Five brand new solar-powered homes have been built in Papakura by the Penina Health Trust which is also a social housing provider.
The homes were unveiled last month by Pacific Peoples minister Shane Reti and are designed to house large families with multi-generation living in mind.
“I think homes is a keyword. We would like it to, you know, that families feel at home here. Yeah. So that’s the purpose of today,” says Trust chief executive, Tupuola Roine Lealaiauloto.
“We’ve got two six-bedroom homes and three, four bedrooms. And, you know, the way we’ve designed them is really to help people. You know, we really want to ensure that people aren’t just getting a house. We want them to live.”
Lealaiauloto says their housing programme also takes into account Pacific people with health issues, one of the key focuses for the Trust.
“We found that a lot of people that we came across struggled to get into housing, especially with the stigma of indiscriminate action against people with mental health” she says.
Trust chair Soane Foliaki says the Trust offers several options for home ownership from making a contribution – as in a shared ownership to ren to buy.
“So that puts them in a place where they’re able to afford to be able to get into the housing market,” he says.
New tenant Kilika Ave who was at the opening with three of her children is just grateful for the opportunity.
“Still in shock, it is slowly hitting me. I’m just grateful and thankful.”
