Category: Housing Sector

Tali and Tui say coaching boxfit is their way of being good role models to children, both their own and the neighbours. More than anything else in life, they aspire to be good dads.

“We didn’t have great childhoods, and we remember feeling lonely and unwanted,” says Tali who, with his wife Siu, has four children. “It’s important to me that my kids feel loved and wanted. I believe that what children need most is time, so I spend as much time as possible with them.”

Tali started boxfit sessions two years ago with his son, Kele, now 10. “He was getting bullied, and he asked me to teach him how to fight. I said, ‘You don’t need to know how to fight, you need to know how to make friends.’

“I thought boxfit looked like something fun we could do together, so I bought a punch bag and gloves then googled the instructions. Right away, neighbourhood kids asked to join in. Since then, I’ve focused on helping all the kids gain confidence and fitness, to be leaders.”

Soon, coaching sessions were so popular that Tali needed help. He called on his brother-in-law Tui and approached Kāinga Ora for support. Kirsten, Coordinator for Community Development and Engagement, helped them assemble a collection of boxing gear, and to timetable regular sessions in the complex’s shared spaces. Sparring practise is closely supervised inside the community room, while fitness drills continue in the playground.

Now the pair run a free after-school programme three afternoons a week, coaching around 20 children per session.

“What Tali and Tui are doing is very generous and it’s having a hugely positive impact on the children. Now they’re demonstrating leadership qualities by looking out for each other and taking care of the community room,” says Kirsten.

“This is exactly what our community rooms are about: spaces where customers can come together to share their knowledge and skills, to get to know each other. It’s not about boxing, it’s about relationships.”

For Tali and Tui, it’s a dream come true. “For us, life is about giving what we have to kids because you don’t know what they’re going through. Maybe they’re not getting what they need, and we can do something small to make a difference,” says Tui. “We’re there to give what we can – maybe through our classes we can make a kid who’s sad feel good.” 

Page updated: 21 November 2024

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Caroline, who has been in her Kāinga Ora home for 6 years since her eyesight started declining, is a self-published writer of a children’s book called Norman Guinea Pig and his big adventure, which is based on a true story.

The book is stocked in bookshops and other stores across Nelson Tasman, including Paper Plus, with Caroline selling 360 copies since it was published a year ago.

Caroline says the real-life version of Norman Guinea Pig lived with her family on a farm near Nelson and was a much-loved pet of hers from the age of 8.

“I named my guinea pig after my Uncle Norman, who was my favourite uncle. He was tall and skinny so I got a bit of flak for naming my guinea pig after him because Norman Guinea Pig was big and fat. Norman Guinea Pig always lived inside with us,” Caroline explains.

Norman Guinea Pig and his big adventure, which is aimed at five to eight-year-olds, is the tale of a guinea pig who is cared for by a little girl called Polly and feels lucky to “to have a family who loved me as much as I loved them”.

One day he goes on a big adventure and gets lost, just like Caroline’s pet guinea pig did. “Norman was lost for 3 months and we found him in a culvert on the farm,” Caroline says.

Caroline, who worked in hospitality before retirement, said she was inspired to write her first book during the first Covid lockdown. “It’s my first piece of writing and it was just in my head. I’ve had a very busy life so I thought: ‘I must get it all out of my head’.

“I was up on the walking track near my house during the first lockdown and all the ideas were swirling around in my head. It was a Tuesday night and I thought: ‘Tomorrow, I’m going to write everything down’ and it took me an hour and a half once I got started.”

Due to her deteriorating eyesight, Caroline handwrote the book and passed it to a Blind Foundation volunteer who then typed it up for her.  After finding a local illustrator to bring Norman and the other characters to life in colour, the book was ready for Caroline to publish it. She has since done all her own publicity of the book, including approaching businesses to stock it.

Caroline has just finished writing another book and is now looking for a publisher for it. She also has ideas for another three books.

She says she still can’t believe what’s happened since deciding to take the plunge as an author.

“Sometimes you have to pinch yourself to believe that you can go from having no experience doing something to just doing it. It’s all about never giving up on your dreams.” 

Page updated: 19 November 2024

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The Christchurch couple are opening up about how they tackled their financial challenges so they can give hope to others in similar situations.

