Historic home for young mothers on the market

35 Dryden Street, Grey Lynn. Photo / Bayleys.co.nz

A property that was home to young mothers and their babies for more than 100 years is for sale.

Financial difficulties forced the closure of Auckland's Bethany Centre in Grey Lynn last November.

The centre, which was owned and run by The Salvation Army, offered accommodation, education and support to pregnant young women, many of whom were high-risk teenage girls and women in their 20s who faced having their child removed by Child Youth and Family (CYF).

The ongoing cost of maintaining the 98-year-old and a declining number of referrals from CYF and District Health Boards contributed to the closure.

However, the Salvation Army said it would not turn its back on young pregnant women in need and work was underway to provide similar services to those offered by Bethany.

"The current need for similar services is as great as ever," said Major Campbell Roberts.

"The closing of Bethany is not an opportunity for The Salvation Army to stop working with young women impacted by family or individual crises. Rather, it is a challenge for The Salvation Army and the wider community to find more and better support for those who desperately need it."

The property is being marketed by Bayleys and has a Government valuation of $2.8 million.

It includes the main two-story building and separate 12-bedroom ex-nurses home, sitting on a 3662sqm section.

The centre was built as a maternity hospital, but later established as a residential antenatal and postnatal support centre for young mothers.

Typically, girls would come to Bethany when they were 20 weeks pregnant, have their baby and stay for about three months. They could also return as community clients for up to six months and receive follow-up home visits by their social workers.

About 60 girls passed through Bethany annually in its final years.

Most were from impoverished and dysfunctional families, were homeless and lived transient lifestyles, suffered abuse or violence, were in debt and may have arrived with a substance abuse problem, said the centre's final manager Leanne Adams.

"Our job was to encourage them in their role of being a mum and give them the confidence that they could actually do it and many of them became very competent mothers as a result," she said.

A public tender for the property closes on May 7.