Emerge Aotearoa Housing Trust has proudly partnered with the Home Foundation and the Christchurch Methodist Mission to help deliver the community housing development, Karamū.
The 84-home subdivision, near Riccarton Racecourse, has been built on land owned by Ngāi Tahu Property, and includes affordable, social and market priced housing. Emerge Aotearoa and Christchurch Methodist Mission each lease 14 units (made up of eight three-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units), from Home Foundation.
Emerge Aotearoa Housing TrustGeneral Manager Hope Simonsen says Karamū is a great location for families to start to put down roots after leaving transitional housing. “We are developing a harmonious community that supports neighbourhood community development,” she says.
“It has been a fantastic collaboration between Emerge Aotearoa Housing Trust, Home Foundation, and Christchurch Methodist Mission.”
Emerge Aotearoa has a 10-year lease with Home Foundation, which has an innovative shared capital gains agreement, designed to support Community Housing Providers in building their long-term financial capacity.
Home Foundation Community Lead Claire Cowles says an important focus of the project has been to remove the stigma of social housing. “Everyone has a right to a home and to belong in the community where they live,” she says.
“We are hoping it will become a strong and connected community. We have been working with Gap Filler to get community activities going at Karamū and have been hosting community events since our first whānau arrived in June.”
