The Prime Minister and Minister of Housing and Urban Development have confirmed the Government’s faith in the Housing First model, pledging $197M on May 12, with $94M of that being new funding. This cash injection over four years will bolster Housing First in existing areas and will allow it to launch in Northland, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson/Blenheim and Wellington later this year.
LinkPeople is part of Housing First collectives in both Auckland and Rotorua, and chief executive Christine Hall said the substantial government investment is validation that the model is working.
“We know that finding a person a home first and then providing the wraparound support needed to sustain their tenancy is the most effective way of tackling homelessness,” Christine said.
“It is much easier for people to address the issues that may have led to homelessness, such as addiction or mental health issues, when they have a stable, permanent home.”
LinkPeople is part of the Wise Group, a family of community organisations which is one of the largest providers of mental health and wellbeing services in New Zealand. Wise Group joint chief executive Julie Nelson said the Group is delighted to see the Government’s support for and ongoing commitment to the Housing First approach.
“The Wise Group has pioneered Housing First in New Zealand, starting with The People’s Project in Hamilton in 2014. Following Hamilton’s success, we were selected to open The People’s Project in Tauranga in 2018. In addition, LinkPeople and Wise Management Services are partners in the Housing First Auckland collective which has been operating since 2017, and LinkPeople is also a partner in the Iwi-led Rotorua collective.”
Julie said with five years’ experience, The Group is building a significant body of data about the nature of homelessness which is being used to inform several ground-breaking research programmes throughout New Zealand.
Read the full announcement on the Beehive website.
Find out more about Housing First Auckland collective results on its website.
Check out more information about The Wise Group