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Sharing the warm fuzzy feeling in Dunedin this winter

September 2024

This winter, AMI made a donation towards Habitat for Humanity’s Healthy Homes Programme and their work with the Dunedin Curtain Bank, an organisation that provides free, upcycled curtains to those in housing need.

We sat down with Ben Ross, Habitat for Humanity’s Invercargill & Dunedin General Manager, to learn more about the programme and impact of this donation.

What is this programme?

Habitat has been working with the Dunedin Curtain Bank since 2021 to provide a full curtain installation service, helping to make drier and warmer homes.

Habitat’s Healthy Homes Programme provides these services to prevent health issues that can be attributed to a cold damp living environment. Curtains make a significant difference to the warmth of a home. A third of all heat loss in uninsulated homes happens through windows. Curtains can help to keep heat inside the home, and reduce cold air from the outside coming in. 

This is a service which runs all year round, but because of Dunedin’s cold winters and very old housing stock, families particularly need this help leading up to and during winter.

How many homes had curtains installed because of AMI’s donation?

Thanks to AMI’s support, this donation allowed up to 100 sets of curtains to be measured and installed in homes across Dunedin. By looking after the health of our homes, we are looking after the health and wellbeing of whānau in Dunedin.

"The curtains that I received from the curtain bank have made such a big difference and I feel so much warmer in my home and have much more privacy too. Thanks for all your help." – Paula

Why is this programme so important?

This programme fills a critical gap in the support of families in housing need. The Dunedin Curtain Bank offers free curtains to qualifying families, but because of the huge demand for their help, they do not have the resources to go into homes to help with measuring or installing. This means curtains often have to be remade because they’re the wrong length or sit unused in homes doing no good at all.

For such a small thing as offering a quick visit to homes to help get them correctly measured and installed, it allows this service to have a massive impact for the community.

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