17/10/2025
With heavy hearts, the New Plymouth Emergency Shelter Trust regrets to announce, with immediate effect, we are no longer able to accept referrals for the provision of Emergency Accommodation and that the Trust will be closing before the end of 2025.
“Any one of us could get sick, any of us could suffer from mental illness, any of us could have a life-changing event which suddenly transports everything…. And the role of a civilised community, one which respects human rights, is to make sure that whoever stumbles is able to help themselves, that they are picked up and can get on with life”
Philip Alston, UN Rapporteur on Poverty and Human rights - 2018
The New Plymouth Emergency Shelter Trust was born from a heartfelt desire to sit alongside those who had “stumbled” in life – to provide them with not only the basic needs of safe shelter and sustenance, but with kindness, compassion, validation and support.
The New Plymouth Emergency Shelter Trust has been providing accommodation and support to vulnerable members of our community for 49 years. It has been our most sincere privilege and honour, to provide this service to the thousands of men, women and children who came to us for help. The members of the Trust, both past and present will take with them fond memories of the people we have met across the years, the stories we have shared and the tales of successful outcomes for the thousands of people we have crossed paths with across the past 5 decades.
With the recent opening of Te Whare O Tapatahi – an innovative shelter with wraparound services provided by the YMCA with support from the Toi Foundation and New Plymouth District Council, and with other charitable housing and support providers, we feel confident that our local homeless community will be adequately cared for in the future. Should you wish to redirect your support – donations can be directed to Te Whare o Tapatahi at https://taranakifoundation.org.nz/established-community-funds/ymcashelter/
As we move through the administrative process of winding up the Trust, our social media page and email address will remain active however our contact telephone numbers will shortly be disconnected and so we request that all administrative correspondence be directed to [email protected].
We would like to thank the members of our community, our past and present trustees, our donors and the numerous organisations who have supported our work for the past 49 years and we leave you with a parting thought:-
Homeless is not the whole story. It is a chapter, and one that can be lived through. With compassion and support, our homeless community can turn the page and start a new chapter of their life. Their story can become one of peacefulness, one of contentment and one of success. You can play a part in that success by simply being kind.
