A programme to help whānau Māori achieve their home ownership aspirations has won an Australasian Housing Institute award for Leading Community Engagement Practice.
Sorted Kāinga Ora, developed in partnership with Te Puni Kōkiri, won the award at the 2019 Professional Excellence in Housing Awards in Wellington on June 6. It was jointly accepted by CFFC's GM Community Programmes, Peter Cordtz, and Te Puni Kōkiri's Helen Algar, the Project Lead of The Māori Housing Network's Te Ara Mauwhare: Pathways to Home Ownership programme.
Sorted Kāinga Ora is a financial capability course delivered by Māori for Māori, to help them assess whether they are ready to pursue home ownership. If so, they may then apply to continue on a home ownership pathway offered by their rōpū through the Māori Housing Network.
Cordtz says CFFC was proud to have been involved in the development of Sorted Kāinga Ora and its ongoing delivery to whānau around the country.
"Improving a whānau's financial capability is a crucial step in preparing for home ownership," says Cordtz. "In turn, improving housing outcomes is critical to achieving long term wellbeing for our most vulnerable groups, which supports our kaupapa of arriving at and living in retirement in good financial health."
Funding allocated in the government's 2019 Budget will enable Sorted Kāinga Ora to be scaled up further, reaching 300 whānau Maori.