New wellness hub for homeless

Te Tuinga business manager Stacey Mareroa-Roberts outside the site for the new community wellness hub. Photo: John Borren.

The expansion of a service that has already seen hundreds of families and individuals housed and helped for nearly 40 years will open a new wellness hub in the centre of Tauranga before Christmas.

Based at what was previously a hair dressing academy on Anson Street, the Te Tuinga Whānau Support Trust-run hub will operate as a daily centre for Tauranga's homeless.

'There's a need for a one-stop-shop homeless hub,” says Te Tuinga Whānau Support Trust chief imaginations officer Tommy Wilson.

'It will work exactly the same way as we run Te Tuinga Taratoa in Greerton. No one will be living there. It will be very much like a day centre, a wellbeing centre - Whare Oranga.”

The organisation, started by the Māori Women's Welfare League 37 years ago and named Te Tuinga by founding father Hauata Palmer, a respected kaumātua of Ngāiterangi Iwi, already has close relationships with Tauranga's women's shelter and the men's night shelter.

Takitimu House in Elizabeth Street provides homeless men with temporary shelter and access to services designed to break the cycle of homelessness. Awhina House, which opened in 2019, offers sustained accommodation for homeless women.

The Whare Oranga in Anson Street will open daily, focusing on wellbeing whether it be physical, mental, spiritual, social or financial, with participants able to learn new skills and develop stronger relationships.

The centre will be directly behind the Whare Tauranga which is located on the corner of The Strand and McLean Street. Seven years ago, the trust started there with one family and one house opened by Te Ururoa Flavell and the organisation's patron, Sir Paul Adams. Today Te Tuinga Whānau is providing a service to over 210 families and individuals across 24 homes and four motels, including RSA Tauranga.

'Whare Tauranga was our first house, and we've put over 100 families and individuals through thanks to the Tauranga Moana Māori Trust Board who gave it as a koha rent-free for the first three years,” says Tommy.

'Our big focus at the Whare Oranga will be holistic growth and well-being of our people as they look beyond the horizon of their circumstances and dream for a brighter future. We'll reconnect people through culture and the arts.”

Te Tuinga business manager and ‘chief inspiration officer' Stacey Mareroa-Roberts will assist Tommy with laying out the vision.

'Any healing starts with reflection and acknowledgment of who you are and how you got to where you are,” says Stacey. 'That happens by looking both outwards and inward, exploring your cultural connection to people, place and planet.

'We are natural creatives, orators, and navigators so it makes sense to focus on these skills. We're looking at walking/talking historical tours, starting at Te Tuinga Tauranga Moana centre.

'We will train and up-skill our people through local storytelling and bring them back for kai and korero afterwards.”

The Happy Puku, run by chef Stephen Wilson, will be serving free kai from 11am-2pm each day 'for those who can't afford it”. Those who can afford it will be able to pay it forward.

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's Public Housing June 2021 Quarterly Report, there were 675 applicants on the social housing register in Tauranga (155 more than the 520 reported in September 2020), and a further 181 applicants on the housing register for the Western Bay of Plenty (which is 51 more than the 130 applicants reported in September 2020).

'Tauranga means ‘safe anchorage' and a safe place to be,” says Tommy. 'There will be a lot more laughter, singing and healthy kai for those that need that in their lives.

'We are discussing with the Tauranga Moana Māori Trust Board how our two organisations can strengthen the relationship to benefit all of our people.”

You may also like....