The charity was providing the largest number of affordable houses to be built in Whangarei, with 24 homes under way in Tikipunga and Kensington, northern region chief executive Conrad LaPointe said.

It is now accepting applications for its rent-to-own scheme for these houses. Read more

The hall will be demolished to help meet the rising demand for accommodation in Dunedin.

Wallace said he was in talks with Habitat for Humanity to build housing for those in need on the site of St Martin's Hall in Northumberland St.

Much of the old hall — parts of which were considered unsafe in an earthquake — has been empty since 2013. The rest was vacated last year.

Wallace said plans for the housing are still being finalised. At this stage, the idea is to develop a cluster of one and two bedroom residential units.

Just when the work will start has yet to be confirmed.

Consent to demolish the old hall was not required, as it was not a listed heritage building, but consent for new houses would be, Wallace said.

‘‘We haven't signed anything with Habitat but we're working with them about the possibilities there."

‘‘We're not rushing into anything, but we're really happy that the site that was used by the community so well for decades and decades, but is not able to continue being used in that way, has the possibility of serving the community in a whole other way.''

Once built, the houses would add to those the parish already owned, in Cumberland St next to the All Saint's Anglican Church.

Four units in Cumberland Street built by parish are now offered to those in need, in partnership with the Salvation Army.

Source

• Otago Daily Times
• Image: Otago Daily Times

The programme will ensure that communities have the skills necessary to rebuild, said Amelia Ma'afu the acting director of Caritas Tonga.

The Support to Self-Recovery programme provides timber, tools, equipment and training so people can restore their own houses, with Build Back Safer principles an essential component of the repair work.

Amelia said that homeowners will be able to use these skills as they rebuild their homes with kits provided.

The Build Back Safer principles encourage the use of cyclone strapping and bracing, and introduce techniques that will increase the resilience of homes to future storms and earthquakes.

Habitat for Humanity Chief executive, Claire Szabo, said the money raised would include money from the community and businesses lending financial support, tools and tradespeople.

"The locals are very involved," she told Radio New Zealand.

"We have engineers and builders that are involved in supervision both here in New Zealand and up in Tonga.

"So there's a whole crew of people to get involved to make our model happen."

The project aims to rebuild 500 homes.

Palasa and Vaea Lolesio and their four children live in Fo'ui village.

They are one of many families whose homes were destroyed by cyclone Gita.

Their house was almost completely destroyed; only the walls of the kitchen and a small bedroom on the side of the house remain standing.

Vaea was able to rescue some of the roofing iron to straighten it out and make a shelter for the family to live in.

But the roof still leaked through old nail holes and splits in the iron.

He fixed this problem with a tarpaulin he received from Caritas.

He was committed to rebuilding the house with his brother's help but couldn't afford the materials required. He says he has the skills necessary and will start the rebuild as soon as he can.

Donate to Caritas

Source

• caritas.org.nz
• caritas.org.nz
• kanivatonga.nz
• Image: caritas.org.nz

Habitat for Humanity Fiji has provided more than 1000 families with emergency shelter-kits in the Northern Division.

The non-profit organisation served 500 families in the Province of Bua last month reaching out to Wainunu, Nadi and Kubulau districts.

They have assisted 700 families from 20 communities in Taveuni Island.

An emergency shelter-kit includes items such as tarpaulins, ropes, buckets, mosquito nets, solar lanterns, spades, hand saw, shovel, machete, binding wire, roofing nails, pinch bar, bending wire, hammer and other small items.

Since cyclone Winston hit Fiji Habitat for Humanity Fiji has reached out to more than 3000 families as a whole with emergency shelter-kits.

This involved distribution of emergency shelter kits in more than 150 communities in Viti Levu, Vanua Levu and Ovalau.

Who are Habitat for Humanity?

Habitat for Humanity Fiji is a non-profit organisation founded in 1991.

It is a member of Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), founded in 1976 to eliminate poverty housing.

Habitat for Humanity Fiji builds and repairs homes for low-income families and is one of the biggest single entity housing providers in Fiji next to government.

They believe every Fijian family should have access to their basic right to adequate housing in the most practical and cost-effective way.

The Help for Homes initiative

The Fiji Government has established the Help for Homes initiative to help people who have not received help from donors or NGOs.

In a number of villages, Catholic schools have been used as a meeting place for local people to meet the Help for Home teams.

Help for Homes is designed to give affected households the resources they need to rebuild their damaged homes, including roofs, to withstand severe weather events.

Homes that have sustained damage from Cyclone Winston can be issued electronic cards that can be used at selected hardware retailers to purchase materials to rebuild.

Households are eligible to receive assistance if the…

• household has an annual income of $50,000 or less
• home was located in the declared path of Cyclone Winston
• home sustained roofing damage in Cyclone Winston.

The first phase of distribution targeted homes in the declared path of Cyclone Winston.

Homes located outside of the declared path will not be eligible for assistance until the second stage of distribution. Those dates will be announced.

Source

• fijisun.com.fj
• fijitimes.com
• Image: fijisun.com.fj