Housing charity helps wh¯anau
Two families can’t wait to put in their share of ‘‘sweat equity’’ to build their own homes.
Habitat for Humanity Taranaki is about to embark on a brand new project – the construction of two houses on one Grey St section in Waitara.
The charity’s chairman Malcolm Pearce said the families who will move into the new builds had been selected.
The first wha¯nau is Kasey Hunt and her four children, who range in age from
1-13 years and the other is Lucan and Stacey Nuku and their five tamariki. The Nuku children – two boys and three girls – are aged from 1-14 years.
Preparatory work on the section, which is in the centre of town, has already been done, with resource consent pending in terms of the house construction, which Pearce said was likely to be signed off this week. Once the build was under way, he expected it would take three months to complete.
Pearce said the Hunt and Nuku families had already been to the site to help out.
‘‘They’ve just been a joy to work with. They’re so excited to get started.’’
To date, Habitat for Humanity has built
38 homes in the region so the latest project would round that up to 40.
The families chosen to benefit from the scheme have to complete 450 hours of ‘‘sweat equity’’ or hours working on site, along with 50 further hours attending courses, such as budgeting. ‘‘And they do it very willingly,’’ Pearce said.
Builder Ian Cheyne, who has worked on all the Habitat for Humanity builds in Taranaki bar one, will be on site along with a builder supplied by licensed practitioner Wells Building and Construction.
Otherwise, the workforce used on the project will predominantly come from volunteers, including the time Pearce puts in. But for him, it was no hardship.
‘‘To be honest it’s an absolute joy to see the families we serve get that hand up.’’
Pearce said as a Pa¯ keha¯ , being part of the builds which involved Ma¯ori families especially, had given him a greater appreciation for what it means for tangata whenua to have their own homes. ‘‘They’re actually back on their own land and they’ve got that heritage to pass through the generations,’’ he said.
Pearce said anyone interested in volunteering on the new project can register at the site or phone the office on 06 755 1225.