Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust has repaired the homes of a further six kaumātua who were left displaced after Cyclone Gabrielle 18 months on. This is on the back of a commitment by the trust to repair 18 homes in the district.
But, in spite of challenges and delays which are slowing the process down, one kuia is grateful to be home.
Te Wairoa resident Maia King is happy to be back in, a flat she has been in for years.
“I’m just really glad to be home because you go from one place to another trying to look for somewhere to stay. I stayed at my whānau’s place and then I went to the property brokers and they gave me a flat until I moved back here so it’s all good,” she says.
King, an older woman who has been displaced from her home since Cyclone Gabrielle returned home last week filled with joy.
She says it meant a lot to her to finally be back home, nearly months since the cyclone hit.
“This was the first flat I ever went to. When I left home, I went to work down south and just about everywhere but, when I came home, I moved into here, into this flat, and I’ve been here ever since.”
Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa is spearheading a development plan to return 18 homes to families in the district, as well as building a housing complex for kaumātua.
Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa chair Leon Symes says the trust has had to delay the building of the 13-bed kaumātua supported-living complex in is housing development because of the rising material and labour costs, coupled with the need to shift from off-site manufactured homes due to damage sustained along State Highway 2.
“We are awaiting a decision from the Ministry of Urban Housing and Development about additional support to address these challenges. In addition, we have faced the loss of our kaumātua housing coordinator role due to the recent restructuring of Te Aka Whai Ora.”
Meanwhile, King says it means the world to her having support from the community.
“I’m always happy, they always come and visit me, they always look after me. I’ve been looked after all my life. People would come, Tātau would come, St John’s would come, they’d come and see how I am. A lot of people would come and visit me,”