Homes of Choice

A single fall. That's all it took.

Tasi was holidaying in Samoa when it happened.

“I tried to get back up and nah, nothing was working. My arms and legs weren’t responding.”

Fast forward seven months after staying in Auckland Hospital, Waitākere Hospital, and finally the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit... and Tasi was confronted with a reality many disabled people in New Zealand know all too well.

A lack of accessible housing.

He had been on the housing register, but nothing came of it. And so, he took his only option: moving into his family's garage.

“I was in the garage for... close to a year. I had no access to a bathroom or a toilet. Everything had to happen in the garage. I had to do a lot of bed washes. I didn't have a proper shower for almost a year. It was cold. And lonely at times.”

Nobody should have to live that way. But as we know, there is a difference between how things should be and how they are. Especially for disabled people.

Stats NZ's 2023 Household Disability Survey found that disabled people are more likely to live in poor-quality housing, with 29% saying their home is colder than they would like in winter and 25% reporting damp living conditions.

The numbers are sobering, yes, and too often the people they represent and their stories are forgotten.

Not Tasi.

Not this time.

While scrolling Facebook, Tasi came across a Homes of Choice ad for an accessible home in Henderson.

Not long after, he moved in.

“It’s pretty much given me my confidence back. I feel like a person again. I get to shower, work from home, have my own privacy... before, people would just walk into my garage, and I'd be lying there half naked. Now my home is my home.”

Family is important to Tasi. In this new home, his sister and her kids live upstairs, while he lives downstairs.

“We get to have dinners together. Watch movies together. Game nights, family nights, stuff like that. I can spend time with them, but I can also have my own space.”

“Before I couldn't do that. In the garage, it almost felt like I was a burden because people had to go out of their way just to come in and spend time with me.”

Like many people, accessibility wasn't something Tasi thought much about before his accident.

Now, he understands just how much the right environment can shape a person's outlook.

“Being in a space like this is way more helpful for recovery. It makes you want to recover. I truly believe your environment shapes your outlook.”

“Living in the garage was like, 'Ugh, I don't want to do anything. I don't want to get up and do my physio.'”

“But here, it's different. I can see the sun.”

“It makes me want to recover.”

When asked what the word ‘home’ means to him now, he said this:

“Home is family. Anywhere my family is, that's where my heart is, and that's where my home is.”

“But accessibility means I can connect with them better. That's what accessibility is. Being able to access the things that make us feel at home.”

Accessible homes cost too much.
Yeah right.

That's the myth. The reality is that it's almost 10 times cheaper to build accessibility into a home from the start than it is to retrofit it later.

Research from BRANZ found that including Universal Design features during construction costs around $1,700 on average. Making those same changes after a home is built can cost up to $14,000.

Yet only 2% of homes in Aotearoa are considered accessible.
A wider doorway. A step-free entrance. A bathroom that helps prevent falls.

These aren't luxury features. They're practical design choices that make homes safer, more comfortable and easier to live in for years to come.

The numbers are clear. It's time to build like accessibility matters.

Growth deserves to be celebrated. Especially in a sector that asks so much of people every day.

Over the past nine weeks, staff from across Spectrum Care, Homes of Choice, and Spectrum Foundation have taken part in our Coaching, Diversity and Leadership programme, building confidence, challenging themselves, and growing alongside their peers.

Now in its third year, the programme continues to evolve alongside our kaimahi, shaped by the realities of the work they do every day.

Leadership in our sector is deeply human. It asks people to hold complexity, build trust, support others through hard moments, and keep showing up with care.

Congratulations to this year's graduates, and arohanui to everyone who makes this programme possible. 🙌

Looking for an accessible place to call home in central Wellington? We currently have a one-bedroom apartment available on the female-only floor at Te Ki a Alasdair.

