Emergency Accommodation Taupo (E.A.T)

Emergency Accommodation Taupo provides support and advocacy for homeless individuals and families in our community. We also offer support and information to those living outside of Taupo. Emergency accommodation may be available through us through family homes in the community however as we are an unfunded volunteer community support group, we are fundraising for a Homeless Shelter. We rely on the kindness of our homestay families in the community for any rooms that may be available. If we have a vacancy, affordable full board or rent of room will be required however we may be able to help with obtaining those costs through our advocacy services at Work and Income. Rooms are limited and may be full when you contact us. If we have no rooms available we will support those needing emergency accommodation into other accommodation. Any mental health and drug and alcohol clients or those addicted to drugs and/or alcohol will be referred to the appropriate organisations for support and housing in Taupo. 

Homeless in transition need short-term accommodation. Do you have a spare room in your home? Or a sleepout in the backyard, space on your property for a cabin or an available rental home please Contact Us. We are also interested in making relationships with land owners with vacant land to place cabins. We will support all whom we place into emergency accommodation until they move on to more permenant accommodation. ***E.A.T operates on a ZERO Drug and Alcohol Tolerance Homestay Policy for the safety of our homestay families.

With the help of the community and local businesses we are able to provide emergency accommodation, food, warm clothing, shoes, toiletries, woman's sanitary items, blankets, sleeping bags, tents, torches and petrol. We also provide adcovacy and, advocacy with Work and Income and Housing New Zealand, Dr's medical certificates for Work and Income, transport to house inspections, social services appointments, beds, bedding and furniture for those who obtain homes and anything else homeless may require to becoming independent.  

December 4th - 26th November 2018. We were extremely happy to have had the opportunity to start a huge project in our community providing free meals every week for the homeless, less fortunate and others who wanted to be a part of that special community spirit. The meals were held once a week every Monday(excluding some public holidays) in the Paetiki area of Taupo, a suburb high in low income and solo parent families. We provided the meals with donations from the community, local businesses and charities and with the help of volunteers in the community. The meals were held at the Taupo Baptist Church on Rifle Range Road who very kindly let us use their building free of charge and whom also later donated weekly to help provide for extra ingredients for the meals every week. The generosity of the church enabled us to feed upto 100 people. The numbers grew from 40 people - 100 people, averaging around 65 people every week. All the community was welcome to not only provide those less fortunate with a free meal but to also foster and grow community spirit and bonding which we saw happen and are very proud of what we have achieved in the community for the community. 

With all the good work we were doing in the community; providing the free meals, helping the community with clothing, shoes, bedding and food as well as helping the homeless and advocating for them at various agencies including Work and Income we decided we needed to focus on the reason we became established, to help the homeless so at the end of November 2018 we handed over the community meals to the Taupo Baptist Church who were more than happy to carry on the good work providing free meals every week to those in need in Taupo.