The Wellington City Mission will soon be operating support services from the newly built Rolleston housing complex in the Mount Cook suburb of Wellington. 

The complex, to open in late 2023, will operate under a Single Site Supported Housing (SSSH) model. SSSH is a new approach by Kāinga Ora, being piloted for both the Rolleston development and the Greys Avenue development in Auckland. SSSH is where tenancies are located within a single area of land, and support services are available on-site to residents 24/7. Tenants are housed on a long-term basis, rather than temporarily, and the model uses stable housing as a platform for health, recovery and personal growth. 

“This service, fully funded by Government, is a really exciting initiative for the Wellington City Mission and fits well with our core skills and capabilities in helping people to live successfully and well in the community,” Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge said. 

The Rolleston site contains 36 one-bedroom, 29 two-bedroom and 15 studio apartments in a mix of two through to five storey buildings. These modern, warm and dry homes will be fully insulated, carpeted, with curtains and double-glazing. There will be shared community spaces, landscaped areas, and gardens. 

While the 80 tenant households in Rolleston will be a mixed cohort with low through to high needs for support, at least 20 tenant households could have high needs for support. 

The on-site support services that WCM will provide may include, but are not limited to, access to peer support, social work support, counselling, employment assistance, healthcare, financial mentoring, and skill development that is part of an ecosystem connected to community-based services. The aim is to ensure that Rolleston is a place to call home, a place that tenants feel safe, that their needs are understood and supported with culturally responsive services, and where tenants feel empowered and have autonomy. 

In addition to on-site support services provided by WCM, Kāinga Ora will provide on-site Community Guardians 24/7 that provide a concierge service and ensure the safety of the site and the people within it. Kāinga Ora will also provide tenancy management and facilities maintenance services. WCM and Kāinga Ora will partner at Rolleston to provide tenant household placement services and community development activities including activating shared spaces within the site, building relationships with and between residents, neighbours, and the local community, facilitating whānau centric approaches to community development and shared community governance. 

The Wellington City Mission will be working closely with Kāinga Ora over the coming months to further develop the SSSH model for Rolleston and to recruit the staff, set up systems and infrastructure, and commence the service.