The fifth-floor apartment includes:

🛏️ One bedroom
🚿 Walk-in shower
🛜 Free WiFi
🌇 Beautiful views across Wellington

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Be on the MSD Housing Register
• Have wrap-around support
• Have a disability
• Be able to safely walk down stairs from the 5th floor in the event of an emergency evacuation

If you meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in learning more, please email Felicia Quirk at [email protected].

Happy Pink Shirt Day! 👚

This is our Head Office whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau. Across the motu, more of our teams and the people we support are marking the day in homes and services. We’ll share those pictures as soon as we have them.

Pink Shirt Day Aotearoa is about noticing bullying and doing something about it.

And for disabled people in Aotearoa, this matters. A lot.

Research shows disabled people experience bullying, victimisation, and violence at significantly higher rates than the general population. At school. At work. In everyday life.

So today isn’t just about wearing pink. It’s about paying attention. Today, tomorrow, and every day of the year.

Our tāngata whaikaha are already navigating a world that wasn’t built with them in mind. How we treat each other within it matters.

For much of New Zealand’s history, disabled people were not asked where they wanted to live.

Many were removed from whānau and community and placed into institutions, often far from home and familiarity. Some entered as children and never truly left.

At one point, families were actively encouraged to place disabled children into large “mental deficiency colonies” from the age of five.

And even after the institutions closed, many of the ideas behind them remained. Sir Robert Martin, who spent years institutionalised at Kimberley, once said:

“Being institutionalised is not just about the buildings. It’s about values, beliefs, actions and activities. It’s about who has the control.”

That history matters.

Because for disabled people in Aotearoa, home was not always something you got to choose.

The ability to remain connected to community, experience familiarity and privacy, and shape your own life are things generations fought hard for.

That’s why our name matters.

Homes of Choice is not just about housing.

It’s about something disabled people in Aotearoa were denied for far too long: the freedom to choose where and how you live.

History can be forgotten.
Not because it lost its meaning, but because time moves.

This taonga, now brought back to life as a mural by our kaimahi Paula and Karen, carries the Te Wai Kahukura Atawhai emblem. A symbol gifted to Spectrum Care Trust through the Awhi Group many years ago. A group established to support the needs of Māori within the organisation and strengthen understanding across our people.

Its message is simple, but enduring: to blossom and nurture.

That kaupapa still lives here.

Last month, during the launch of our Whakamanawa programme, the mural was presented back to the organisation on behalf of the Awhi Group. A moment to remember where this mahi began, and the people who helped shape it.

Whakamanawa means to enable the heart. To inspire. To empower.

The programme will help our kaimahi build confidence in te ao Māori, tikanga, and everyday practice, deepening understanding and connection in the work we do.

This mural is a reminder that this kaupapa did not begin today.
It has been carried by many hands.

Ngā mihi to Paula and Karen for bringing this taonga forward again, and to the Awhi Group for helping ensure its story continues.

Last week, Te Kei o Te Waka Tainui led the opening karakia for our new development in Māngere East.

We woke to torrential rain and thunder. But as soon as we gathered, the skies cleared, making space for the blessing.

This development will provide six accessible homes for disabled people supported by Spectrum Care. Five are self-contained homes within one building, alongside a shared living space for connection. There’s also a dedicated room for overnight support when needed. A sixth home sits separately, for someone with a higher level of independence.

Purpose-built. Secure, affordable, and designed for independence and wellbeing.

A place of your own, with the right support there when it matters.

Funded through Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, with design by LifeStyle Architectural Services and construction by Sentinel Homes.

Arohanui to everyone who made this possible, and to those who joined us at dawn to mark the beginning of what will unfold here. 💚

Something important is taking shape in Māngere East! 🚧

This new development will provide six fully accessible homes for people with disabilities. Five are self-contained one-bedroom homes, and the sixth will be a shared space used by Spectrum Care to support residents.

Funded through Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, these homes will be offered to people on the social housing register, helping make accessible housing more affordable.

Accessible housing is still far too rare in Aotearoa, which is why projects like this matter so much.

Built with the talent of LifeStyle Architectural Services and Sentinel Homes.