About Us

Visionwest began its Community Housing Service after chance remark from a Housing New Zealand (now Kāinga Ora) official to a Visionwest Chaplain. “You’re always down here with people needing housing. Why doesn’t the Trust do something about it?”
Visionwest took up the challenge and, in 2004, partnered with the Government to purchase its first emergency house. Situated on what is now the Visionwest Glen Eden campus, Kharece House provided emergency accommodation with wraparound supports for women and their children. At the time, it was the only emergency housing in West Auckland.
That move into emergency housing was the start of a journey for Visionwest – a journey that continues today. With an underlying belief that a safe and secure place to live is a basic human right, and a desire to see the end of homelessness in our nation, we began to purchase and renovate old houses to be used as comfortable and safe affordable rentals for those who were struggling to find a home. As our reputation in the housing sector grew, we found ourselves in a position of being able to construct new housing and, therefore, house an increasing number of homeless families.