Te Puni Kōkiri Te Tairāwhiti and the Whānau Integration, Innovation and Engagement (WIIE) Fund have supported Te Hauora o Tūranganui ā Kiwa (Tūranga Health) to develop a healthy homes tool-kit.

The tool-kit is aimed at providing practical information and steps for whānau to maintain a healthy home. This project enabled Tūranga Health to complete at least 96 household assessments. Tūranga Health has built on their relationships with service providers to negotiate economies of scale strategies with service providers and tradesmen.

The healthy homes tool-kit builds on an energy efficiency project, implemented by Tūranga Health and Te Tairāwhiti, which provided sustainable options for energy production and usage in the Manutuke community, including Manutuke Marae.

While this project enabled the Marae to investigate the feasibility of solar energy as an energy source, it highlighted the importance of insulation as an energy efficient pre-requisite for any dwelling, including households and Marae. Tūranga Health formed a working relationship with private Insulation provider Climatize and enabled the employment of several rangatahi Māori to undertake insulation instalments in 200 homes (as featured in the previous issue of Kōkiri).