Each year Città looks for a way to make a difference with a local charitable cause.
The project involves 200 volunteers rolling up their sleeves to construct a house for a New Zealand family in need of better housing. With nearly half of Kiwis living in cold or damp houses, and one in four houses considered to be in poor condition, it is vital that safe, dry and affordable housing is available.
Volunteers from Città donned their hard hats and tool belts and joined the Habitat for Humanity team on site helping to build a home for a family in Kaikohe. Città’s team included members from their stores and head office, plus their very own building expert, and Città’s HR Manager, Emmett from The Block NZ.
In addition to their time, the Città team has also made the largest cash contribution towards the build to support the great work Habitat for Humanity do for families in need right here in New Zealand.
The family are excited to have a new house which they can call home. Some of Athena and Te Akau’s children suffer with illnesses related to their damp, deteriorating and overcrowded accommodation. “We are very happy and feel so grateful! This will make a difference to every part of our lives and our children’s health. It will be a new start for us all.”
As well as the timely social issue of affordable quality housing, Città was particularly interested in supporting a charity with a sustainable model for consistently improving the lives of families in New Zealand through housing. Once a Habitat partner’s home is completed, the family makes affordable regular repayments to Habitat on a non-profit basis. Habitat’s rent-then-buy model helps families build up a deposit which they can use when seeking independent finance and buy their home from Habitat. The new partner families’ monthly payments go into a revolving fund held by Habitat. This fund is reinvested into the community, as it is used to build more homes for families in housing need.
With so many people struggling to afford rental accommodation, let alone home ownership, Habitat for Humanity’s rent-then-buy model is a fantastic solution to help families get into safe, permanent homes.
Being a New Zealand owned company, Città feels it’s vital to support projects such as this in our community. Margot Acland, owner and CEO, says, “With the home very much a focus for us, it’s particularly fitting to be supporting a project which aims to provide people with a safe and healthy home for life. We feel it’s extremely important to reach out and help our communities, with the overall goal of improving people's lives in New Zealand.”
To find out more about the work Habitat for Humanity does here in New Zealand, click here.
Città, 4 Westmoreland Street West, Grey Lynn, T: 09 972 9293,