Otila Lamosi’s oldest son fell to his knees in thanks when he saw the new home he and his family will be living in at Punavaiola – Spring of Living Water, a new $7m social housing development in Flaxmere.
“He opened the gate and he just couldn’t believe it,” says Otila, pictured with her husband Pita and baby Marcus. .
The 4-bedroom house is one of 12 new homes built through a partnership between Wesley Community Action and the Methodist Church of NZ Hastings Samoan Parish, with support from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
Work on the project to build 12 new rental homes houses on church-owned land in Caenarvon Drive began in September 2022. Six of the houses have four bedrooms and the other six have three bedrooms. They are being made available to people on the social housing waiting list with a particular focus on Pasifika aiga.
The Lamosi family, who have 4 children, are in the process of moving into their new home after several years on the social housing waiting list. They’re looking forward to living somewhere warm, dry and affordable.
Wesley Community Action’s housing development lead Shomilla Sidal has been in Hawkes Bay this week to introduce the first group of tenants to their new homes. She says it’s been an emotional experience.
“People have been in tears when they see where they are going to live – and I’ve cried too.”
Minister of Hastings Samoan Parish, Rev Iakopo Faafuata, says they originally bought the land with the intention of building a youth centre. However, the growing housing crisis in Hawkes Bay made them rethink that idea and instead they decided to use the land to provide social housing.
They called on the expertise of Wesley Community Action, which is a registered Community Housing Provider (CHP), to help them carry out their plan. Wesley has already undertaken a similar project at Wesley Rātā Village in Naenae, Wellington, where the organisation recently built 25 new community houses, with another 31 apartments planned.
“Providing social housing is a core part of our work now,” says Wesley director David Hanna. “We know that poor and inadequate housing is a major source of social and financial stress and that building houses is a really important way of addressing this.”
He says Wesley will continue to work with the parish to help build connections and a sense of belonging for the 50 or so people who will live at Punavaiola. “For us social housing developments like Punavaioloa are about more than just putting a roof over people’s head – they’re also about creating a community.”
The houses for Punavaiola were supplied by Wellington modular home provider EasyBuild and civil works were carried out by Hawkes Bay company Dodge Contracting.
David says that Cyclone Gabrielle, which devastated much of Hawkes Bay last February, created unexpected challenges for the building project, slightly delaying its completion. It also highlighted the need for more social housing in the area.
For Iakopo the completion of Punavaiola is a dream come true. “We’re so happy that this land will now be used as a ‘spring of living water’ of God’s love to people who need help because of the growing housing crisis and the increasing cost of living.”
* Punavaiola will be officially opened at a ceremony at midday on Saturday March 23.