This whānau self referred into the Child Healthy Housing Program after hearing about the service from another Māmā at kindy.
The whānau had recently purchased their own home, and wanted support making it warm and dry for their 5 children and new baby on the way.
The home had no heat source when I first visited, so a referral to EECA was one of the first things that was actioned. The whānau have since had a fireplace installed, using the EECA grant, and we have been able to supply them with a load of Firewood from Tumu through funding from Wharariki Trust.
We also wanted to focus on how to keep heat in the home, particularly the childrens bedroom’s so they could be kept between the reccomended 18-20 degrees overnight. We supplied rails and curtains from the Red Cross curtain bank, along with bubble wrap to stop heat loss out the bedroom windows. The family were also needing a bed to transfer their youngest daughter to. A bed was supplied through Re-Source and bedding from Variety funding.
The minor repairs budget was used to repair the bathroom extractor fan. This made a really positive difference to the amount of moisture in the home, especially with the large number of whānau members showering.
The whānau was so interested in the education we were able to provide about heating, reducing heat loss, reducing moisture and ventilating. She also engaged in a session with Energy Mates to learn tips to save power.
The work with this whānau began over winter when we had PJs from Wharariki trust to distribute to whānau. I gave these out to the children in school holidays, then recieved feedback from their Mum “they love the PJs and haven’t wanted to take them off”
This whānau were really engaged in our program and are now feeling that their home will be able to be kept warm and dry next winter.
