Category: Airlines

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

Lydia was a healthy, independent woman working full-time in Nelson and living a fun-filled, sociable life until 2010 when a tumour was detected on her brain.

Lydia travelled to Christchurch for surgery to remove the tumour, but unfortunately during the operation she suffered a life-changing stroke.

“All of a sudden, I went from being able to do what I wanted, when I wanted, to losing the use of my legs and not being able to support myself financially,’’ Lydia explains.

“That’s really challenging to get your head around. You’re going in for a straightforward surgery and you come out with a new, life-altering health issue to deal with. But after processing what this meant for me, I said to myself ‘life is for living’ and I wasn’t going to dwell on the hand life had dealt me.’’

With the support of the Laura Fergusson Trust, Lydia kept that attitude throughout an intensive rehabilitation programme at Christchurch’s Burwood Hospital. She built back her strength and learnt to do as much as she could for herself, using a motorised wheelchair.

While in rehabilitation, Lydia decided she needed to stay in Christchurch so she could be close to her Canterbury-based family. She moved into an accessible Kāinga Ora home and has lived there happily for the past 13 years.

“I just love it here. It’s close to Mum and Dad and it’s provided me with a stable base to focus on my health and not dwell on what’s been thrown my way. Although I may need a bigger place soon as the Smurfs really are taking over,” she says with a grin as she surveys the growing collection of Smurf figurines on display in her living room.

Lydia not only loves the home she lives in, but she also loves the community she lives in and has built a network of friendships across north-west Christchurch.

She is a regular at the local retirement village’s ‘happy hour’ and at the local shops and gym.

“Because my home is so well located, I can bus to appointments across town. But wherever possible I try to get myself where I need to go in my chair. I must be out and about more than I think, because people around the neighbourhood now recognise me and wave!

“The upside of all of this is that I see a lot of sun and it helps me keep this tanned goddess look,” she jokes.

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

Her closest neighbours and friends were invited to come along to help celebrate the momentous occasion. Sylvia says she is close with her next-door neighbours and wherever they can, they always look out for each other.

“As we have got older it is harder to get together as much as we used to. We always used to celebrate each other’s birthdays and have BBQs in the garden. We still try and help each other out when we can. If someone is unwell or coming back from hospital, we look out for each other and help with meals. My neighbours will also help by watering gardens if someone is away.”

To top off her birthday festivities, she even received the renowned 100th birthday card from King Charles III.

Sylvia has faced many challenges throughout her 100 years, including living in Christchurch during the earthquakes and being a passenger involved in the Wahine disaster. But her positive outlook on life and kindness towards others is what kept her going through all these years.

“My advice is to don’t spend too long licking your wounds when things don’t go well. Help people when you can and be kind. Don’t judge others or worry about what they are doing; you can only control yourself.”

Sylvia has lived in her Kāinga Ora home for the last 14 years after moving to Tauranga from Christchurch after the earthquakes. “The retirement village I was living in was badly damaged. I thought it was a good time to come back to Tauranga where I used to live.”

“This is a lovely place to be. We have a nice outlook, Otumoetai is a good area and very peaceful.”

Sylvia is clear about what has helped her live a long life “Genetics, my mother lived in her own home until she passed away at the age of 99 and a half!”

“You have to keep moving your body if you want to stay in your own home as you get older. Do as much as you can but know when to stop and rest. I have home help each day, but I still try to do as much as I can myself.” 

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

Kicked off alongside materials suppliers and build partners, the trial involves Kāinga Ora directly purchasing and arranging the delivery of materials for a number of social housing developments.

This is expected to increase the amount of effective time on the tools, streamlining the workflow and allowing tradespeople to focus on the core mahi of building homes, says Matt Hulett, GM Delivery Transformation.

Kāinga Ora is trialling a mix of management and planning processes involved in materials supply. Each of these processes have been co-designed with programme partners Mitre 10 and Carters, along with TW Construction, Penny Homes, Kotahi Construction, Shaw Construction and Kahikatea Construction.

“This new way of working will be used in the delivery of more than 100 homes across 15 development sites in Rotorua over the next 18 months,” Matt says.

Ramping up delivery

In recent years, Kāinga Ora has significantly increased its capacity to deliver new state houses and to retrofit existing homes.

“To be able to scale up even more, we’ve gone through a process of improving how we work with the sector using our new Housing Delivery System,” he says.

“We’ve delved into the micro-processes that go into building a house. This includes itemising every bolt, nail and screw that goes into our standard house designs to enable more coordinated planning of logistics and workplans.

“Because we have that detailed visibility, we are now focussed on taking a more active role in materials supply.”