“I hope the challenges we’ve overcome and our journey out of debt can inspire other families to change their situation for the better,” says Larry.

Larry and Lave’s debt began spiraling in 2020, when their fourth child, Mataese, was born prematurely with a severe liver condition. Mataese was in and out of Auckland’s Starship Hospital for a year, which left the family with mounting travel costs they had to prioritise paying.

At the same time Larry’s income fell as he had to reduce the hours he worked as a security guard to help Lave care for Mataese and their three other young children.

Larry says at the time Mataese was born the family were caught in the trap of living beyond their means, making purchases through ‘buy-now, pay-later’ apps.

“These apps mean you get the things you want, when you want them and you don’t actually think about the full cost of them, because the payments are spread out over a few weeks.”

When Larry had to stop work altogether to care for Matese full-time, those payments quickly got on top of them.

“Suddenly we didn’t have the income to make the payments and very quickly we were thousands of dollars in debt,” Larry says.

For Lave, having to make the choice between avoiding late payment fees or paying for groceries was a real wake up call.

“All of this, coupled with our Housing Support Manager letting us know how our finances could start impacting our housing situation, led to us sitting down and deciding enough was enough,” says Lave. 
The family became determined to be debt-free.

“It was hard, but we started to change our mindset. We started paying for necessities first, then making our debt repayments. If there was any left, then we would allow ourselves a ‘pay-day treat’, like McDonald’s, but that was it.”

They kept that up and their debt started to fall.

Kāinga Ora Housing Support Manager, Shay, who helped Larry and Lave tackle their debt, says they are a proud Pasifika family who did not want to accept hand-outs.

“Despite Mataese’s health, they never felt they could accept things like food parcels. This sparked us having some tough conversations about their finances and what they could do to improve their situation.

“Now the budgeting and small changes they’ve made have paid off. It’s been a real privilege to see them overcome what life has thrown their way and get back on a stable financial footing,” says Shay.

Larry admits it has been a rough ride for the family over the past few years, but he is proud of how far they have come.

“Now we’ve got our finances sorted, we’ve got new goals of buying our own home and setting the kids up for a good future with their own bank accounts that we’re going to pop money into each week,” Larry says.

Check out some handy tips we’ve pulled together to help you with your own budgeting. 

Page updated: 14 November 2024

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The 2.6Ha site is Wellington’s largest single residential development site, and the completed works have enabled more than 100 new warm, dry homes to be delivered there.

Kāinga Ora Project Director Will Pennington says over the past three years, the organisation’s civils and infrastructure partner, Te Aranga Alliance, has worked to upgrade aging infrastructure and improve stormwater management in Cannons Creek catchment.

“It has always been important to the partners of Te Rā Nui that we take the time to consider innovative approaches to infrastructure. While enabling significantly more much-needed homes, we’re also safeguarding the neighbourhood from future severe weather events and, importantly, protecting te taiao (the environment).

“This hasn’t always been easy. The size of the development and scale of the infrastructure issues faced by the neighbourhood has meant the redevelopment has been complex. It has taken three years to complete, and we want to thank the community for their patience and understanding.”

“We started by removing 56 older state homes that were no longer fit for purpose, before undertaking significant earthworks, levelling out the land for construction and replacing all the old, worn-out pipes that ran through and around the development site.”

With the instalment of a large 1,500mm pipe below the Esk site, the catchment for the new wetland in Cannons Creek Park has increased by over 35 hectares.

“Widening the catchment will not only help reduce flooding in the area, but, along with the construction of a wetland, it will help clean the water before it flows downstream and out into Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour. This is something Ngāti Toa Rangatira have been advocating for since 2019,” says Will.

“It’s a great feeling to have reached this milestone and I am proud of the collective effort that has gone into getting us to this point. Of course, we’re not done yet. We still have a number of significant infrastructure projects underway that will further improve resilience across the neighbourhood and enable even more homes to be built, ultimately supporting our wonderful community as it continues to grow and thrive.”

A partnership between the Central Pacific Collective and Ngāti Toa Rangatira will see affordable homes for the Pacific community delivered on the Esk site. These will be delivered in three stages with construction of the first 18 homes getting underway in November.

