Help rejected by family
Generous residents have donated to a Habitat for Humanity fund to help a Kaeo woman and her family after their state house burnt down.
But Emily Rikona is choosing to remain in her condemned shack despite offers of a home in other areas.
Late last year the Housing New Zealand home she was living in burnt down.
She is currently living in a home with windows missing, no insulation and is carting water from the nearby creek.
After the fire she was offered three homes by Housing New Zealand; one in Kaikohe, Kawakawa and Kaitaia. A HNZ spokesperson says there were no vacant properties in Kaeo to offer to Rikona and the seven others she lives with, including two five-year-olds.
‘‘We offered her some properties but these were turned down.
‘‘That is her decision, we can’t force her, she has made that decision herself.
‘‘She has to take some responsibility and she is choosing not to follow the process that has been explained to her.’’
After story ‘Kaeo family living in derelict shack’, Habitat for Humanity set up a fund to help Rikona.
So far more than $2000 has been raised.
Te Runanga o Whaingaroa recently placed two ‘‘temporary’’ baches on the property in Kaeo.
While Rikona rents the buildings, the runanga provides the infrastructure including water, power and sewerage. Rikona says she still wants a house built.
‘‘Then I wouldn’t need to get help from Habitat for Humanity, there’s other people who need it.
‘‘I want them [HNZ] to build my house, not a temporary bach I’m paying for.’’ As of April 30 there was one HNZ home available to rent in the Far North.
Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis says Rikona is a good example of the different faces of homelessness in the north.
‘‘She was offered houses in other areas, but how far away is too far away?’’ ‘‘If you have no resources, it is where your family is and where you are from.
‘‘Why couldn’t Housing New Zealand build her a home if they had insurance?’’