Right materials at the right time

“We are targeting a cost saving of more than 30% through the research programme. To achieve this, we need to do things differently.

“Kāinga Ora has contracted the five builders involved and their sub trades on a labour only basis.

“Build contracts that Kāinga Ora has typically used in the past have involved a fixed price for labour and materials and the builder has been responsible for getting materials where they need to be,” Matt says.

“Through the trial, we are aiming to ensure exactly the right materials are delivered to site when and where they’re needed. Therefore, the tradesperson won’t need to waste time waiting on a delivery, working around other tradespeople or driving to the store to buy a missing item.

“This means more time spent on the tools, essentially, speeding up delivery. We’ll be working closely with our partners to test and refine our processes as the research project progresses,” he says.

The first three home development recently got underway in Rotorua, alongside TW Construction and Mitre 10.

More information

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

Te Mātāwai is the largest, single site supported social housing complex in Aotearoa New Zealand, with 276 homes and 24/7 on-site support services.

With the complex newly opened in August 2023, Dayne Smith, Kāinga Ora Community Development Manager, says the photography project is an initiative designed to help residents, staff, visitors, and neighbours get to know each other better through having their portrait taken.

One of our residents, Shadow, has been the driving force behind this idea. The concept has been brought to life through the support of Kāinga Ora, AUT arts lecturer Dieneke Jansen, and another creative resident, Te,” says Dayne.

“Te invites people inside to introduce themselves over a cup of tea and a bite to eat. The photographer, Shadow, takes their portrait with participants able to choose their favourite shot and how it will be displayed. Those keen on something more creative can even go for AI-generated backgrounds.”

With participants’ permission the selected portraits are displayed on the ground floor exterior windows at Te Mātāwai for the local community to view. “The portraits will be taken and displayed over a two-week period but we have plans to display them longer in a communal space inside the complex and share them in our community newsletter after that. Participants also get to keep a copy for themselves,” Dayne says.

Dayne says further initiatives are planned for the complex.

“We are always looking for ways to help Te Mātāwai become a welcoming, inclusive, and thriving community and invite anyone interested in working with our customers on creative projects or other ideas to get in touch.”

For more about Te Mātāwai(external link)

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

When Kainga Ora was established in 2019, the breadth of work we were tasked to deliver expanded significantly and we had to increase our workforce.

We have performed our core functions while constantly evolving, and over the last 18 months we have been able to start reducing our internally focused change programmes and resources.

Kāinga Ora is now further responding to government direction to identify potential savings while maintaining the delivery of our core functions and services.

In November 2023 Kāinga Ora introduced recruitment restrictions for all roles that were not frontline or customer facing and removed 300 roles from budgets. We have not been replacing people as they have left, and we have not renewed fixed terms roles as they have ended.

The next phase of this work is focused on achieving further efficiencies by changing the approach we take and reducing the volume of work we undertake in some support (or back-office) functions. We are realigning, repositioning and reducing the size of those teams.

There will be job losses as a result of this work. We are very mindful of the impact this will have on our people so we’re taking a staged, considered approach that enables us to carefully support staff through the process.

We are currently consulting with staff in teams within the People Governance and Capability, Government and Sector Relationships, and National Services groups about change proposals that could result in a net reduction of 159 positions.

The exact number of positions that will be disestablished within the teams will not be finalised until we have completed consultation with affected staff.

Kāinga Ora will be offering voluntary redundancy to people in the affected teams.

Change proposals for some other teams within Kāinga Ora will be put out for consultation with affected staff in the coming months.

Depending on the outcome of the independent review into Kāinga Ora and the decisions the Government makes in this year’s Budget, additional changes to staffing levels could be required. Kāinga Ora is committed to making sure that staff are the first to learn of any changes that are proposed. 

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

Planter boxes are built by students at UCOL in Palmerston North as part of their building and construction course, and delivered and installed by the Manawatū Food Action Network. To keep the vegetables and whānau thriving, the food action group also provides advice and guidance on caring for the plants.

Sazshia is one of 80 whānau in the Manawatū to receive a planter box through the initiative, which aims to improve wellbeing through kai security.

After receiving the planter box, Sazshia made a deal with her children to learn about gardening and grow their own kai.

“They wanted a pet, so I made them a deal: if they could grow and look after two tomato plants each, we would discuss getting one. Fortunately, they weren’t good plant parents, so we compromised by getting a fish,” Sazshia says.

“I love spending time with my kids in the garden and showing them where, how, and what type of kai we can grow and eat. We also explore their favourite vegetables, and I encourage them to try every veggie at least once because we’ve grown them in our own garden.”

