.

The trust’s total revenue for the year to March 2022 was $12.37 million, more than three times the $3.83m reported for the previous year. The trust’s surplus also increased in 2022, up to $2.9m compared to $416,348 the year before.

However, the trust’s acting chief executive anticipates a decrease in funding and staffing levels as referrals drop.

Of the $12.37m total, $4.67m came from “MHud Service Delivery Emergency Housing” while $3.26m was listed as “MSD - Service Delivery Fee” and $1.5m in revenue came from “Rent - Residential”.

Client numbers also increased from 1588 families and 1666 children supported in the year to March 2021 to 2809 families and 3284 children the following year.

In the year to March 2022, the trust had 10 motels, 39 transitional properties and 71 community properties. The previous year it had three motels, 25 transitional properties and 40 community properties.

Visions of a Helping Hand Charitable Trust acting chief executive Sarah Isaacs said the trust’s staff numbers had increased from 31 to 97 in the 12-month period.

“That reflects the greater workload and demand for services,” she said.

Isaacs said volunteer numbers remained stable, with three working a combined total of around 50 hours per week in both of those 12-month periods.

“The rising cost of living is felt most by those in society who are in the greatest need in terms of income and financial wellbeing, which includes many of our clients and whānau,” Isaacs said.

“This was reflected, in part, by the growth in demand for our services in the year to March 31, 2022.”

Isaacs said the trust had since seen a decrease in referrals for its services.

“We expect funding levels and staffing levels will reflect that in future reporting periods.”

Isaacs said the trust’s aim was to develop and provide services that overcame barriers and difficulties people experienced with housing and accommodation by identifying client needs and ensuring staff were appropriately trained and resourced.

The trust’s biggest expenses for the year were volunteer and employee-related costs of $5m and costs relating to providing goods or services of $4m. These were up on the previous year from $1.9m and $1.3m respectively.

In December, Housing Minister Megan Woods signed the Rotorua Housing Accord with Rotorua Lakes Council and iwi.

At the time, Woods said the accord aimed to progressively reduce the use of motels for emergency housing in Rotorua to near zero, provide quality delivery of care and wrap-around support to people in emergency accommodation and build more public homes to address the housing shortage in Rotorua.

Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell said there were “monumental amounts” of taxpayer money going into motels that were not adequate. She said the accord would help deliver an exit strategy from emergency housing and progress on the accord to date was reassuring.

“I’m pleased we’re working towards ending this,” Tapsell said.

“Month on month we are seeing a consistent reduction in the number of motels being used for emergency housing as well as less people having to live in motels. Antisocial issues along Fenton St and in the CBD have reduced,” she said.

Tapsell said in 2023 her focus would be ensuring more transparency and better reporting on housing to the community so residents were confident about the future.

“Improving planning and consenting to provide enough housing options in Rotorua, and ensuring homes are healthy and fit for purpose are also priorities of [the new] council.”

Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell, with Housing Minister Megan Woods appearing via video conference at the signing of the Rotorua Housing Accord in December. Photo / Ben Fraser

A spokesperson for Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said Visions of a Helping Hand Charitable Trust was contracted for transitional, emergency and Covid-19 Response housing.

“The Ministry is satisfied that the trust is meeting its contract provisions and continues to monitor this on an ongoing basis,” the spokesperson said.

“The trust undertakes regular checks on occupant wellbeing, ensuring they are able to access food and welfare, and connects them with other essential services such as healthcare.

“They also work with the wider housing sector to source longer-term housing options [and runs] Preparing Housing and Shaping your Future programmes and personal development training programmes for clients and supports clients to seek employment.”

Ministry of Social Development’s Bay of Plenty regional commissioner Mike Bryant said the ministry had a contract with Visions of a Helping Hand to provide intensive support to people staying in emergency housing in Rotorua.

“This support service includes visits to emergency housing motels to work with the people staying there to support them into more long-term housing. Visions also helps those who need additional support with referrals to other agencies, services, and programmes to address their specific challenges.

“The value of this contract for the period from November 2021 to January 2023 was $1,750,000. We’ve provided a short-term extension through March 31 at an additional cost of $350,000. There has been no change to the type of services provided.”

Restore Rotorua chairman Trevor Newbrook said $12m was “a huge amount of taxpayer money”.

He said he hoped the Government would have conducted a full inquiry into emergency housing providers following extensive media coverage of the issue.

Restore Rotorua chairman Trevor Newbrook. Photo / Andrew Warner

Newbrook said in 2023 the community and residents group Restore Rotorua hoped to see agencies working towards the end of emergency housing motels in Rotorua.

“MHUD needs to start implementing a plan in 2023 to reduce the number of Contracted Emergency Housing Motels from the 13 granted Resource Consent to operate for two years.

“Minister Woods has talked about ending Emergency Housing in Rotorua but what is her plan and timeframe to do this?”

In response to Newbrook, Woods said emergency housing would not be needed in “an ideal world” but fixing a broken social housing system and playing catch up with affordable and public housing took time.

“Without the intervention of contracted emergency housing in the form of motels, homelessness would have continued to increase in Rotorua.

“The plan we have implemented is about working intensively with the local council and iwi, funding housing infrastructure to get land build-ready, and investing in new public and transitional housing, but we can’t throw people in emergency housing out on to the streets. That’s why we’re using contracted service providers, like Visions of A Helping Hand Trust, to work with clients to provide practical life skills and support to reset their lives.”

She said since the contracted emergency housing pilot began in Rotorua in July 2021, the trust had worked with more than 374 whānau across the motels they support and supported more than 150 whānau into longer-term accommodation.

“We know motels are not a long-term solution but a response to a crisis that has been decades in the making.”