Esk by the numbers

• We’ve enabled 26,000 square metres of build-ready land
• Removed 56 old homes and enabled more than 100 new, warm, dry homes.
• Over 2,000 tonnes of contaminated materials were also removed, along with six abandoned vehicles.
• Nearly 2,500 metres of new pipes have been laid providing the new homes with clean water
• 960 metres of new wastewater pipes create a safe, resilient way to dispose of household sewage.
• More than a kilometre of new stormwater pipes have been laid to help with drainage – some of them as big as an elephant!
• At the heart of the site, two rain gardens clean and filter water before it flows downstream, helping to protect our precious waterways.
• We’re keeping connected with more than two kilometres of power and communications ducting.
• We’ve created 3,000 square metres of new roads – alongside another 7,200 square metres of resurfacing.
• Our roads and 2,900 square metres of new footpaths are guided by 20 new streetlights.
• We’ve planted 88 new trees and constructed a pocket park for play.

About Te Ra Nui, Eastern Porirua Development

Te Rā Nui, Eastern Porirua Development(external link) (Te Rā Nui), a partnership between Kāinga Ora, Porirua City Council and Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is the visionary programme making this an even stronger community for the people of Porirua.

With plans to enable over 2,000 new homes and over 2,000 existing homes upgraded, quality housing will create more ownership options, jobs and business opportunities and attract new people to live here. Collectively it will bring even greater energy, pride and prosperity to this culturally rich community. 

Page updated: 13 November 2024

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Celebrating her special milestone with flowers, chocolates, lots of phone calls and even a card from King Charles, the Kāinga Ora customer remains proudly independent.

“I live on my own and cook my own meals. I eat breakfast sausages with lots of veges. Instead of tea or coffee I only drink hot water. I also do crosswords, hundreds of them, to keep the brain occupied.”

Edith says she has made a few mistakes here and there over the years.

“I thought ‘oh I like the look of that guy’ when I was younger and as soon as he got to like me, I dumped him,” she teases.

Kidding aside, she says she has lived a good and quiet life.

Well, only quiet if you don’t count her years in North America in a country music band named Bust’d Flatt (she still loves to sing!) Or the time she met the legendary Hollywood actor, Rock Hudson because she knew his secretary.

She has treasured photographic evidence of both.

“That’s me and Rock Hudson a long, long time ago,” says Edith, pointing to the black and white image and launching into a lovely rendition of the 1960s classc song ‘Abeline’.

Edith was born in Kaitaia at the top of the North Island into a family of eight siblings. She went on to have four sons of her own.

As well as raising a big famly, she enjoyed a busy career managing a clothing manufacturing company and later running an apartment building in Canada.

These days, life is a little slower, in her sunny, immaculate Kāinga Ora home which she’s lived in since 2007.

“The house I was in was sold suddenly and I thought ‘what will I do?’ But it worked out. Now I know my neighbours on each side and I really like living here.”

Page updated: 12 November 2024

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Graeme Broderick, Regional Director Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatū says three of the homes are wheelchair accessible, which means they have additional requirements to support customers living with a disability.

“For us, accessibility is about providing safe homes which enable our customers to live with independence, be able to invite whānau and friends to visit, and be part of the community they live in without barriers,” says Broderick.

Currently, there are 327 homes in Palmerston North that have at least one modification to improve accessibility.

So what makes an accessible home different from any other Kāinga Ora home?

“We include a range of design features to make the homes accessible, usable, adaptable and safe for our customers with varying mobility levels—particularly wheelchair users,” says Broderick.

He describes that the ramp, level entry access and wider doors and hallways of these homes make it easier for customers relying on a wheelchair or walker to move around. Electrical power points and light switches are installed at suitable heights for accessible needs.

Ovens with side opening doors are built into the kitchen at a suitable height for wheelchair access and the larger toe kick boards ensure that customers in a wheelchair can get close to the kitchen bench.

The wet area showers have accessible grabrails near the shower and toilet and easy level access for wheelchairs.

“Accessibility is about our customers living well in their homes and we are looking forward to help them settle into these new homes at Tamaraki Lane,” ends Broderick.

Watch this video where our Housing Support Manager Theresa takes you through one of the new accessible homes(external link).

Page updated: 11 November 2024

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