Purpose Built Community Home Opens
About two years ago, The Lantern House Trust (LHT) joined forces with Habitat For Humanity Taranaki to create a purpose-built community home for the Trust, to accommodate the requirements of up to five families with children/young adults requiring long term care.
The LHT is a Charitable Trust set up to raise awareness of young people of Taranaki with intellectual and physical disabilities. The trust started in 2009 because of a lack of secure and permanent residential care for disabled people in Taranaki, and its mission is to provide a home that will be purpose built to provide full time care for young adults.
Habitat for Humanity Taranaki (HFH), which traditionally helps families into a new home through a rent to buy scheme, stepped in and built the Estate Grove house helped by more than 100 volunteers and 3000 donated hours.
With monumental support from the community and Habitat For Humanity Taranaki, the five-bedroom house was finished and dedicated in August 2015. The first residents moved in during October and November 2015.
Inside, as well as having wide doors and suitable space to be wheelchair friendly, there are two extra-large wet area bathrooms, a massive living area, patio garden and plenty of storage.
The home will be owned by LHT and leased to a professional care organisation, NZ CARE, for them to provide their services to run the home for the communities’ families who require 24-hour care. At present there is a huge gap in this type of care and family members are having to find accommodation in such facilities as far away as Palmerston North and Hamilton.
Many local and national businesses support HFH, and Cubro were approached to supply threshold ramps to ensure the house was wheelchair accessible. Cubro were able to provide numerous threshold ramps and support this community project.
What was once a dream has turned into reality for the Lantern House Trust and the disabled community of Taranaki.
http://www.lanternhousetrust.org.nz/
http://www.habitat.org.nz/taranaki
