Helping vulnerable single older women access safe and affordable housing

In 2025, we launched a pioneering partnership to fund, design and pilot an innovative social lending-based programme to improve access to safe, affordable and suitable housing for vulnerable single older women in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Te Tai Tokerau Northland.

Co-funded by the Foundation through a contribution of $200,000, the partnership marks our first major co-investment with another philanthropic funder: $200,000 has similarly been contributed by the Sir Ernest Hyam Davis and Yvonne (Mollie) Carr) legacies – stewarded by Perpetual Guardian – with Good Shepherd also contributing $50,000.

Good Shepherd NZ will design and pilot an innovative and community-focused package of support, leveraging their existing financial wellbeing tools and working alongside other community service providers. Early research has highlighted key areas for intervention, including supporting moving and getting set up in a new home, and supporting maintenance required to remain and stay well in a home.

The service will likely include no-interest loans, specialist support for those experiencing intimate partner or elder abuse, and brokering access to homes and maintenance suppliers. Other tools and services may also be created and/or leveraged as part of the pilot. Women's needs, priorities and decisions will guide this pilot so that the help provided is effective in ways that uphold mana and dignity.

Commenting on the initiative, Emma Saunders, Chief Executive at Good Shepherd NZ at the time, said: “Social issues and inequities can make it hard for women to save for their future – despite wanting to. As a result, older women who are on their own can face financial barriers to living in safe, stable and suitable homes. More than half of New Zealand’s homeless population are women, their number tops 57,000, and older women are increasingly affected by homelessness.

“Supporting single older women is an important part of Good Shepherd NZ’s mission. We are thrilled to be partnering with two organisations with a strong track record for supporting women into their later stages of life. Women often suffer from more invisible forms of homelessness like living in cars, garages or on friends’ couches. Therefore, we hope to create a service that increases women's access to housing, social services, and community and family."

The need is urgent: more than half the homeless population in Aotearoa New Zealand are women (over 57,000). Older women and wāhine Māori are particularly over-represented in the statistics, with severely housing deprived women most likely to be Auckland-based. As housing costs rise and more women age into retirement as renters (many with a disability), targeted intervention and investment such as this are essential to reverse the trend and support wellbeing in later life.

The Foundation’s partnership with Good Shepherd NZ and Perpetual Guardian therefore signals a new era of scale and collaboration for our social impact and charitable activities and will enable more vulnerable older people to age safely in a home of their own.

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