Tauranga council signs off $40K one-off grant for women's shelter

He Kaupapa Kotahitanga Trust Tauranga chairwoman Angela Wallace, with fellow trustees Tania Lewis-Rickard (left) and Colleen Spiro.

The Tauranga City Council will contribute $40,000 to help establish the city's first shelter for homeless women.

The full council voted unanimously today to approve the funding for He Kaupapa Kotahitanga Trust's planned Awhina House facility, following a committee recommendation last week.

The funding will be a one-off grant, with any further requests to be made through the council's annual budget-setting process, the Annual Plan.

The trust has secured a lease on a building in The Avenues for the shelter.

The trust has estimated it will need $250,000 to fund its first year of operation, including staff costs but not set up costs. It was also approaching other funding sources.

The People's Project - which helps find homes for homeless people - reported on December 3 it had 17 women without anywhere to live registered with its service, of which four were still homeless. Others were split between permanent (5), transitional (3) and Government-funded emergency housing (4).