Manurewa marae is looking to assist Te Puea marae in providing shelter and assistance for homeless families. The marae met to discuss the issue today.
The ancestral house of Mātukurua will be a place of refuge for Auckland's homeless families.
Tunuiarangi McLean the spokesperson for Manurewa Marae says, “We will bring the families here from Te Puea, welcome them on our marae ātea of Manurewa Marae.”
The marae staff are meeting for the first time today, to discuss how they can provide temporary accommodation for the surplus families at Te Puea marae.
“We will operate the same as Te Puea as they have said. We will support the families until August.”
Manurewa Marae say they have lots of land, but not a lot of buildings. They will be seeking support from organisations who can donate portable rooms.
“We want to set up five of these types of rooms, so we can keep the families safe, and they can stay together as a family.”
Yesterday the marae met with staff at Te Puea Marae, to see how they are providing care and meeting the housing needs of the families. Today is about moulding that model to suit their community and marae.
“The chairman of the Manurewa community board has said he will support us, also the chairman of the Wiri Trust, churches in our community of Manurewa, schools have all given us their support.”
Next week the marae and community will meet to discuss how they can work together to help the families in need.