The successful Housing First programme is being expanded into more regions across New Zealand to help end chronic homelessness and Tauranga has been allocated up to 100 places.
“Nobody in our community wants to see anyone living on the street, but as we know there are people who have, for a number of reasons, found themselves sleeping on the streets of Tauranga ” Mr Muller said.
“This expansion of Housing First will provide help for up to 100 high need local individuals to get off the streets and into warm, dry, secure homes where they will receive targeted, one-on-one wraparound services”.
“This is about addressing the root causes of their homelessness such as mental health and addiction issues” he added.
International results consistently confirm that 80 per cent of people who receive Housing First services retain their housing and do not return to homelessness.
“They have worked tirelessly to ensure the Government is aware of what they see at the coalface as they work with some of the most vulnerable members of our community here in the Bay”.
“Their advocacy has been instrumental in seeing Tauranga identified as a priority area”.
“Too often their work is a thankless task, so today I just really want to acknowledge their service to our community and assure them that the Government has heard their concerns and we are acting on them”.
“This is a big step in the right direction, and I look forward to seeing our community resourced to resolve homelessness and housing issues” he concluded.