From humble beginnings growing only tomatoes, Sazshia’s garden is now home to peppers, lettuces, cabbages, cauliflowers, capsicums, rosemary, chives, and lemon basil and she’s busy sharing her newfound knowledge with others. Through volunteering at several community organisations, including Just Zilch Food Rescue and Community Fruit Harvest Manawatū, Sazshia also supports other whānau who have received a planter box to grow kai and connect.

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

“It’s a way of using materials like bread bags or old supermarket bags that would otherwise be in landfill and giving them a new lease of life. It brings me joy to know that I’m making things that will have a second chance at life. Necessity is the mother of invention,” says Diana.

The long-time Kāinga Ora customer works hard to create connection and encourage resourcefulness within the North Shore neighbourhood she’s called home since 1968.

And true to her compassionate form, Diana teaches others the skills of her craft. It’s been so successful she’s made waves overseas and now teaches a group in England over Zoom.

“I met one of them through knitting in New Zealand and they got a bunch of people together who wanted to learn.

“I like getting people thinking about different ways to use things.  If one person makes one bag, that saves up to 90 bread bags going to landfill,” says Diana.

Her husband Wallace has also gotten involved, sharing a lifetime of handy skills with others.  His lessons have included, teaching a neighbour how to make a fishing net, showing others how to grow silverbeet in old containers and even tutoring locals on how to cure a ham.

As well as working hard to share their repurposing skills, Diana put her hand up to run a fortnightly social group to help foster connectedness. Every second Wednesday, she opens the local community rooms for neighbours to enjoy morning tea and kōrero.

Community get-togethers are also the perfect time for Diana to showcase her homemade board games to play on special days like St Patrick’s Day or Valentine’s Day. There is even one for the Melbourne Cup!

“I just want people to be able to come along, connect and have fun. People seem to really enjoy it and they often learn something too.”

Whether she’s laying out the kai for her fortnightly social group or teaching people how to knit using old bread bags, Diana is always focussed on her community.

“Back in the 1960s, when I was raising my four children here, everyone on the street knew each other. It was like a village. Everyone was ‘Auntie.’”

“Even though times have changed, I like helping to keep that close-knit community feeling. Everyone benefits from living in a neighbourhood like that, where people know your name.”

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

John, a Kāinga Ora customer, earned that moniker because he scooters everywhere around Timaru and through his notorious online videos which draw attention to everything from footpath maintenance and litter problems to questionable displays of driving.

“I’m known for getting around town on my scooter, but I never want to be defined by my disability,’’ explains 78-year-old John, who has a spinal condition which affects his mobility.

“Ever since I completed a computing course in 1994, I’ve loved the fun and self-expression you can have online and through social media.

“The videos I film and create are a good bit of fun for me, and they seem to bring a smile to people’s faces which is a bonus. All the new technology has kept a bit of keeping up with, but I enjoy it and it keeps me busy.

“Social media is a great tool for staying connected with your community and I wish more people of my generation gave it a whirl,” John says.

Increasing mobility issues means John is not producing as many videos as he used to, but there’s been an unexpected upside to that – he now has more time to enjoy his newly retrofitted home.

John has been living in his Kāinga Ora home for nearly four decades, but recently it was upgraded to make it warmer, drier and more energy efficient and to extend its lifespan.

The house was given a new kitchen and bathroom, a fresh lick of paint, and new double-glazing throughout.

“I’ve lived in this lovely home for over 37 years, but it’s never been as good as this,” John says. “The new windows keep the heat in much better than the old ones did and my power bills in the colder months are a lot smaller now.

“The new kitchen and bathroom are so much easier to use. I’m so grateful to Kāinga Ora for this place and the retrofit improvements.

“Now I just need to get my own facelift!” John jokes. 
 

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

Kāinga Ora has signed an agreement with TGC to purchase seven brand new two-bedroom homes at Galloway Street, Mornington once they are completed.

Regional Director Otago, Southland and South Canterbury, Kerrie Young says the new homes will be used to meet the need for public housing in Dunedin and will provide more people with a warm and dry place to live.

“Dunedin continues to be a priority area for us based on current demand. A large proportion of our homes in the city are among the oldest in the country, so it’s important we continue to renew our portfolio and purchasing new homes from developers is one of the ways we can do this.

“We are particularly focussed on providing new homes in areas of the city that are well connected to amenities, open green spaces and services. The Galloway Street development delivers this for us,” Ms Young says.

The new homes are well suited to modern lifestyles and each one comes with its own off-street parking. Construction of the homes has begun and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

“We’re delighted to have partnered with TGC on this high-quality development and are looking forward to whānau moving in to the new homes later in the year,” says Ms Young.

Dunedin residents can now access a new interactive map(external link), which is a handy tool showing people the latest details for all our developments in their neighbourhood.