
Community Housing
The past year has seen our continued commitment to addressing the issue of homelessness across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Waitaha Canterbury.
Tenancy Services
A new programme and the extension of an existing one has greatly added to our effectiveness.
Our Youth Transitional Housing programme provides rangatahi with an opportunity to be housed and receive ongoing support in a culturally appropriate manner. This gives us another avenue to provide housing and support for young Māori and Pasefika women who don’t have a safe or stable place to live.
Meanwhile, we have also been able to extend our Community Outreach programme through the funding for a dedicated Lead Support Navigator (LSN). At present this is Jeremy Nicholls who does amazing mahi meeting those who are experiencing homelessness in the places they hang out, gaining their trust, and assessing their needs. This has led to quite a few men and women being placed in safe and healthy accommodation.
Support Services
The whānau our Support Navigators work with often live complex and difficult lives with prolonged and recuring health issues, family breakdown, addictions and mental health issues. The Community Housing team are working hard, often alongside other key community and government partners, to address these issues within the lives of individuals within our communities.
Achieving social worker pay equity across our Community Housing team has been a significant milestone for the year.
Many Kiwis will be renting or paying off mortgages beyond 65 years. By 2048, 40% (600,000) will rent. This will impact the need for suitable housing stock significantly.
221 whānau are engaged in our Sustaining Tenancies programme working to sustain their tenancies long-term; 97 graduated from the programme this year.
Achieving social worker pay equity across our Community Housing team has been a significant milestone for the year.
Finding suitable accommodation to use as long-term housing remains a very real challenge throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.
Our response to homelessness
Tā mātou whakautu ki te āhuatanga kāinga kore

HOUSEHOLDS MOVED FROM TRANSITIONAL TO PERMANENT HOUSING

HOUSES PROVIDED BY VISIONWEST (LONG-TERM AND TRANSITIONAL)
Katrina and Kana’s Story
Katrina had heard about Visionwest’s housing support services because people she knew had received support and raved about it. However, even though she was in emergency housing herself, it had never occurred to Katrina to make contact. Now she’s glad she did.
Housing First
Since 2017, Visionwest has been part of Housing First Auckland, a collective of five housing providers who are working together to address homelessness in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Collective Leadership
Visionwest is well represented at the Housing First Auckland Collective with Lisa Woolley, Matua Fred Astle, and Judy Matai’a making a significant contribution to the leadership rōpū. This includes providing advice around both the Housing First approach and its te ao Māori practices, supporting whānau Māori, and initiating work to understand and address Pacific people’s homelessness.
“Together we’ve grown our kaupapa Māori responsiveness and development. The learning, training, data and knowledge sharing as a Collective has allowed us to grow and have far greater impact than we would if we worked alone.”
Lisa Woolley and Fred Astle.
Maiea, Tāiki E! Launched
Since Housing First’s launch in March 2017, 52% of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland whānau accessing our services are whānau Māori. Maiea, Tāiki E! is a Māori-led strategy that ensures Te Ao Māori approaches and practices are offered to whānau Māori to support them into a home and on their journey towards whānau whakapuāwai (to flourish).
The official launch of Maiea, Tāiki E! was hosted by Visionwest on 1 September 2023. It was attended by then Hon. Marama Davidson (Associate Minister of Housing, Homelessness) and funders and key partners together with CEs, Kaupapa Māori leaders, peer support workers and kaimahi from across the Housing First Auckland Collective.
Workstreams and Senior Māori Taumata
Visionwest staff have been active members of workstreams that meet to share knowledge, learn and develop our Housing First work and services.
During the year, the Backbone of Housing First Auckland established a Senior Māori Taumata as a platform for Māori Thought Leadership through Mātauranga Māori to inform and influence the work of the Collective. Matua Fred Astle provides extensive leadership and guidance to the Backbone and Taumata in their work to support whānau Māori and to deliver a focus priority from within Maiea, Tāiki E! – to deepen our relationships with Te Ao Māori, hapori Māori, iwi and hapū.
Housing First Hui
Housing First Auckland
HOUSING FIRST Collective Stats
March 2017 – July 2024

HOUSED

CHILDREN HOUSED

FAMILIES SUPPORTED INTO HOUSING
Youth Housing
Youth homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand is a pressing issue. Of the more than 41,000 Kiwis who have no place to call home, half are under 25 years old..
With the opening of Whare Hiwa, Visionwest now has two initiatives aimed at providing our youth with safe and secure housing surrounded by positive mentors and the opportunity for personal growth.
Whare Hiwa
On 17 March 2024, a supported accommodation programme for young wāhine who have been experiencing housing insecurity, was officially opened.
Part of Visionwest’s work to address youth homelessness, Whare Hiwa – the house of hopes and dreams – provides accommodation for five wāhine at a time. A kaitohu rangatahi (mentor) lives on-site and, as appropriate, the wāhine are connected with Ōhinga Tū and other Visionwest services to ensure they are supported to reach their full potential, including their educational and employment goals. Becks Ogden is the first kaitohu Rangatahi of Whare Hiwa.
As part of the accommodation’s opening, Muriwai Nicholls, a young local artist created a distinctive artwork to convey something of the project’s special nature. The artwork is spectacular and features three young wāhine, one Māori, one Pasifika and one Pākehā. In the picture, the wāhine are all looking in different directions while remaining close. This symbolises the reality that, while they are all different people, they share a closeness as they look out for one another. A full overview of the opening of Whare Hiwa is included in the Milestones section of this report.
Debbie Griffiths, Muriwai Nicholls and Jeremy Nicholls at the opening ofWhare Hiwa, March 2024
My Whare
The My Whare programme – an innovative response to youth housing which sees young people placed in small relocatable homes on the properties of mentoring families – continues to be a successful means of housing young people who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.
Our third young person has just begun her time with their host whānau. She came to Visionwest through her friendship with a young wahine currently housed within Whare Hiwa. She was previously in care and, on leaving that situation, fell into homelessness and emergency accommodation at very unsavoury premises in Central Auckland where she was at risk daily. She is now in a safe and nurturing living environment.
Both wāhine who have recently graduated the My Whare programme have had ‘off-benefit’ and ‘out-of-social-housing’ outcomes.
Other youth housing news
During the year, Kendra Horning, our Youth Housing Kaiārahi Team Leader, concluded her time with Visionwest to find employment closer to home. Youth Housing currently sits under the leadership of Huia Mai.