First ever Te Puke Build completed!

Posted on: 3 March 2009

Monday: floor down and all wall framing in place.

Habitat partner families, international volunteers and locals came together to build the first Habitat home in Te Puke 9-18 February.

Chuck Stout from Pittsburg organized the 12 member group including his wife, sister and brother in law. Several in the group were Habitat veterans while four had their first GV experience. The group was a wonderfully enthusiastic bunch willing to take on any task given.

Tuesday: Framing completed. Trusses on. Baseboards begun. All exterior timbers were coated with first coat of final colour.

Te Kahika Marae “Makahae” housed the international volunteers during their stay and folks from the iwi fed and provided a number of cultural experiences including a Te Arawa tour of Rotorua and “the best” hangi which deeply enriched the visitor’s stay.

Wednesday: Purloins, fascia and eves completed in readiness for the roof.

Thursday: Despite wet weather, roof was half on. Retaining walls and fencing begun. Inside paneling got first coat of polyurethane.

Dana and Jo Smith, whose home was being built, worked alongside the team everyday and built some wonderful relationships with the GV team and local volunteers. By the end of the second day of the build Dana and Jo had finished their 500 sweat equity hours as they have been working hard for a year on the houses coming before theirs and have put many hours into the preparation of the Te Puke site.

Friday: Roof completed and interior of house prepared for lining with plumbing and electrical all complete. Beveled back weatherboard completed to the tops of windows. All exterior joinery put in place. Fencing and polyurethane continued.

Six local churches brought amazing smokos and lunches and dashed the volunteers’ dreams of losing weight while working so hard in the humid 30 plus weather.

Monday: Insulation in place for building inspection. Outside of home completed and final painting begun. Inside lining boards were being installed, along with interior doors. Roof completed.

Tuesday: Outside of house completed as were fences. Spouting and down pipes installed. Inside lining continued. Final outside painting completed.

Te Puke area businesses and tradesmen came to the party as well lending considerable expertise to the day. A local roofer came on short request when the other roofer cancelled. All in all an amazing build. Our next Habitat home will be built in June with the help of 20 volunteers from Georgia.

Wednesday: Last day with team. Inside walls 90% complete along with Gib board ceiling. Big clean up and house blessing with GV team, family and local volunteers.

40th Family receives offer of Habitat Partnership

Posted on: 4 September 2008

Yes, we are proud to say that Habitat for Humanity Tauranga has recently offered, for the 40th time, a partnership to a Western Bay of Plenty family.

“It’s another milestone”, says Habitat Tauranga’s Chairman, Paul Broatch, “meaning that another family will have the opportunity to break out of the vice-grip of ‘unaffordable housing’ and step instead onto the pathway to stability and home ownership.

“It’s also a time to express our gratitude to all those people and agencies that have supported us on this journey, through funding or volunteering, and who have shared our faith that we can change the world – one family at a time”.

Habitat Tauranga will complete homes for three of the forty partnerships by early next year.

Popular Quiz Night helps house more families

Posted on: 25 July 2008

Trying new ways of fundraising saw HFH Tauranga score a big success with its first (and now annual) Midwinter Trivia night in July, which raised in excess of $20,000.

Rather than lament the lack of public funding available, Tauranga hired Baypark Stadium, and went to the community for support. The result was a rousing evening of fun, laughter and spirited bids at auction for such things as an autographed cap from world tennis number one, Roger Federer, and paintings by popular local artists.

The evening was also peppered with quickfire raffles, quizzes and the entertaining wit of M.C. for the night, Grant Nordik. So good was his patter that he even had the 250 strong audience delighting in ‘being fleeced’ for their money. Most of the 35, 8-seat tables available were prepaid for by local businesses, with the balance taken up by ticket sales. The work and history of Habitat was effectively rolled out in overheads and table mats.
The Tauranga affiliate intends to maintain its momentum, and hopes to continue to create innovative, ‘Think Big’ fundraisers in order to keep providing affordable homes for struggling families.

Tauranga Chairman Paul Broatch makes a poignant reminder to us all:
“One house at a time may be a slow way of doing it, but not if you are changing the world for each family that takes occupation of a new home.”

Monday: floor down and all wall framing in place. Habitat partner families, international volunteers and locals came together to build the first Habitat home in Te Puke 9-18 February. Chuck Stout from Pittsburg organized the 12 member group including his wife, sister and brother in law. Several in the group were Habitat veterans while four had their first GV experience. The group was a wonderfully enthusiastic bunch willing to take on any task given.
	Tuesday: Framing completed. Trusses on. Baseboards begun. All exterior timbers were coated with first coat of final colour. Te Kahika Marae “Makahae” housed the international volunteers during their stay and folks from the iwi fed and provided a number of cultural experiences including a Te Arawa tour of Rotorua and “the best” hangi which deeply enriched the visitor’s stay.
*Wednesday*: Purloins, fascia and eves completed in readiness for the roof.
	Thursday: Despite wet weather, roof was half on. Retaining walls and fencing begun. Inside paneling got first coat of polyurethane. Dana and Jo Smith, whose home was being built, worked alongside the team everyday and built some wonderful relationships with the GV team and local volunteers. By the end of the second day of the build Dana and Jo had finished their 500 sweat equity hours as they have been working hard for a year on the houses coming before theirs and have put many hours into the preparation of the Te Puke site.
Friday: Roof completed and interior of house prepared for lining with plumbing and electrical all complete. Beveled back weatherboard completed to the tops of windows. All exterior joinery put in place. Fencing and polyurethane continued. Six local churches brought amazing smokos and lunches and dashed the volunteers’ dreams of losing weight while working so hard in the humid 30 plus weather.
	Monday: Insulation in place for building inspection. Outside of home completed and final painting begun. Inside lining boards were being installed, along with interior doors. Roof completed.
Tuesday: Outside of house completed as were fences. Spouting and down pipes installed. Inside lining continued. Final outside painting completed. Te Puke area businesses and tradesmen came to the party as well lending considerable expertise to the day. A local roofer came on short request when the other roofer cancelled. All in all an amazing build. Our next Habitat home will be built in June with the help of 20 volunteers from Georgia.
	Wednesday: Last day with team. Inside walls 90% complete along with Gib board ceiling. Big clean up and house blessing with GV team, family and local volunteers.