Community
With winter on our doorstep, Awarua Synergy is striving to provide warm and healthier housing for southern whanau and community members in need.
Working with local funders Te Whatu Ora and the Southland Warm Homes Trust, they are delivering the Healthy Homes Initiative, which offers those in need access to subsidies to cover the cost of heaters, thermal curtains, air purifiers, bedding, and more.
Awarua Synergy general manager Sumaria Beaton said there was a real need for basic household items to help families during the colder months — items that help prevent hospital admissions.
The Healthy Homes Initiative is committed to helping those living in cold, damp, and unhealthy homes, focusing primarily on low-income families, pregnant women or women with a newborn baby, and children with rheumatic fever.
“This Healthy Homes Initiative funding is not just for those that are homeowners, it is also for those that are tenants living in rental properties,” Beaton said.
The initiative aims to increase temperatures in homes, particularly in bedrooms, during the colder months to help reduce respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, which can be worsened by cold indoor temperatures as a result of poor insulation and lack of air-flow.
Recently, an eco-panel heater was donated by Awarua Synergy and installed in the children’s sleeping room of the Murihiku Kōhanga Reo to help keep temperatures up during Winter.
With access to such resources, Awarua Synergy is acting fast to get to as many families as they can while the funding is still available.
Application for the initiative is completely streamlined and easy to access. To find out if you or someone you know is eligible for funding, the online form is available by clicking here awaruasynergy.co.nz/hospitalreferral