A $50 million community hub with wraparound support – believed to be the first of its kind in the world – has opened its doors in central Wellington.
Whakamaru, developed and run by the Wellington City Mission, contains 35 apartments for vulnerable people and offers 24/7 support.
It also offers services that can be accessed by anyone who needs it, including a medical centre, social supermarket, dental surgery, laundry service, and a café.
The café, Craig and Gail’s, is open to the public during the day with a flexible pricing plan that allows coffee lovers to pay it forward. The public can also rent spaces, such as a large boardroom, for free.
“The idea is, we are welcoming the Wellington community to come in and join us in working with people that are struggling a bit,” Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge told 1News.
“In that way, we create a different form of community.”
He already has two takers keen to pop by.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she would be taking her team, and Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, whose residence neighbours Whakamaru, said she “won’t be a stranger”.
The facility has been six years in the making.
The original plan was for a $5 million refurbishment of an old building, but a fundraising drive led to an upgrade to a brand-new facility with an array of services.
The previous government provided $20 million through its funding scheme for “shovel-ready” projects during the pandemic. But the bulk of the money has come from the community, including a $2 million donation that came in last night.
The City Mission now has a final $2 million to raise before the building would be debt-free.
