Hastings mum gets new home after three years of emergency housing
Two of Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga's new houses built by Soho Group in Flaxmere. Photo / Warren Buckland.
A young mum who has spent the past three years living in emergency housing with her two young children is rejoicing at the prospect of a new home.
Norah Kataina, with her 5- and 3-year-old, lived in one-bedroom emergency housing at a hotel in Hastings for two years.
It wasn't easy, she said.
The family moved into a property early last year, which gave them their own space, yet it didn't feel like home.
Waiting was the hardest part.
Yet within a few days, the family will move into a new two-bedroom house they can call home.
Dylan-Jeremiah, 5, and Sala-Rae Kataina, 3, are stoked, their mother said.
And both children were visibly excited at the Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga and Ministry of Housing and Urban Development blessing of the 18 homes in Flaxmere on Wednesday.
"I am so happy for them to have a place that is their home," she said. "It is so exciting to be moving into our own space and we can have all our own stuff."
Norah Kataina with her children Dylan-Jeremiah Kataina (left), 5, and Sala-Rae Kataina, 3, at the blessing ceremony for 18 houses, one of which will be their new home. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares.
She's particularly excited to be able to hang pictures on the walls, because they weren't allowed to do that in emergency housing motels and transitional housing.
Through Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, locals will be moving into the new homes built by Soho Group in Flaxmere.
The setting for Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's blessing of the 18 new affordable homes in Flaxmere. Photo / Maddisyn Jeffares.
The homes range from having one bedroom all the way up to four bedrooms, and whānau in emergency and transitional housing will be moving in over the next month.
The project, known as Te Wai Purotū, is creating much-needed affordable housing and a village to reconnect whānau with the community and create a vibrant, pleasant environment for all, a Te Taiwhenua spokesperson said.
Kataina and her children will be one of the first families to move into the development.
It is an exciting time for the young mum: she has also just completed level three and four baking courses at EIT and is putting her skills to work at Rush Munro's.
Published on New Zealand Herald April 2022
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